American Pie

Sometimes I wonder what Hollywood's image of teenagers is, and where the hell the ideas came from. Their own twisted, sick lives? In "American Pie" I wasn't actually too shocked. This movie was more realistic to life (with a few exceptions) than most Hollywood High School flicks.
I first was attracted to the movie because of its perversion and the characters seemed to relate to a lot of my guy friends. I myself am very conservative, but the parallels to my own High School social life seemed realistic.
Many of the themes in this movie are what teenagers go through, rites of passage to prove they aren't abnormal. The characters were real, but a few plot twists were not. A scene portraying one of the young males showing his "study session" with the beautiful exchange student over the internet to his friend, perhaps that is a possibility in real life. The mistake of actually sending it to the whole school, not a chance. But the fact that the characters were realistic made this movie hit home.
The lack of stereotypes was really refreshing. Although movies such as "10 Things I Hate About You" and "She's All That" are cute and funny, they lack real characters that you can say, "Oh, that's just like the guy in my chem class." Or, "She reminds me of myself!" That is what sets this movie apart. But sometimes "American Pie" goes overboard, and you wonder how realistic it is in terms of the plot. "She's All That" actually could happen, in terms of guys using their ego to pursue girls for sport. In fact, I know guys in my High School who did similar things, but they never accidentally posted it to the whole school on the internet. They also never fell for the girl.
Overall, "American Pie" provided enough laughs to keep me entertained. Kids, don't watch this in front of your parents, just to avoid any uncomfortable situations. Parents, you may want to screen this before you show your kids who are younger than 14. Most ages, however, can identify with the hormones, lust, and true love that evolves in this movie.