Yuk-yuk-yuk
The antics of the Delta fraternity in 1962 may well be uproarious and gasp inducing when viewed in context with the morals and standards of the time, but they just don’t back the same punch some 50 years on.
Consider that only 20 years ago having a tattoo instantly made someone tough and those around them more cautious. Now Bieber has a dozen of them, and the ‘younger generation’ plaster them around like young kids do stickers.
10 years ago body piercing were still a little dangerous. Now take a ride on a train into the city to see how far people go with scarifying their own body. There’s every chance your accountant or banker has a tattoo or two, and probably a sneaky piercing also.
Comedy too has also evolved for the most part. You can no longer show someone holding a jug of water, then show another person sitting oblivious, then expect guffaws when Person A douses unsuspecting B.
Nonetheless that’s what late 70s comedy Animal House relies upon, young men perpetrating mildly outrageous acts upon society in clumsily telegraphed and non-creative ways.
So for a Gen Xer who hasn’t come across it until now, this film only has limited value. Non-surgeon assisted nudity is one oddity (also of note is the apparent dearth of tanning salons in the 60s… How did they live?), the other is trying to join the event to the modern day animated parody. I noticed events and quotes homaged by The Simpsons, Family Guy, Futurama and American Dad, all of which turned out to be far more amusing in parody than they seem here.
So label me as missing the point or blasphemous, just know that I don’t blink flinch when I stand next to someone with a tattoo. I don’t sweat bullets if approached by a multi-pierced fashion victim (usually a JB Hi-fi staff member). And it takes a little more than someone taking pot shots at a horse with a golf ball to have me fall of my chair clutching at my sides. Unfortunately there will be every chance that history repeats, and the next generation will treat the body fluid related chuckles of today with the same apathy, which considering how apathetic they are already should be something worth seeing.
Perhaps I can sum up the whole thing in one statement; a person more than one generation removed from the action shouldn’t be asked to cast judgment upon proceedings. Also the reason older critics should stay well away from modern horror, action and comedy.
If you’ve ever had your dad or uncle tell you a rambling story about a so-called ‘crazy time’ and merely shrugged, then you know what I mean.
Final Rating – 5 / 10. Funnily enough the best part of Animal House was the swinging 60 tunes. They haven’t dated. The ‘comedy’ sure has.
