There is a lot more purpose to this movie than some people think

Rating: 10/10 (17 February 2002)

"American Pie" doesn't sound like much because of its simple premise: four guys(Jason Biggs, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nicholas, and Eddie Kaye Thomas) enter into a pact to lose their virginity by prom night. Now it's only natural that this movie would be immediately dismissed as another dumb sex comedy, but I believe that "American Pie" is much more than that. Now I'm no expert, but I believe that there is a lot of hidden subtext here. One of the scenes that I want to focus on, is the scene where Jim(Biggs) and Nadia(Shannon Elizabeth) are in his bedroom. Now since Jim had walked in Nadia, she probably felt embarrassed and wanted to see the opposite effect on him. When it's finally time to get down to "business", Jim by this time is so nervous that he n**s his boxers. Nadia is then about ready to leave. Jim desperate and realizing that this may be the only chance he has with Nadia, starts to bring out the porn. Nadia forgives him and they start to go at it again but then Jim blows his second chance. I believe that this is probably the most important scene in this whole movie. I say this because I think it was meant to show how nervous some people may get about first-time sex. Now just because Jim had blown his big chance with Nadia, does not mean that she will think any lesser of him. I mean after all, it was their first time doing anything together. Now another part, which is the case of Sherman(Chris Owen) a.k.a. "The Sherminator". Sherman is so sure of himself, that many people including our four heroes, think that he can score with any girl he meets. This is wrong and this ultimately leads to his timely humiliation at the prom. Strangely enough, his whole "Sherminator" act is only able to successfully attract the attention of one lucky lady(try to guess who). Third is the case with Stifler(Seann William Scott). Now I'm sure we've all known of at least one Stifler in our lives. My definition of someone who is a "Stifler", is a person who only lives to party, have sex, and makes fun of those who can't; Stifler-"see you guys in the 'NO F*****G' section". What girls see in him or how he's even able to get girls is beyond me. Fourth is the rapidly evolving dating relationship with Kevin(Nicholas) and his girlfriend, Vicky(Tara Reid). We know that these two have been going out for quite some time. Kevin is quite anxious to move to another base. As he says, "enough of this b-job bulls**t". Vicky, feeling unappreciated that she probably can't please her boyfriend enough, dumps him. Kevin then has to resort to "Kama Sutra: The Book of Love". He begins reading the stuff in the book is eventually able to win back Vicky. Fifth, how many of you have ever tried to change the way you act just to win a girl's heart? I'm sure some of you have and Oz(Klein) is doing just that. After the fiasco with Oz's first date, he begins to see things in a different light. "You can't try to win a girl over by repeating cheese-ball lines" says his date. Oz then takes this into account and after entering into the pact, he spots a young choir girl(Mena Suvari). So Oz signs up for chorus just to win her heart. At first he's just doing to get to her but then true love comes into play he finds himself vying for her affections. He is eventually able to win her over but not by his physique or duty to the pact, but by his determination to find true love. Sixth, is the minor situation with Jim and Michelle, the band geek(played by Alyson Hannigan). Michelle- "this one time at band camp..." you know the rest. This relationship here is probably one of the higher aspects of "American Pie" because it goes to show you that you can't just put a label on anybody no matter how weird they appear to be. Sure Jim ends up regretting his decision to sleep with her, but in the end, he'll really thank her for it and he will be glad he did. Lastly, dear old Finch(Thomas). Isn't it strange the things that we do out of desperation?
Now are you beginning to see what I've been getting at? This movie is showing us how our sex lives have or may turn out to be like. Not all of our encounters will turn out to be total disasters and we won't end up doing it with baked goods(hopefully). Some of us may turn out to be a "Sherman" or a "Stifler" or maybe some us won't turn out to be anything at all. Some of us may have to change our personalities completely to just to win a girl's affections. Some of us may end up having to resort to extreme measures to get what we want.