Thread by @briebriejoy

Watching He’s All That and feeling sorry for Gen Z. You deserve better.

So does Rachel Leigh Cook.

Why do producers think that the way to modernize a plot is to make it heavy handey about social media? “It’s not a modern teen movie without a chat screen scrolling over the opening dialogue!”

Of course our soulful nerdy makeover subject isn’t into social media. Or new music.🙄

He’s a 17 year old work a flip phone. How would he have gotten a flip phone? The iPhone came out when he was 3.

He doesn’t want to go to college bc he thinks it’s a “waste of time and money.” Could be a chance for some commentary on the student debt crisis/recession. But…

Instead our female protagonist is singing teenage dream in a bikini. Badly. No worries. Our male protagonist is gonna save her by duetting.

Too principled for a phone. Doesn’t like new music. But knows 11 year old Katy Perry lyrics.

With*

The fundamental problem is that this kid isn’t a nerd/looser. He’s a cool rock lover with a 12 pack and muscles that strain against his tasteful Henley. At least Rachel Leigh Cook had glasses and nerd hobbies. This guy loves photography and, for some reason, horse back riding.

The female protagonist’s name is Padgett.

They’re going to a Gatsby party themed “Drop it Like F Scott.”

All the highschoolers are dressed in $300 period-accurate costumes.

A millennial wrote this.

The “nerd” protagonist made a joke about how the Great Gatsby was a critique of opulence, and there are some other shallow nods to the youths’ lefty instincts. But they are so shallow. (Our protagonist yelled “fascist” at a bully in an early scene. It’s parody.)

The “Taylor Vaughn” character — eg the douchy bro that our female protagonist was dating at the start, just tried to me too our male protagonist’s little sister, resulting in a fight between the bro and the “nerd” which the nerd wins bc he watches Kung Fu movies. 🤷🏾‍♀️

I also love how they had a whole sequence where Padgett’s frenemy picks the makeover subject and, although she’s trying to make it hard so P loses the bet, she picks a white, fit, confident, conventionally attractive guy over the overweight Asian lab nerd bc he was “too easy.”

The reason? He’s gonna be “shoot cars in to space rich someday.” Bc that’s what makes you cool in high school.

In fairness, the original similarly insulted our intelligence, but the chemistry between Freddie and Rachel made it forgivable.

If Usher deejays prom I’ll forgive it all.

No usher, but this 90s staple made a cameo as the up-until-this-point disembodied voice of the principal. This dance scene is … 🥴

They started playing the sixpence song and Rachel Leigh, who is at prom as a chaperone, joked “how do I know this song!?” and I’ve never not wanted to age more than this moment.

Our male protagonist rode up on a horse.

Matthew Lillard is dancing on stage to a techno version of Kiss Me. 🙃

After all the critique of social media the lesson at the end of the movie is … unclear. Our protagonists go to Portugal after college. Not clear if either is going to college, but Pagett’s followers are back and she’s posting to social media from horseback.

The only difference seems to be that now her boyfriend takes pics of her on film with his camera and I guess … develops them on the road so that she can upload those to social?

Growth is choosing an analogue medium.

Just now realizing that was Addison Rae.

Ok. That’s enough contemporary cultural criticism for me.

Let me get back to the West Wing so I’m all caught up for my next @TheWestWingThi1 appearance.