American Pie was a movie of firsts. It was the first movie I seen to use live video sharing, It was the first teen movie (for me) , and most importantly it introduced us to hookup culture in school and toxic masculinity. So much of what it means to become a man in the 21st century is centered around the plot of American Pie and that is to get laid before graduating High School. Boys who do not “get laid” in high school are teased and ridiculed beyond measure as the movie shows and American Pie set the standard for American male conquest of women.
The core issue we have in male society is that lack of a right of passage into adulthood for men. A rite of passage is a ritual or ceremony that marks the transition from a boy to a man. In some cultures this involved acts such as circumcision, hunting a dangerous animal, or traveling a dangerous trail. For many of the generations before me this was going to fight for your country and becoming a patriot. The rite of passage gave boys an opportunity to engage with other men in a ritual of being recognized to the world as men. In my community, unfortunately this came in the form of Gang culture, but that's a story for another post. In American Pie it displayed that rite of passage being lived out sexually through women. Characters like Stifler, Oz, and Kevin treat losing their virginity with the same vigor as a native american youth hunting his first buffalo in the 1800s.
The American Dream is described as the pursuit of happiness in America.
One of the main scenes in the movie is when Jim (who was in pursuit of a foriegn exchange student name Nadia) got influenced by Stifler to set up a webcam to film his moment he finally achieves his American dream of losing his virginity. She came into his room and begin to masterbate but unwillingly the email link was share with everyone in that school. He entered the room and she began to rub him and when he was about to reach that dream he ejaculate twice and became the joke of the school.
This scene introduced us to the Only Fans model where Nadia became a television show for everyone to watch. It also exposes that fact that the teenage characters gained more favor from parents through the participation of sex culture. Much like another movie Love Doesn’t Cost a Thing the father begins the bonding process through the connection of sex culture instead of naturally bonding because he is flesh of your flesh.
Ultimately, American Pie IMO is the movie that gave us a glimpse of the deterioration of Manhood through our Millennial eyes. It taugh us that happy endings no longer existed unless sex was involved. It taugh us that instead of the kiss from the lips of a woman that once meant everything in our society now us as teenage boys had to engage in sex in order to gain respect and to be acknowleged in our society as a man. Boys who did not participate in sex culture from 1999 to present day are seen as invaluable and unworthy of respect. While the many teenage boys who dive into the ethos of sex culture end up with baby’s born out of wetlock, women who grow up feeling like sexual objects and a generation who now blame one another for the failed dynamics of their adult relationships. The American Dream is the pursuit of happiness but what happens to society when the dynamics of happiness goes from protecting and honoring the values of true masculinity which is leading and protecting your community to American Pie?