"The essence of brain-dead (but in a positive way)"
From John Belushi's classic zit line to "I lied to you, too--I'm only thirteen!" Animal House is a really funny movie, and in the way that Scary Movie just tried to be. Appealing to our baser senses of humor, with sex, beer, college, and good music abounding, the movie gets people giggling. Especially when there's beer, sex, and college flowing profusely through the group watching the movie. And I think every college kid wishes they could chug a fifth of Jack Daniel's.The genius of Animal House lays in its exaggerations of the people we know. From the blond debutantes to the campus leaders that call points of parliamentary procedure, we all know them and we all detest them, being, as we are, fun-loving creatures with no ambition.
Well, sort of. Because the people here that can quote parli-pro and are in the "frats" on campus (my poor college has no Greek system) are also the ones that can come damn close to chugging that fifth of Jack and are hung over at Senate meetings.
God only knows where I sit in this continuum.
Anyway, the movie's funny because it plays on stereotypes of college kids and college professors. Donald Sutherland's character is pure hilarity. Pitting the two factions of college life against one another was a perfect premise for a nice, mindless flick that really was funny, even if it wasn't an all-out perfect film. Classic in any case.Good to watch late at night and hammered, although I've been sober every time I've seen it. It's required viewing for college.