How Neighbors Brought the College Comedy Into the 21st Century

Thank Neighbors for Saving the "Frat House" Comedy

The Frat house has been the setting of countless "college comedies" ever since National Lampoon's Animal House became a hit back in 1978. It's easy to see why as this is the perfect breeding ground for immaturity and irresponsibility, two of the key components of any slapstick comedy. Unfortunately for many of these movies, despite how well regarded they are and how well much of the comedy still lands, they are a product of their time. What I mean by this is that many of the films made before the turn of the century tend to be misogynistic in nature and feature some ideas that aren't up to our current societal standards.

Take Animal House for example, hailed by many as one of the greatest comedies of all-time, features a scene of a college freshman debating whether or not to have sex with a passed out party girl who we later find out is only thirteen (!) and The Mayor's daughter. Now, as we all know in the film he makes the respectable choice and sends her home (albeit in a shopping cart) but the movie makes the scenario feel like it's no big deal and the devil on his shoulder declares him a "Homo" when he makes that decision. 

Maybe that joke would be able to slide between the cracks today, as he doesn't actually make the wrong choice but let's examine another "classic college comedy" by the name of Revenge of the Nerds. Though the movie centers itself on the basic story of a group of college nerds trying to get back at the "jocks" and frat boys it basically ends up as a story about these guys trying to get laid. Spoiler alert: The main character ends up doing just that and in one of the most disgusting ways you could think of. Our would be "Hero" literally date rapes a girl at the end of the film by tricking her into thinking he is someone else while they are fooling around in the dark. Oh and this is our character's major triumph at the end of the film, he is to be applauded for this action.

I don't mention these in attempt discredit those films, they are very much a product of their time and should be viewed through that lens. Animal House still stands as one of the best comedies of all-time for me and rightly so, but if it were made today maybe that particular scene gets cut. The problem is when these old fashioned ways of thinking make it into our modern attempts at these movies. Films that are universally loved like Old School and Van Wilder find themselves at times falling prey to the misogyny and sexism of those that came before them.