Lead Blogpost- Superbad

Superbad is by far one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. If you have not watched it, you are seriously missing out. I have never met a single person who did not enjoy watching the hilariously awkward group of boys carry out their last couple weeks of high school. Superbad is a classic story about two inseparable friends, Seth and Evan, who have known each other since the beginning. The two of them are not exactly considered the “cool people”. In fact, they are the complete opposite. They are painfully uncomfortable and the most cringe-worthy, but comical things happen to them. The movie is centered around how the two of them get invited to a huge party by Seth’s crush, Jules, and he offers to bring alcohol. They spend most of the movie trying to buy alcohol because they think that if they bring it, they will impress the girls that they like. In an attempt to try and get alcohol, they bring their other friend along, Fogell, who has an awful fake ID with the name “McLovin” on it. However, getting alcohol for the party was much harder than they anticipated, and they encounter many problems. Throughout the movie, hilarious events occur that leave everyone dying laughing, and many of the theories that have been discussed in class can be seen throughout the film. 

One scene in particular that always sticks out to me as one of the funniest moments of the entire movie is the scene when Fogell tries to buy alcohol for the party at a gas station. His ID is clearly fake, and he does not look even close to being twenty-one. If anything, he looks younger than his actual age. He tries to act super confident when going up to the cash register and begins to make small talk to “play it cool”, when in fact he just makes it even more glaringly obvious that he is not twenty-one. The lady asks for his ID so he becomes extremely nervous, and then out of nowhere someone comes in and steals all the money from the cash register. The cops are called, and Seth and Evan think that Fogell is about to be arrested. The cops are a hilarious duo on their own and are extremely unprofessional. They begin to question Fogell and ask to see his ID after he tells them his name is McLovin with a shaky voice. Despite the fact that it is clear he gave them a fake ID, the cops overlook it and decide to even befriend him. This scene alone is filled with the incongruity, benign, and superiority theory. When the cops come in and initially question the cashier, they make comments about the thief being an “African Jew with a hoodie”. It is an inappropriate comment; however, it is not too offensive to the point that it should not be said. It is also funny how clueless the two officers act. Because they are so unprofessional and childlike it adds a sense of comedy and the incongruity theory is being played out here. No one would expect a cop to behave in the way they did because officers usually are very strict, and this causes the viewer to laugh. Fogell is also very comical because he tries to act confident while buying the alcohol, but he fails epically. The superiority theory can be seen here because many would not make it so blatantly obvious that they are not twenty-one, so this causes the viewer to feel superior to Fogell. This scene is just one example of how these theories are represented in the movie. The benign theory is extremely prevalent throughout the entirety of it all; the boys are always pushing the boundaries of being too inappropriate, but it just falls short causing it to be hilarious. The incongruity theory is also represented through the many events that occur that are so unexpected and out of the ordinary. Superbad is very popular even to this day and will always be a classic because of how hilarious and relatable it is.