Written by I saw the breakout comedy hit of the summer last night, The Hangover, and it was ALMOST everything people said it was, which is saying a lot. There is a ton to love in this flick and I will recommend it to almost anyone. You may know the director from a little comedy called Old School. The one with Frank and his tankiness, earmuffs, and blue. THAT Old School. So I’ve been asking most people I know who have seen both, which of the movies they enjoyed most, since I really think they are almost equal. Most folks I asked are in the age range 23-27ish and these folks generally seemed to think that while The Hangover was funny, it wasn’t quite to the level of Old School’s laughs. Seeing that most of us were in the same boat I started to wonder if the fact that we’ve all been through the stage of life which Old School mimics played any role in the thought that it was the better of the two.
Now I certainly don’t think that it makes up the entirety of why one likes something, but experience is important. We could all relate to the silly college antics, but few of us have been through the marriage-bachelor party wheel very often. We’ve got 4 years, maybe more, of shenanigans to draw a straight line from film to life. I grant you the fact that both movies are about wild partying. They’re just in different life stages.
I tried hard to think of another example of this situation with two closely related movies dealing with subtly different arenas of life and have come up blank all day.
How much do you think life experience plays a role in your pop culture enjoyment?
Can you come up with the examples I missed?
Sidenote: Zach Galifianakis is hilarious. Remember his name, he’s gonna be BIG.
I think part of the reason why Old School got more votes is because, as I remember it, it was one of the first in that genre of funny films. It broke the mold and at the same time laid the groundwork for films like Anchorman, Superbad, The Hangover.
Also, I think you might find that younger folks might have enjoyed The Hangover more because they were too young (ie not in college, or sometimes even in high school, yet) to appreciate Old School when it came out but can appreciate the general hilarity of a wild night out with friends now.