American Wedding

Neutral—“American Wedding” is film is raunchy, distasteful and crude. It is almost as if the goal of movies like these American Pie films, There’s Something About Mary, and the like are to give people vicarious thrills somehow through grossing them out to the extreme. This along with the latest nauseating wave of so-called “reality TV” is a sad commentary on where the mind of pop culture has gone in this generation. At the same time it reminded me of what this generation lacks and so desperately hungers for—meaningful relationship. That is one thing I will give the American Pie films—while the content is highly offensive, the characters are loyal friends and family members—even if their behavior and language is raunchy, which it is.

Let this be a window into popular culture that we take with us as Christians—that we live in a world filled with raunch, but also with real people who hunger for meaning and purpose in their lives. Are we genuinely listening to their needs and their hunger and responding out of Christian compassion or are we too grossed out and put off to even risk relating with “un-Christian” people? Jesus took the risk and related to common people that society looked down on, and so should we.
My Ratings: [Average / 2]
—John, age 33

Neutral—The American Pie series may be lewd, crude, and all around distasteful but I give it credit for making me feel for its characters. Especially in the third installment of the series it seems I’ve become attached to them and like a sitcom I forgive them as long as they stay true to their characters. From a christian standpoint I can’t recommend this and I will not encourage anyone with strong christian values (or a weak stomach) to see it. But if this doesn’t offend you and you can just relax knowing you won’t do this in your life and simply enjoy the movie; it’s very entertaining. It has premarital sex, but it’s for the sake of comedy, not necessarily encouraging it.
My Ratings: [Somewhat Offensive / 3]
—Jake Whipps, age 23

Positive—Looking at the film from a Christian perspective you can’t really give it props for being the most morally compelling argument of abstinence. All three films glorify sex before marriage even if they often show embarrassing sexual episodes as an indicator that if you’re inexperienced you’ll make an idiot out of yourself. The positive values about family and friends work despite the fact that it balanced out with gross-out humor. The movie on the whole is funny but not as good as the first two and is definitely not recommended for people who take offense to this kind of material, but you don’t need me to tell you that, if it’s any consolation I don’t think it’ll inspire teens to go out and have sex as much as it’ll inspire them to laugh.
My Ratings: [Very Offensive/4]
—Chris Whipps, age 14

…Sex/Nudity: Extreme; Profanity: Extreme…
—ScreenIt!

…primary subject… is sex. …drenched in crude humor and filthy language…
—Preview Family Movie and TV Review

…Puerile gags involve erections, sodomy, fellatio, orgasms, bestiality and pubic hair. …Stifler accidentally has intercourse with Jim’s grandmother and one of Jim’s friends has a sexual encounter with Stifler’s mom…
—Loren Eaton, Plugged In!, Focus on the Family

…The honeymoon is over for the ‘American Pie’ gang…
—John DeFore, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

…By now, the pie is stale and the whole thing is one big fat geek wedding fiasco…
—Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

…scene after scene of sadistic and stomach-turning mishaps that have nothing to do with anything plot-wise…
—Margaret A. McGurk, Cincinnati Enquirer

…this film embraces the fact that it has no shame…
—E! Online

…Disposable as toilet paper…
—Manohla Dargis, Los Angeles Times

…you’ll see better film on ponds…
—Elvis Mitchell, New York Times