The Beta-Male (or Why I want to bone Kat Dennings)

I just saw Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (seven hour plane ride - don't ask), a low budget Columbia flick that came out October last year. Verdict: it was extremely mediocre, but somewhat watchable. The highlite of it was probably when Michael Cera gave Kat Dennings an orgasm in Electric Ladyland Studios. I wouldn't say that it was particularly bad, but that's because the movie didn't venture into any risky territory. So why am I talking about it? It has three interesting points that are worth discussing: the film's unintended value, Cera, and Dennings.

On a budget of $10 million (grossed $31 million according to boxofficemojo), this was an obvious ploy by Columbia to accomplish a couple of things. They chased the pseudoindie-teen psychographic by reprising Cera's Paulie Bleeker role (Juno), while simultaneously gave some underdeveloped young actors some experience and screen time.

The more subtle point here is that N&N, for better or for worse, did a good job of capturing the attitude of the average American teenage moviegoer. By creating a movie that does such a good job of blending in with the rest of Hollywood, neither exceeding nor failing any expectations (and turning a profit to boot), Columbia has captured the zeitgeist in the same way that only the shoestring budget film noirs (think Detour 1945) could of its respective era. In the past few years it appears that Hollywood is making an active effort to create what many call "beta-male" movies. Judd Apatow is, of course, one of the founders of this movement (if you can call it a movement); everything he touches, starting with The 40 Year Old Virgin, is both a money maker and has a distinctive style and attitude.

It's hard to categorize the type of film I'm talking about, and one runs into the same problem when trying to distinguish film noir. Is it a genre? Is it movement? Is it just a style? I'd say that it's more of an attitude than anything else. These movies include: The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshell, Pineapple Express, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and Juno (maybe Step Brothers, Little Miss Sunshine, and Talleganda Nights). It isn't hard to find overlapping directors, actors, and producers in this list (i.e. Judd Apatow, Seth Rogan, Michael Cera). It seems to have basically stolen the audience of the Ben Stiller/Will Ferall (another comedy stable) early 2000s comedies. I'd say the typical audience would be the non-jock, second rung on the social ladder, boy from Long Island (or California, or New Jersey) in his senior year of high school with a healthy taste for indie-pop. I'd also say that this psychographic/demographic has a slightly higher intellect than their early 2000s predecessors, to their credit. The second group would be those that watched the Ben Stiller/Will Ferall comedies of the early 2000s. Basically, this is a late Generation-Y fanbase.

This pattern also took place, to some extent, in the 90s with the rise of the high school teen-comedy, best characterized by the first American Pie movie, targeted at early the early Gen-Y. I'd even go so far as to say that Michale Cera is the Jason Biggs of this decade. But as far as themes go (namely, the underdog male trying to get laid and find purpose in life), it goes back a little farther. Kevin Smith's Clerks, the 80's teen comedies (the begining of the modern teen movie, taking us beyond surfing and beaches), and even IMO Woody Allen in the 70s.

The nagging question here is why have these movies gotten so popular, espescially in the past few years? Movie production works in a very similar fashion to the economy (and evolution, for that matter); many different things are thrown against the wall, some stick, and the ones that stick are replicated. The studios just try in cash in on the success of other movies. The point I'm getting at is that beta-male movies stuck, they kept sticking, and they stuck for a reason. The reasons can be speculated, but it is probably wortt noting that these movies were made in times of tremendous economic booms, which undoubtadly influenced our culture.

I also think that an interesting, and implicit, motif in the modern beta-dog movies is the prevelence of alcohol. Booze always played a big part in teen movies, but was largely a prop or a MacGuffin. Nowadays you see these high school kids really getting trashed, espescially in N&N and Superbad. Now I'm no puritan, but its still relatively new to see underage kids getting hammered in a Hollywood movie. Is this also reflecting a cultural shift, or is it just the result of higher social tolerence?

Michale Cera, previously mentioned as one of the archetypal beta-males, is screwing up his career. He played the awkward loser very well in Arrested Development, and showed promise as a young actor. He even did a prety decent job doing it in Super Bad. But isn't it getting a bit much? Look at his last 4 major roles: awkward loser (4 in a row), awkward loser in his senior year of high school (3 in a row), awkward loser in his senior year of high school that listens to indie music (2 in a row). When the beta-bubble pops, he's going to find himself out of work, as he has yet to show that he can play another character.

To wrap this up with the original intention of this post, Ket Denning is a fucking hottie in N&N. She was probably the only reason I finished watching the damn movie. I'm not sure if it was her looks, or her sarcasm (I have a thing for sarcastic, witty women). She was a more confident, funnier, and better looking version of Juno. Her Wikipedia picture doesn't do her justice, but her IMDb one does. I would probably put her right up there with Scarlette Johanson (circa Lost in Translation) around the top of my Hollywood boning list.