Scary Movie 1, 2 & 3

A series of horror movies that is also classified as raunchy comedy on Netflix.

There are three things on Earth that has been traditionally thought would never mix. 1) Chocolate and water. 2) Donald Trump and presidency. 3) Horror and comedy. The first contradiction has been resolved by Heston Blumenthal’s chocolate mousse, made with chocolate and water. The second needs no further comment. And the third has been resolved by the star movie of this post: the Scary Movie series, a title so ominously candid that it makes you laugh. However, there is one caveat: it depends on what you interpret as horror or comedy. In essence, the Scary Movie series is a compilation of parodies that pokes fun at horror, slasher, and mystery film genres. Each movie in the franchise has a couple of primary targets. Scary Movie 1 spoofs Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Scary Movie 2 spoofs The Exorcist. Scary Movie 3 spoofs The Ring and Signs. More or less, they are 2-hour SNL episodes that focus on horror; they are silly skits that satirize real-life topics and events.

I personally cannot comment much on the horror side of Scary Movie. Given that I have an active distaste for the horror genre and their cheap jump-scare tactics, all the titles that they spoof are completely unfamiliar to me (except The Exorcist, which I have Internet memes to thank for that). On the contrary, if you are no coward like me, then the subtle references can add to your laughing experience. Understanding the references is the key ingredient of a parody that is present in Scary Movie, but by no means is it a prerequisite that the audience must fulfill in order to achieve laughter. Finding humor in Scary Movie, however, will heavily depend on your tastes. And I cannot emphasize “heavily” enough. To say the least, you will confront some highly politicized and taboo topics that were intentionally ridiculed by the writers. The scenes make no attempt to be discreet. Every chance at mocking a social group or act is explicit, vulgar, exaggerated, and frankly, quite funny. Social progressives of today may disagree with the last adjective. Consider the following scenes in the movie (and yes, they are legit).

1) A male jock choking and beating up a girl

2) Transgender gym teacher predating on young female students

3) Gay male character portrayed as sex-thirsty

4) Character with intellectual disability portrayed as dumb, moronic, and clueless

5) Black woman getting stabbed by white patrons in a movie theatre, fed up with her “ratchet” behaviour

6) Females being repeatedly involved in and coerced into acts of sex

7) Subtle references to the KKK and Nazis

The matter-of-fact descriptions make it all sound fairly contemptuous and questionable. After all, these scenes do make blatant references to domestic violence, racism, and sexual assault, to name only a few. It is a recipe for a social media disaster. Twitter would go apeshit. People might start protesting outside the theatres and irritate peaceful movie-goers. Keenen Wayans (the director) will probably be another victim of the cancel culture. With these circumstances, I find it hard to envision a scenario where Scary Movie even survives the opening weekend in today’s social climate. Its political incorrectness (whatever this means) is more suited for the early 2000s. Scary Movie 1 was released in 2000. Scary Movie 2 in 2001. And Scary Movie 3 in 2003. Surely we were socially conscious too back then, but people today are on a whole new level of sensitivity, especially with the heavier use of social media and journalism’s lazy tendency to cover easy stories. It is worth nothing that this movie series does become more inhibited and less crude, one sequel after another. The first one was by far the most hilarious; it was so inappropriate yet so entertaining. The two sequels were good too, but progressing into the juvenile humor that is banal for adults like myself. The transition is more reflective of the raunchy comedy in the modern era, which mostly involves heavy drinking, drugs, getting high on weed, sex, hot ladies, things that Seth Rogan and James Franco do best together. But it no longer dares to tread on highly politicized and taboo topics like the LGBTQ community, feminism, race, and pedophilia. Not even the most over-the-top comedies in recent years like 21 & 22 Jump Street or Sausage Party mustered enough courage to do so.

Of course, there are many examples today that “violate political correctness". TV shows like Family Guy and The Simpsons are still releasing fresh new episodes. Stand-up comedians like Bill Burr and Dave Chappelle are continuing to thrive in their careers. The majority of the audiences are altogether tolerant and receptive towards this style of humor. The YouTube comments prove it. People who are willing to watch these kinds of entertainment do so on a voluntary whim. When you deliberately dig up a movie as unremembered as Scary Movie in cinema history, usually you know what you are getting yourself into. For me, I am lenient about my choices; when I see an intriguing title on Netflix, I click. Scary Movie, although one that did startle me with its inconceivable vulgarity by today’s standards, was an unregrettable comedic adventure. Part of me wished that the series had audaciously maintained the same out-of-bounds spirit, but seemingly as the early 2000s was also a time of immense political tension (i.e. 9/11, ongoing civil rights movements), the decision to tone down the politically incorrect commentary makes sense from a social and economic perspective. From the third movie onwards, it wasn’t worth continuing. Though I must say, I still had a pretty good time.

In the end, you can interpret these acts in the movies as you wish: funny, silly, or offensive. There is no plot. There is no ground-breaking style of comedy. There is nothing but stupid jokes after stupid jokes. This is the essence of a parody, which makes it funny. It mocks gays, transgenders, straights, men, women, old, young, races, and everything else based on equal opportunity. Nevertheless, Scary Movie will never get made today. The public has decided that such topics are off limits while being overly-conscious or “woke” about comedy’s adverse effects on oppressing minority groups and acts of aggression. We must indeed be aware of social persecutions in society, though maybe there are better ways of addressing them than busting out a fierce tirade on Twitter about some random movie for a week claiming to bring about change and then going back to your own usual life, minding your own usual business. What happens in Scary Movie can be genuinely horrifying, but only if you adamantly choose to look at it that way. Why incur yourself that stress when movies are supposed to loosen you up? Scary Movie, a series of straight-forward parodies that can be finished in one sitting, is all about throwing the punchline and nothing else. It is as simple as it can be. Ricky Gervais said it best, “Remember, they are just jokes. We are all gonna die soon, and there is no sequel.”

See for yourself.

*All images on this post are legally owned by Dimension Films, Wayans Bros. Entertainment, Gold/Miller Productions, Brad Grey Pictures, and Thomas FX Group.