4/21/09: 17 Again (2009)
Here’s a reminder that nobody’s going to miss RightWingTrash when it’s gone. Marilyn Chambers died during our vacation, and we didn’t see a single conservative or libertarian site acknowledge the legendary porn star’s political beliefs. She was even a candidate for Vice-President back in 2004—as covered in
this article that we sent around to a few folks because we were too lazy to write about Marilyn ourselves while on vacation, but not too lazy to attempt some blatant self-promotion.
(That link, incidentally, may not take you to an actual article. It depends on your browser. Here’s a good Chambers quote from the piece, though: “The right to bear arms is very important to me. I used to own a gun shop in Las Vegas called The Survival Store. It’s a good thing for people to register their guns, but there are criminals that can do that, too. I need a gun in my home if somebody breaks in. I want to be able to shoot them. I also want to be able to protect my country.”)
Now the conservative movement remains unsullied by the notion that a legendary porn star may have had right-wing leanings. That would be so uncool. That would also be less pathetic if the conservative movement could figure out when they’re scoring on the more wholesome side of popular culture. As it is, you probably have no idea that the #1 movie at this weekend’s box office has a brave pro-abstinence message.
17 Again is actually a likable movie, despite how many times we’ve seen lame comedies about adults finding themselves transformed back to their teenage selves. (It’s been 21 years since George Burns starred in
18 Again!) The film also counts as trash, since star Zac Efron is a genuine teen idol. Nobody’s going to remember
17 Again as any kind of class production in ten years time.
Anyway, the adult in this tale is Matthew Perry as Mike O’Donnell. The character magically transforms into 17-year-old Zac Efron, and returns as a student to his old high school that his teenage children also attend. You get a pretty good idea of the script’s good sense when Mike shows up for his first day of school in a ridiculous hip-hop outfit. He’s soon doing very well on campus, though, despite learning that his son is being bullied and his daughter is dating the biggest creep in the school.
This brings us to the scene where he’s in class for a lesson on sexual abstinence. Nobody—including the teacher—is taking the subject seriously. Mike decides to be the sole voice in support of the idea. It probably helps that his daughter and her boyfriend are in the same class. Everyone laughs at Mike, and the teacher presents a box of condoms to hand out to her students. The boyfriend of Mike's daughter grabs a handful. Mike declares he doesn’t need any, since he’ll only be having sex with his future wife. That becomes less laughable as Mike begins discussing the joys of parenthood from his adult perspective. When he’s done, all the girls in the class are returning their condoms to the teacher.
That’s the whole scene, except for when the boyfriend of Mike’s daughter proves himself to be even more of a jerk. Nothing happens later on to change the moment. You have to give Efron a lot of credit for being willing to make a movie that even has a scene like that. Ashley Tisdale has been our favorite from the
High School Musical gang, but that’s mostly because of her work on
Phineas and Ferb. A bold film like
17 Again makes Zac Efron seem totally dreamy—even if we’re not necessarily endorsing abstinence here. Besides, Ashley got a nose job. She doesn’t look the same.
Make it your own: OMFG, it’s
in theaters now.
