Napoleon Dynamite: Cultural phenomenon

Ben Carmack

Last year’s independent films roused the ire of conservatives who slammed Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, and were repulsed by Morgan Spurlock’s Supersize Me, which was designed to push audiences to support regulations on the fast food industry.

Many conservatives have developed a habit of panning people who work independently in arts and entertainment as “elites” or effeminate wimps who don’t have “real jobs.” I say it is time for a change in attitude.

By virtue of their independence from the big studios and theaters in Hollywood, independent filmmakers have the capability to circumvent the establishment and actually produce entertainment that people actually like.

One of the big independent hits of 2004 was Napoleon Dynamite. Since the comedy’s release, it has developed an extensive cult following composed of primarily young people. During its time in theaters, it earned $44 million when it cost only $400,000 to make. Since it left theaters for DVD on December 21, it has earned an additional $6 million and has consistently been on Billboard’s top ten movie rentals. Why?

The overall cinematic style of the movie is one that is not extraordinarily entertaining. The characters are always facing the camera head on. They always look extremely awkward, and the major characters appear even more awkward than they already are.

Napoleon Dynamite is an outcast at his high school. Life has given him the short stick. That’s an appropriate metaphor because he is in the sticks, in a state few people visit or care about, the state of Idaho. In the midst of that state’s wide open spaces, towering mountains, and bright sunshine, Napoleon trudges on. He likes to draw and amuses himself in all sorts of unusual ways.

One doesn’t know why one continues to watch this tale as it goes on, but one cannot help but watch it. One wonders, “What is the point? Why does he go on like this?”

Napoleon goes on because he has no fear. The tough rules of high school etiquette do not apply to him. He will talk to anyone, and once he sets his mind to do something, he’ll “do whatever I wanna do, gosh!”

Is he a perfect character, no, but then again none of us is. We all live in the real world, and sometimes each of us can be so desperate we’ll hook ourselves up to a joke time machine we bought on E-Bay, and sometimes we are so annoyed we want to go ask the school nurse for chap stick (where is that stuff when you need it!).

Napoleon’s courage, even if it is at times misplaced courage, is inspiring to the outcasts he befriends, to the audience, and even to his enemies.

This is why Napoleon has developed a cult following among the nation’s young people, including this young conservative, because he teaches us to have no fear and do what we have to do, no matter pathetic or “uncool” we are. In a generation where procrastination and “slacking off” are the norm, Napoleon challenges us to step forward and…well, the movie tells all. His story is an American one, a story that couldn’t have found a better setting than the Potato State.

It is not surprising, then, that the entertainment establishment slammed this movie’s head into its locker.

The Hollywood Reporter reviewed the film shortly after its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival a year ago, and predicted, “It should also be repeated that Sundance audiences of the past have roared with laughter at comedies that fall flat in domestic release.” The film was not one of the “prestige offerings” of its distributor, the Reporter sniffed.

For not adapting to the traditional formula of films about teenagers, being sure to include generous helpings of sex, drug use, and profanity, it didn’t have the “glue” of “story and plausibility” that provided the film with its “sense of continuity,” wrote Variety. It was a “comedy of condescension and ridicule” for “those who enjoy the sight of bottom dwellers doing stupid things that make them look even more idiotic” as opposed to the more cultured activities of the American Pie gang.

Never mind that this was never the director’s intention. His intention was to inspire while getting laughs, and thankfully audiences realized this.

The director, by the way, continues to reside near his hometown in the mountains of Utah, rather than moving to Los Angeles. Good for him.

For those hailing the coming of the New Media, Napoleon Dynamite is it. Let’s support the good entertainment revolution.

By Ben Carmack, Chief Contributor out of Indiana for yconservatives.com, February 12, 2005