Gosh!

Remember when Napoleon Dynamite was super cool? Remember when everyone thought this quirky, no budget film was the best thing to happen to pop culture? Well, not everyone thought that. I certainly did not when I first saw this film. I could not understand what all the hype was about, I could see the humor in the John Heder's character but that was it. 

Then I watched the film with my 10 year old brother. It is crazy to see something through another set of eyes and suddenly find humor in it. I wonder if my too serious self could not appreciate the simple, clean, and just silliness that is Napoleon. I had just graduated from college and had started my first grown up job when the film came out. Listening to my brother laugh and giggle, he would never admit now that he used to giggle- he is too cool for that nowadays, made that movie great for me. Probably since the first time I saw that cute little guy smile I was bound and determined to make him laugh. When he was a toddler I would make faces and do silly things to make him smile and when he was ten we decided that we were Kip and Napoleon. I perfected that impression in my spare time so that when I called him I could do the whole conversation in character and when I went back home for a visit we would pretend to be those Dynamite brothers all evening. 

So that is why Napoleon Dynamite is in my movie collection. It is a fond memory of my baby brother and when I watch it I think of him, now that he is not such a baby anymore! I also think movies like that are part of my higher ed education. Back in 2004 and 2005 that was the movie that all college students had seen. We went to an RA conference and I swear each role call skit had incorporated some part of Napoleon's famous dance into their routine. We did not win with our originally written song to the tune of Barbie Girl by Aqua because of Napoleon. But I recognized the dance immediately which gave me some street cred with my students back then- and boy did I need street cred. It is hard to break into the cool kid scene when you are living a pinterest lifestyle before pinterest even exists!

I also LOVE Tina Majorino. After Andre, When a Man Loves a Woman, and Corrina, Corrina I was concerned that I would not see much more of her, another victim of childhood fame. But she reappeared and according to IMDB she has been in other things as well that I just did not notice. It is funny now that I think about it, that I do not own Corrina, Corrina. It is just a wonderful film and when I had TV channels I used to stop whatever I was doing when it came on. I promised myself I would not buy any more films until this project is over so I will to wait to purchase it. I am sure I can get a great deal on a used copy nowadays.

If I were an RA and I were going to plan a program around this movie I think I would take the food angle. There are lots of scenes with food. There are tater tots, cakes, delicious bass, Tina's snacks, quesadillas, steaks, you name it they ate it the film. There is even a scene where you can incorporate body image into the program with the scene where Deb is drinking 1% milk when she could be drinking 2%. I would take the opportunity to share with my residents the joys of making different meals in the school cafeteria. For example, taking applesauce from the salad bar, adding cinnamon sugar, and then microwaving it to make warm cinnamon applesauce in the fall. Or taking hot cocoa from the beverage line and adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a sweet dessert. There are even opportunities to get a wrap from the sandwich station and shredded cheese from the salad bar to make your own quesadilla too! The possibilities are endless if you think outside the box of the traditional meals that are served in the cafeteria. Encourage your residents to think creatively by printing out the menu for dinner the following day and trying to come up with different options based on what is listed for the meal.