Porky's: The Ultimate Collection

That's not to say that sex comedies weren't around at the time... but most of them were aimed towards adults. None of the risqué movies of the era really spoke to the younger generation. That is until 20^th Century Fox green-lit a $3 million movie that centered around the antics of a group of hormone-driven teenagers in 1950's Florida. The movie was composed of events Bob Clark either witnessed or heard about when he was growing up in Ft. Lauderdale during the early sixties. And aside from being a raunchy comedy, you can tell there's a lot of loving nostalgia that went into the film.

It's funny looking back on it now knowing that the movie almost never got made. At the last minute, financing fell through, so Clark started shooting the movie with his own money. Finally he managed to talk the heads at Fox to release the funds for the movie, stating that they'd be better off taking a gamble on a smaller picture since they already had so many bigger pictures in production. Somehow they bought that line and the rest is history.

I find it odd the number of people who find this movie offensive. Oh sure, at the time it was released the film showed things that most filmmaker's wouldn't even dream of, but at the same time the film is tame in a lot of ways (Especially when viewed today). One of the things that always seemed to confound people was the social commentary of the film. People walked in expecting a teen titty flick, and were treated to much more. This is a film that touches on things like anti-Semitism and abusive parents, but never in a preachy way. It all seemed natural and part of the story. So color me shocked when some of the reviews from around the time of the films release (1982… the year of my birth, thank you) blasted the movie for being sexist and anti-Semitic. I just don't think people were that eager to accept the fact that sometimes a teen comedy can be much more than that. Negative reviews aside, the movie was a smash hit and it allowed Clark to take on some of his pet projects (Such as A Christmas Story). Of course, with the movie making so much money, a sequel was inevitable.

And so Clark got behind the camera yet again to film Porky's 2: The Next Day. The sequel, as the title states, picks up the day after the exploits of the first film (God I feel like an asshole for typing that sentence). And like the first film, there is a heavy dose of social commentary. This film in particular dealt with racism against Native Americans as well as religious fanaticism impeding education. A big plot line in the movie revolves around the students trying to put on a collection of scenes from the works of Shakespeare, and the local religious zealots trying to shut down the show because they think it's "filth." This leads to a classic scene where the principal (played brilliantly by Eric Christmas) gets into a debate with the head of the group. I won't go too far into detail, but the scene has a great build and a wonderful pay-off that made me wish I had faculty like Mr. Carter in my school… somebody who obviously gave a shit about education.

Also, one of my favorite scenes of the film involves Wendy Williams' (Kaki Hunter) revenge on a pervy old commissioner. To call what she does to the man character assassination would be too kind. She destroys the poor son of a bitch, and it still is as funny watching it this time around as it was last time.

And lastly, we have Porky's Revenge, the final film of the only true trilogy out there (Screw you, Star Wars and LOTR nerds! There can only be one highlander of trilogies!). The third film dumps the social commentary for what is pretty much a textbook example of what T&A flicks of the 80's would become. I noticed that the nudity in this film was more abundant than the other two films, but I guess that could just be director James Komack overcompensating for… you know… not being Bob Clark. The fact that this is the closing to the Porky's saga is sort of a good thing. The film ends with the teenagers (Who are clearly in their late thirties by the time this movie was made) graduating from high school. Granted, they could have continued the series into their college years and so on, but I'm glad the series ended where it did.

Now I haven't talked too much about the actors and… During an interview on the first Porky's disc, Bob Clark laments that he had a great group of talented kids and probably ruined their careers by putting them in the movie. While none of them went on to having smash careers (Except for Kim Cattrall maybe), they all seemed to have led pretty decent careers inside and outside of the industry. Many of the main group of teenagers shows up in some of Clark's later films as well. I have to admit to having quite the crush on Kaki Hunter as well. Wiry chicks with a sense of humor always do me in… always… (Might explain my crush on Shelly Duvall as well).

Finally… I can't really do this article without mentioning the sad and untimely passing of Mr. Clark himself. I think the fact that he was taken during a loll in his career is the biggest crime. He had a lot of talent and integrity as shown by his earlier works. And it's such a shame that we weren't given the opportunity to witness his rebirth into cinematic greatness (As he damn well would have). You may have noticed that for the most part, this article has been straight-forward, relying less on the sexual and potty humor of the films than the more intelligent aspects of them. I haven't talked about the shower scene or the "I'm-Kim-Cattrall-and-I'm-part-werewolf-when-I-get-fucked" scene, because so many people have already talked those about those scenes to death. The reason is… I believe that time will show us ultimately how brilliant these films were. Sure they were simple, but sometimes isn't simplicity beautiful. Life doesn't always have to be complicated for us to enjoy them. That's why I think people like Arthur Miller and David Mamet love the original Porky's so much… It's a simple reflection of a time of one's life when nothing makes sense. And therein lies the beauty of these movies, in their simplicity. And I think, because of that, I can excuse Bob Clark of any bad film he's ever made… Even Baby Geniuses… Although maybe not Baby Geniuses 2.