Knocked Up a Knock-Out

For all of you, (of course) in the name of research, I spent last Friday night with 8 of my best friends watching Knocked Up. I can’t imagine this movie being that funny watching it alone.
I probably need to put a spoiler warning up, although it is called Knocked Up, so you know there is bound to be a sex scene (or two). I was pretty excited when, only a few minutes into the movie, the group of guy nerds were talking about their website to show people where the sex scenes are in movies! I was thinking, man THAT would be helpful! Until I went to Mr.Skin.com and discovered that you have to pay to get in (bummer) and it is basically just celebrity soft-core porn. Anyways, back to the movie... (Here's the trailer)

The scene: Hot girl goes to bar. Nerdy guys go to bar. Hot girl gets drunk and has one night stand with one of the nerdy guys. This sex scene is probably one of the most awkward scenes to watch because, the sex is, well…clumsy and awkward (making it a stereotypically realistic drunken sex scene) Red background lights, fast music, the long drawn out condom search and … “problems”, and then the massive misunderstanding. Hot girls line: “Just do it already!” makes nerd think he can forget the condom and continue in the sweaty, sloppy grind-fest where he was so drunk he could “last forever” …yea, right.
My favorite line? “Stop talking, now”. Classic.
The next morning, being pretty impressed with himself that he slept with such a hot girl (and after the incredibly awkward morning-after-breakfast), they assume they will never see each other. But then the title “Knocked Up” would not have made any sense.

So she’s pregnant and when she calls to tell him, he thinks he is getting a booty call, but how oh-so wrong he is. So, she tells him, he is semi-supportive and they want to try to “work things out” and see how dating goes. This makes for another hilarious sex scene (watch it here) in which she is very pregnant, making him nervous and distracted that he is basically smacking the baby in the face. The “sex music”( think: bow-chicka-bow-wow) and self conscious questioning (Good? Slower? Faster? Lower? Harder? Shut up already!) is nothing compared to when the baby kicks, making him freak out (“It was a warning kick!”), and making her “lose it” completely. She then remarks “Don’t worry, I wont make you do this again” to his response, “…SHIT!”

Many incredibly awkward sex scenes in comedies usually get their hilarity by how believable they are. This could actually happen, or did happen to someone, and probably will happen to other people in the future. Being self-conscious or nervous or awkward about something like sex is funny because it actually is realistic. Funny things happen in the heat of the moment, and if you can’t laugh at yourself (or your partner) and move on, then the moment can be totally ruined (like here). This element of realism is also what makes teen-sex comedies so popular (remember kids, always lock the door when your parents are around).

I loved how abortion (literally) could not even be mentioned in this movie, (alluded to by “it rhymes with smashmortion” or “dealing with it”). Her decision process to keep the baby was relatively quick, even though it wasn’t with the right guy, at the right time, she wasn’t ready and she was obviously quite scared. Yes, the movie wouldn’t be the movie if she didn’t have the baby, but it was nice to watch her not spend too much time debating the issue since abortion is a popular choice (taking 1.6 million lives per year in America). But how many people were really rooting for her to keep the baby? How many women would have stepped up, and how many guys would have supported that decision? Sad truth: not many. Dana Stevens of Slate Movie Review agrees: "It's just not believable that, in Alison and Ben's upper-middle-class, secular L.A. milieu, abortion would not be matter-of-factly discussed as a possibility in the case of a pregnancy this accidental." And although this movie got an R rating for the out of place baby-crowning shots, an actual abortion debate probably would have been even more controversial (which is why this scene was deleted)...Interesting.

All in all, my advice would be either rent it (or download it) and watch this movie with friends if you want some cheap laughs (alcohol optional--and recommended).

I wonder how many times this movie actually mentioned Canada...