Photo: Jon Heder, right, and Efren Ramirez appear in a scene from the 2004 movie “Napoleon Dynamite.”
by Alice McIntyre
Napoleon Dynamite (2004) is one of my favorite movies.
The film, directed by Jared Hess and starring Jon Heder, is the dictionary definition of the American high school comedy. Our permed protagonist is a social outcast, whose niche interests and defiantly dorky demeanor get him beaten up and picked on by the various chads of Preston, Idaho. Joined by Preston High’s lone Latino Pedro (Efren Ramirez) and aspiring photographer Deb (Tina Majorino), the film sees Napoleon embark on a quest for self-actualization in the heart of Middle America. Rather than shedding his affinity for all things dweeb, Napoleon overcomes adversity by embracing his uniquity. It is through this acceptance of difference that he forges friendships and busts the sick dance moves necessary to get Pedro elected class president. I can summarize Napoleon’s misadventures in two words: wholesome and hilarious.
Fitting seamlessly into a hypothetical childhood hall of fame, Napoleon Dynamite is a movie that an entire family can collectively experience. In my case, there’s a solid 50-50 chance that the line “Just make yourself a dang quesadilla” gets whipped out at any mention of the Mexican dish. I also can’t tell you how many different stores I’ve seen “Vote 4 Pedro” t-shirts at. Undoubtedly, the film was a major contributor to the 21st-century rise to prominence of nerd chic. One could say that my sole gripe with Napoleon Dynamite is its role in making Hot Topic lame.
For a goofy flick about teen angst on the social margins, Napoleon Dynamite says a lot about the time period that birthed it. In particular, the film perfectly captures an optimism which has long since faded. Emblematic of the 2000s before, during, and shortly after the election of Barack Obama is an idealistic perspective on racial integration. We see this in the friendship between Napoleon and Pedro, as well as his brother Kip’s (Aaron Ruell) interracial marriage at the end of the movie. Napoleon Dynamite says that all you have to do to combat racial oppression is to befriend and represent minorities. This is also reflected in music videos from this period, where a number of white artists (see: Madonna’s “Hung Up”) are accompanied by predominantly black and Latino backup dancers. This trend was satirized, in a problematic fashion, by the inclusion of a black character literally named “Token” in the popular animated series South Park.
Liberal perspectives on racial integration in today’s world feel anomalous, almost juvenile. It was during Obama’s second term that Ferguson, Baltimore, and other cities throughout the country erupted into revolt against the police murders of Mike Brown, Freddie Gray, and Eric Garner, among others. Just a few short years later in 2017, hundreds of out and proud neo-Nazis stormed into Charlottesville, Virginia, in a provocation that culminated in the death of anti-fascist protester Heather Heyer. The idea that we live in a “post-racial” society is dead in the water.
To watch Napoleon Dynamite in today’s world is a form of cringe comedy unbeknownst to its original audience. Its nostalgic, 80s-inflected thrift shop visuals are now accompanied by a profound feeling of dislocation from time. Initially, I felt that this was the film’s defining feature, setting it aside even from the 2000s. That isn’t the case. In fact, that’s precisely why the film is so emblematic of the period: Napoleon Dynamite comes from a decade which served as a collective fever dream for a society on its deathbed.
Verdict: Sega Dreamcast/10. Ephemeral, flawed, but still beloved.
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