What I learned from "American Reunion"

"His bed is on fire with passionate love ... the neighbors complain from the noises above ..." a song that takes me back to high school when going to the movies was an event, and we would always get mad at the one who brought the younger sibling that would not allow all of us to enter the "Censura C" movie (I was raised in Venezuela). I think that's what this movie wanted to do, bring all of us back to that time when we saw "American Pie" for the first time. It did that and more, if you haven't seen it, go now and watch it, because I will spoil the ending for you in this blog. The movie is extremely funny; Jim brings a gaggle of awkwardness and the Stiffmeister gets the ultimate revenge in the most legendary fashion. They brought back every character and went through such a fantastic literary process in developing them to a deep pro ... whatever, there's so much bathroom humor in the movie, I was bent in my seat laughing every 5 min.

As shallow as the movie seems, it develops the guys' friendship through times in a way that feels so real, you feel you grew up with them. It's very real the way each of them grew into something they, or even us as the audience, did not expected to grow into. Pretty much like real life. But it also shows how we would be the same person despite who we grow into. The movie was great. The comedy was the next step in the American movies sequence. But the friendship that kept going on despite the years, the distance, the separation, makes us feel good about those friendships that we have kept for this long. I love how with some old friends, we can go years without talking, but when we do, it's like we just hung out the day before, and nothing had changed. And that's the way the movie showed this reunion, exploiting the nostalgia of coming home, remembering your high school days, high school sweethearts, and so on. I have had the pleasure of reconnecting with some old friends and the feeling is great. You see how much they've changed, but at the same time, your brain focuses on all the aspects of that person that remain the same. Remembering old inner jokes, stories, embarrassing moments, trips, that girl we never had the balls to talk to, teachers, pranks. I don't like to live in the past, but reminiscing about older times remind me of how much I've come along since then, hopefully how much I've matured (loosely defined) and how I decided to remember certain times. Because we do define experiences, either on the moment, or when we decide to remember them. I tell you, choose to remember the positive of whatever experience, and you will begin to see the future with a brighter light.

It's funny how the guys in the movie always considered Stiffler to be their enemy, but Stiffler believed the opposite, he considered them his friends and was hurt by the fact that they had lost touch. A lot of times this happens to us as well, when we don't like someone, but before we realized it, they are a part of our lives and helped define who we are. So what did I learn from "American Reunion"? Tara Reid's still got it, I will always make an effort to make any sort of reunion with old friends, remember the good times and the people you were with, don't mess with high school kids, and every once in a while go and comment on your old friend's facebook wall, even if it's just to say "what's up?"