MovieChat Forums > Wet Hot American Summer (2001) Discussion > a movie so satirically accurate, it shat...

a movie so satirically accurate, it shatters the Jewish brain...


i have been to a jewish summer camp and i can confidently say that, with few exceptions, just about everything in this movie happened at one time or another at the camp i went to and probably at all jewish summer camps. the extreme makeout sessions, the game of capture the flag, the crazy bug juice obsessed cook, the trip to the river, the driving into town with privileged counselors, the talent show, the gay stuff, the kid who didn't shower all month long, the arts and crafts lady with weird koolots (however you spell those damn shorts that almost looks like skirts...) it all happened and watching this movie made me want to go back. of course, i'm way too old to go to summer camp now. but the desire is still there thanks to this awesome movie.

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it made me want to be jewish. i love jewish humor. and the jewish people.

survivor Invisible Monsters, Choke, Lullaby, Diary

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[deleted]

so what's your point, and how does that relate to this movie?

As if you're old enough to do business with anybody other than the chick at the McDonald's counter for a Big Mac.

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[deleted]

Shalom!

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Why? Be happy with the religion or race you're part of. You can be just as funny.

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robken0174: "Be happy with the religion...you're part of."

Unless you're kidding, this is such a questionable and loaded exhortation that I'm speechless (almost) .

Firstly, "Be happy". It's like "Be spontaneous", it's practically self-contradictory.

Secondly, "...with the religion you're part of". Ugh! You're placing politeness above Truth and Reason, and you're trivializing religion, theology, ontology and all that stuff.
And what if their religion advocates, or even requires, killing you? Why should we suck up to them like that?

____________________

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Bite thy *beep* i n g tongue! That's like saying, "I wonder what it's like being a cockroach?"!

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how about herion or dick cream?

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The cool thing about the movie is that if you went to a jewish summer camp, like I did, then you can totally tell it's supposed to be one, but the people who didn't don't always get that, they just think regular summer camp.

UAHC all tha way.

Culottes.

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I love the part where Jeannine Garafalo is yelling out the names of the campers who have to catch the bus to Boston in the morning, and she just trails off. Like, "Ester Steingoldber...ger...". I was a counselor at a Jewish camp (and a camper for many years), and we also had our director enact that ritual on the last day of the session.

However, the best line of the movie may just be: "I love it that, sometimes, for no reason at all, you're late for shul!"

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[deleted]

not everyone at jewish summer camps are jewish. sometimes they're exchange students. or have a lot of money and want something to do over the summer.

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Oh it's so a Jewish summer camp. In the scene you're talking about, where Coop calls his parents and tells them about Katie, his parents probably asked if Katie was Jewish because he said he was considering dating her. That's generally among the first questions Jewish parents have about someone their kid is dating. And there's always the occasional non-Jew at Jewish camps. Oh, camp. Oh, this movie. Just wanted to clarify that, even if this post was made 3 months ago. : )

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"Uh..I think so... she has a big nose..."

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The movie is based on the experiences Wain had while attending Camp Modin, a Jewish camp, then located in Canaan, Maine, and Showalter had at Camp Mohawk in the Berkshires in Cheshire, Massachusetts. During one scene in the movie, the counselors take a trip into Waterville, Maine, which is not far from the camp. It is also a parody of, and homage to, summer camp movies made during the 1980s such as Meatballs.

The film was shot at Camp Towanda in Honesdale, PA.



Whadda you do for a living, sell shoes? Cooka-yayah-o!

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Most of the campers are jewish, but he was referring to a fellow counselor...

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Better

Dsvid...Ben Gurion

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Hey does anybody know who Ruth Buzzy is? I dont know if this is a Jewish reference or an 80's reference.... It's the only thing in this movie that I dont get..

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Ruth Buzzi was a comedian/actress who was famous for her rolls on Laugh-In. She was also on the predecessor to the famous Nickelodeon show You Can't Do That on Television, Whatever Turns You On. I thought that she was just a funny person from the 70's who would've still be known in the early 80's. I guess it would be like if the film was made today, they might say something like "Jerry Sinfeld doesn't hold a candle to you!"

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she was a very funny lady on the show "rowan and martin's laugh in."

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I like this scene too, and I would think that "Beth" wasn't Jewish, because she's trailing off because she has a really hard time pronouncing the names.
Maybe she was just bored with this task. It's still funny.

I find myself doing this sometimes when I take roll call in class.
Believe me, I try to get the names right, but even some first names are hard to pronounce now (long or short vowell; which accent do I stress?).
Then I ask the student how to pronounce it.





"Henry! Henry! Library!"

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janeane garafalo was actually making most of the names up off the top of her head. a lot of this movie is unscripted.

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thanks for the correction on the spelling of culottes. and yes, uahc is where its at.

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[deleted]

I always assumed Garafalo was Italiano. I was just taken with the Jews when I found out that Michael Ian Black and Lewis Black were ones, or is it just guys named "Black" that I like? But the next day I saw Hero with Jet Li and Tony Leung... Before that, it was Canadian guys. I still want to convert to being half Jewish like my cousin did tho... REally, I like guys of all nationalities & religions as long as they're cute & funny, and are expert martial artists. Did anyone see the "Heroes of Jewish Comedy" series?

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Are people offended when you stereotype them as being sexy?

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[deleted]

I just love that line when Coop's on the phone to his parents and telling her baout his "girlfriend" and says the line "I don't know her nose is pretty big"

I think that's the funiest line in the movie!!!!!! So un-pc but who cares right!

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Consider you're probably talking to a 12 year old here... she likes any guy that's cute and an expert in martial arts.
Never mind if he's a complete prick and a drug addict with a felony police record for child molesting... as long as he's cute and an expert in martial arts.

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how do you convert to being half Jewish?

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i love this post so much i added it to my sig, hope you don't mind, LOL

http://www.myspace.com/robby_o

"What's a Nubian?"

"how do you convert to being half Jewish?"

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"I always assumed Garafalo was Italiano."

She is. And Irish

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Michael Ian Black's birthname is Michael Schwartz. Schwartz, in Yiddish, means "Black", although it would be pronounced "Shvartz." The massive use of the word "Schwartz" to refer to a certain piece of male anatomy is actually a misuse. That would is "shvantz." Michael Ian Black changed his name upon becoming an actor because there already was a Michael Ian Black.

How Lewis Black was named Lewis Black I do not know, but there are two likelihoods. One, either his mother married a non-Jew named Black but they retain the religion. Two, and more likely, is that he had a parent or grandparent who was in a business where having as obviously a Jewish name as Schwartz would have been a liability at that time and they changed it to Black.


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You said UAHC. I love you.

This is going to be my last summer at Eisner, in like...30 days. I'm so sad :(

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I'm not too sure why everyone assumes this is a Jewish summer camp... I keep hearing "It's just like the one I went to..."
Hate to break the news, but it's pretty much like any summer camp I went to, UAHC, Boy Scouts, or YMCA. Do they specifically say it's a Jewish camp somewhere and I missed it?
The song near the end "Day By Day," is from Godspell... hardly a Jewish play... and when it ends, there's a lit up cross behind the singers. Yeah, the kids boo... but they aren't booing the cross, I'm relatively certain of that, unless this great comedy suddenly turned to a sour, bigoted anti-christian flick for no apparent reason. They're booing the lameness of the song. I don't think an illuminated cross would even be ALLOWED in a Jewish camp.
Also, the emcee in charge of the talent show comments that he went to camp so long ago that Jesus Christ was his counselor. Yeah, yeah, again... Jesus was a Jew, however, wouldn't Moses or Elijah been a little more likely to be mentioned instead?

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Yeah...
I went to normal boy scout camp for a couple of summers, and I can safely say that I met most of the characters in the movie at some point during the stays. Does it really matter that much if it's jewish or not?

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Um, Jewish people can like Godspell, too. I'm sure some Chrstians like them some fiddler on the roof.

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Huh. I don't think any of the jokes in th "Godspell" scene work unless they're taken in the context of Firewood being a Jewish camp. First, the talented Christian group, ostracized from the other campers to the point that they really don't appear in the rest of the movie, are introduced as a group that "sucks d*ck" (by the incredibly Waspy Amy Poehler). The whole camp is very into the performance, clapping, swaying, and smiling, but when the cross is illuminated, the group is booed off the stage. I think they are booing the cross, which was obviously intended as yet another thing to piss off Hitler's ghost.

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I thought the cross was a piece of socail commentary... That even though they loved the show, when they saw the cross and that it was related to Christianity they boo'd it. Kinda like how supposedly religion is lame now-a-days... We'll see how lame it is when you die.

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Exactly

They were completely into the show even though it was obviously a Christian musical (singing about the glory of the Lord), but right when the cross showed up they booed. That was the joke. A sort of self-aware or self-deprecating joke, since most of the actors and actresses are actually Jewish.

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In the commentary, David Wain says that they're not booing because of the cross, despite that being what some people think. He said the joke was that the audience is obviously very much enjoying the act, but then they boo like they hated it. Ta-daa.


"You taste like a burger. I don't like you anymore." -- Andy, Wet Hot American Summer

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oh i see, like teenagers that have to act sarcastic constantly and keep up an act even when, inside, they are actually enjoying something/being genuinely entertained. haha thats a good joke, but i like mine better!

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ok, i like this angle better. i was a little taken aback at first because i thought they were booing the christian meaning of the song (but it was still hilarious, nonetheless).

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Ok. They aren't booing the cross. And there's no bigotry. It's just part of the humor that it's a Jew camp, and they're singing a song from a Christian musical.

And it is a Jewish camp.

The emcee performed at THE CATSKILLS. And Michael Showalter made it clear that the character was Jewish.

Regardless of the "Jesus Christ was my counselor" joke, it's just saying that he's old.

It's not a hard stereotype to read. Everytime I see that guy I nearly *beep* myself because it's so funny.

I don't think there's much doubt that Hank Azaria's character in The Birdcage was gay. Even if they basically come out and say it. It's NO surprise. You go through the movie KNOWING it, or else there's not much humor.

Just as the comedian is CLEARLY Jewish.

And EVERYTHING they say shows it's a Jew camp. Arriving late to shul, the names that Beth starts rattling off, the pants...regardless of the time frame. It's a Jew Camp, NO DOUBT. The humor in the whole movie is if you KNOW UAHC, you LOVE this movie. You can love it too, even if you haven't been to Jew Camp.

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I think the fact that they never actually said bluntly that it's a Jewish camp made it funnier. It's something the audiences just picks up, instead of spoon-feeding jokes. I am Half-Jewish and I was a counselor at a non-jewish camp in 2004 and I don't think you need to be either Jewish or counselor to enjoy the movie. However, I have no doubt that there are many jokes that some would appreciate more than others. You'll find that in almost anything though.

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i know this is an old topic and that no one has posted on this for over 3 months, but to settle this debate once and for all, this camp is supposed to be a jewish camp. it is based off of a jewish camp named Modin, which i happen to attend. david wain went to this camp, and many things in the movie are based around the camp such as waterville, which is a town right next to the camp, and moose river which anyone that has been at the camp long enough has been to

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Did you ever almost fall off Devil Canyon Rapids?

But yeah, it's one of those things where you just don't know until you get it. It seems like a normal summer camp, but after going to Jewish camp it smacks you on the head and you're like "OH *beep* NOW IT'S LIKE TEN TIMES FUNNIER!"

Goddamit, that movie is the greatest thing I've ever seen in my life.

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WRONGGGGG benc. Isn't Modin in Maine? Wet Hot was shot at Camp Wayne in the Pocono's, and isn't specifically based on any certain camp.

But be real.. All summer camps, even if they aren't Jewish camps.. Are Jewish camps. Haha, the majority of the kids at like all camps that aren't Christian are Jews anyways. And yes, I love this film, shows just what summer camp (not just Jewish) is all about...... Getting blitzed out of your skull and beating up old women. =p jay kayyyyy

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they didn't say it was shot at modin. they said that it was based off of that camp.

and yes the camp in the movie is a jewish camp however i also think a lot of the stuff can be applied to any camp scenario. seeing this movie makes me wish i could've gone to a summer camp like this when i was a kid. i suppose if i wanted to though, i could be a camp counselor. lol. but i think i'll pass even though i love this movie.

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I went to the summer camp this movie is based on, Camp Wise in Ohio. It's definitely a Jewish affair.

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but camp fireside is based in maine. the town they go into is "waterville, maine" (i think it's written on a sign, or else spoken) and the license plates are from maine.

_________________
Your dirt removes my blindness,
Your pain becomes my peace.

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this is responding to an older post, but the reason Janeane trails off when saying all the jewish names is because she's improv-ing all of them, trying to think of the most stereotypical sounding jewish names... ira stevens kleiner berg...i think was one of them

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The actual camp is a jewish camp, Camp towanda in honesdale pa. Used to drive by it everything I went to my ex girlfriends. she worked therefor a few summers and i got to walk around there with her and see some of the shooting locations.

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Ok...well, I was thinking of sending my kid to Eisner, but after reading some of these posts about how accurate (sorta) this movie is, I may hafta pass...

Great movie, though.

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the movie is based on camp modin in maine and was shot at camp towanda in honesdale pa. end of story.

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and at the beginning the radio person mentions jewish day school.
that comedian was too much. he just never quit. i love how the campers were laughing uproariously at his jokes no matter how lame they were.

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Jewish boys rock!

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Paul Rudd's Character Andy is frighteningly similar to my jewish ex boyfriend who also happens to be named Andy, who has worked at a jewish summer camp for the past 4 years, who behaved pretty similarly to the Andy in the movie with with the girls at his camp, forcing me to end the relationship.

Freaked me out.

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So you're saying you're available?

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xD


I did imply that with the whole breaking up thing, I suppose.




-
"Why haven't you asked me to untie your hands?"

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[deleted]

This is ten years later so pardon me for being late with it but to me it seems like David Wain saw Meatballs and the teenaged movies in the 80s and thought, "Hey, what would it be like if we crossed those both with my experiences at Jewish sleep away camp."

I think it's funny for everyone but if you're Jewish and went to Jewish sleep away camp (for me it was Cejwin in Port Jervis, NY in the 70s) there are in jokes just for you.

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This movie sucked....my opinion isn't based on that I didn't "get it". I got it just fine. I went to an overnight summer camp for 5 years, and I am jewish, and we had Friday night services at that camp, that for some reason I still attended. I "get" movies and TV show where I don't know much about the topic. I liked Sideways despite the fact that I don't drink. I loved The West Wing despite the fact I don't follow politics. This movie doesn't work because it is poorly written and stupid on far too many levels. People here have said it's a spoof. Well this movie seems to be a spoof on what is already a comedic topic. You're supposed to spoof dramatic or serious topics. Meatballs wasn't a spoof on summer camp movies, it was simply a funny movie about summer camp. Hell, even the barely mediocre Michael J. Fox summer camp movie Poison Ivy was funnier and more entertaining than this turd. It was a total waste of a good cast because the script was terrible.

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Not Jewish.

Watched it when it hit DVD with my girlfriend at the time and about 20 of her friends (all Jewish).

I was already crying from how funny it was, but they were having trouble staying upright.

We must have watched at least 100 times that summer. Every freaking night. Never got old. We had a drinking game based on it. It got down right insane. This movie is literally my entire 2001.

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