The Project X Effect

Every good teen movie has that one groundbreaking moment when everything suddenly works out for the underdog. The nerd who becomes popular and gets the girl is a classic representation of this, and more often than not the backdrop of this moment is some sort of raging party. Films such as Can’t Hardly Wait (1998), Superbad (2007), and most recently Project X (2012) have one thing in common: the party. In these films, the party has become something more than just a party; it has become a reinventing strategy that adolescents are uniquely drawn to. Is it the desire to fit in? The appeal of having a good time? Whatever it may be, parties are hardly ever the way movies portray them to be. Has media overlooked the negative aspects of partying and in turn glorified its effects on a teen’s social life? Starting from childhood, young people are under constant pressure to fit in, and by depicting teens gaining acceptance through partying, media influences adolescents’ actions and desires to take part in such activities.

Of all the partying films to make it into theaters, Project X is perhaps the most explicit—and its movie poster is of no exception. The image of a teen sprawled face down on a patch of grass among scattered red plastic cups leaves little to the imagination. With visual cues such as his unkempt clothing and missing shoe, we know that this young man is not simply taking a nap on the lawn in his backyard. The implication here is clear: he passed out after some sort of out of control party. The message depicted on this movie poster would be instantly recognizable to the target audience of adolescents, and thereby draw them into theaters. The simple phrase at the bottom of the poster, “Witness It,” only adds to the overall advertisement. The poster is trying to sell us a message that the behavior that is being depicted is normal. The question is: are we buying it?

One look at the media of today provides the answer. Young people are bombarded with examples of how they should be acting and what they should be doing. The adolescent years are filled with defining moments. Not only are teens attempting to define themselves, but they are also figuring out how they want to be defined by others. On pages 238-243 in Elizabeth Kessler’s text Reflect, Inform, Persuade: College Writing Today there is an article written for Ms. magazine in 1984 by Jennifer Critchton entitled “Who Shall I Be?” The Allure of a Fresh Star” that describes the teen crisis of fitting in quite well, stating, “…identity is tricky stuff constructed with mirrors. How you see yourself is a composite reflection of how you appear to friends, family and lovers.” (239) Because of this, adolescents are susceptible to the desire to adapt to the in-crowd of society, and media tends to portray this in-crowd as party-going, excessive drinkers. The pressure to fit into this culture is what I call the project x effect. The project x effect has steadily increased over the years due largely to the influence of media.

The all-night party subgenre is not a new concept, and though the parties have gradually become wilder, generally the characters overcome a challenge and learn a valuable lesson. Over a decade ago in the 1998 film Can’t Hardly Wait high school seniors attended a graduation party that was advertised as “an event eighteen years in the making.” The party was essential in providing the shy loser an opportunity to get the popular bombshell that was always out of his league. In the 2007 film Superbad, two nerdy high school friends unexpectedly get invited to a hot graduation party which they offer to buy all the alcohol for in hopes that they will lose their virginity to drunken girls at the party that night. Over the course of the movie, we see the two main characters realize that even though they are going their separate ways for college, they will always be best friends. However, moral lessons like these are absent from the 2012 film Project X.

The film Project X follows the theme of a teenager’s desire to fit in. Thomas Mann plays the main character, Thomas, who depicted as a bottom-of-the-food-chain, less-than-cool high school student. However, when his parents go out of town for the weekend, Thomas’s obnoxiously vulgar best friend, Costa, played by Oliver Cooper, sees it as an opportunity to climb the social ladder and convinces Thomas to throw a party. What was supposed to be no more than 50 people quickly escalates into a few thousand, and Thomas is credited with throwing the best party of the year. His motives for throwing the party are understood by all teenagers—the desire to fit in. Here, character is set aside to make room for a much more insane, out-of-control party experience, in which -- no matter how much damage is incurred or how much it costs -- it was worth it.

As the movie progresses and the party rages harder, the images become more and more crude, like half-glimpsed snippets of a nightmare experienced through a drunken fog. It truly is out of control. Household items are shattered, a car is driven into the pool, and by the end of the party the house is in ruins, so much so that it looks more like a war zone than a neighborhood where families live. Project X takes the perspective that a great party is one in which teens turn off their brains and let their bodies go wild. The aftermath of which is illustrated perfectly on the film’s movie poster—teens passed out on a lawn. With visuals like the Project X movie poster and red solo cups becoming icons of a teen’s Friday and Saturday nights, could there be a much bigger issue at hand?

Shows like MTV’s Jersey Shore depict the party lifestyle as something to strive for. The reality TV stars of Jersey Shore spend the majority of their time jumping from one club to the next with alcohol acting as a fundamental staple of having a good night. The expectation is that adolescents follow suit. “Let’s get crazy tonight!” and “I just want to get drunk.” Become common phrases that are received with cheers of approval and camaraderie.

Let’s take a look at how the teen partier character profile might play out in a real life situation. Walking into a typical college or high school house party may not be as extreme as portrayed in the movies, but the basic concepts are still present. There would be a game of beer pong in the living room, some kind of music with a good beat would be playing, and just about everyone would be tipping and spilling their homemade alcoholic concoctions wherever they went. Generally, there are one or two people who have had a little too much to drink, and as a result either pass out or claim the bathroom as their territory—for them the idea of having a good night has gone out the window. Attending one of these house parties sober immediately puts a target on your back; people either make it their business to get you to drink or they ignore you entirely. This scenario paints of picture that of social rejection unless you participate in drinking and partying like the majority of teens are doing.

Drinking together provides teens with a sense of community, that’s why party films work so well. People who may have never spoken to each other become instant buddies because of the drinks in their hand. However, there is an ironic claim made by Jack Solomon and Sonia Maasik in their text Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers saying, “So the teen movie is wildly ambivalent…Perhaps it is no surprise that the outsiders can be validated only by the people who ostracized them.” (428) This means that the main characters of movies such as Can’t Hardly Wait, Superbad, and Project X seek approval by peers who never liked them in the first place. This indicates that no matter how hard they try they will never fully be accepted by those they desire to please, because they are not truly accepting themselves. Thus developing the vicious cycle of peer pressure teens are faced with throughout their adolescent years.

Social acceptance is something that plays a vital role during adolescence, and is seen clearly in nearly every teen film. Every direction teens turn, media is influencing their actions and desires, and as a result, is causing them to take part in activities that are beyond their years. Because of media young people are provided with examples both positive and negative of how they should fit in. More often than not, however, teens find themselves trying to imitate the onscreen parties and in turn wake up the next morning surrounded by plastic red cups. Their head is pounding and they adamantly vow never to drink again. And then the next party rolls around.

Works Cited

Critchton, Jennifer. Who Shall I Be?. Kessler, Elizabeth. Reflect, Inform, Persuade: College Writing Today. Pearson Education, Inc., 2010. 238-243. Print.

Greg, Mottola, dir. Superbad. Prod. Apatow Judd, Robertson Shauna, Writ. Goldberg Evan, and Rogen Seth. 2007. Film. 5 Dec 2012.

Harry , Elfont, dir. Can't Hardly Wait. Dir. Kaplan Deborah. 1998. Film. 5 Dec 2012.

Nourizadeh, Nima, dir. Project X. Writ. Drake Matt, Bacall Michael, and Prod. Phillips Todd. 2012. Film. 5 Dec 2012.

Solomon, Jack, and Maasik Sonia. Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. 7th ed. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. 428. Print.