Talk:Napoleon Dynamite

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Is there any real reason to have "Points of Interest"?

- Thorns Among Our Leaves 22:20, 19 Jan 2005 (UTC)

The idea of the things under "trivia points of interest" is to link to other articles that explain things people might be curious about.

For example I didn't know what a "boondoggle" was before I saw the movie, and other people someone might be curious about the weapon he finds. ---

Napoleon is bright?

Why does the article call Napoleon "bright"? I see no evidence of this. In fact I think Napoleon is supposed to be one of the not-smart nerds, like a Milhouse instead of a Lisa Simpson.

Agreed, there is nothing in the movie to indicate that he is particularly bright.

Removed 'bright' from his description.

• I'd say he is more of a geek than a nerd.

influences

This film seems to be heavily influenced by the work of Wes Anderson, Todd Solondz, and Alexander Payne to the point where I feel like they deserve mention in the article. I don't want to cite the filmmakers of Napolean for being derivitive (or that those 3 filmmakers were the only source of influence), but it's just very obvious where these guys took inspiration from. Napolean Dynamite resemble's Solondz's Welcome to the Dollhouse most closely, although Napolean is more comedic and Solondz' is much more dark and tragic. Stylisticly, the use of anachronisms and retro clothing styles, along with a penchant for making minor characters have highly identifiable quirks (such as Pedro's cousins w/ the bass mobile) closely resembles Anderson. The satirical depiction of High School life, and the 'plot', as it were, being centered around the election brings to mind Payne's film Election.

Black noun/adjective

This comment by IP 172.128.238.35 moved from article: On this page where LaFawnduh Lucas is referred to as "a black" assuming the noun tense I think that is inappropriate. I believe it would be more appropriate to identify her as "black" or a "black female" in that it describes her as she's viewed by others but not necesarily "what she is". Hope that makes sense.

Your site rocks.

• I've changed it to "She is tall, stylish and black" so now it's an adjective not a noun, I think that's what you want. Feel free to change it yourself. Kappa 07:22, 20 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Mormon food saving

A user removed a phrase saying that Mormons keep a two year supply of food for the last days on the grounds that this isn't necessarily why Mormons keep a two year supply of food. I have returned the phrase with the following support from President Ezra Taft Benson.

"Those families will be fortunate who, in the last days, have an adequate supply of food" -- Ezra Taft Benson, "Prepare for the Days of Tribulation"

I did not mean to say that Mormons do not believe in having a two-year supply of food "for the last days" but, that that is not the only reason that they keep a two-year supply. Muj0

That may be true, but most evidence suggests that other reasons Mormons give for saving up a two years supply of food were developed later.

Someone else deleted the cheese block reference entirely saying that, "big blocks of cheese are a southern Idaho thing, not a mormonism thing"

I don't disagree with the statement that big blocks of cheese are a "southern Idaho thing", but it is narrow minded to believe that keeping large supplies of cheese cannot be present in more than one cultural group. One could even argue that there is no difference between a "southern Idaho thing" and a "Mormonism thing".

I deleted the parenthetical that said that the large block of cheese could be a characteristic of "Southern Idaho" culture rather than mormon culture. I think that is like saying that wearing surf clothing is a part of Anaheim culture and not Southern Californian. Southern Idaho is frequenlty refered to as "Northern Utah" and its inhabitants are overwhelmingly Mormon. There is no "southern Idaho culture" that is distinct from its greater Wasatch Front Mormon context.

Yes there is. You're obviously not familiar with the Cache Valley economy. The whole reason it's a Southern Idaho thing (or more specifically a Cache Valley thing) is because of the HUGE dairy economy. I can get tons of cheese in this area for dirt cheap, because dairy products are locally made. This is not the case for most other predomantly Mormon areas, such as Utah county, SLC, Mesa, Las Vegas, etc. Besides, I've never heard of anyone stocking their two years supply with cheese.

Three points in response:

1) 80% of the population of Cache Valley lives in the state of Utah. http://imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/geog/rrt/part4/chp14/95.htm. I am absolutley famliar with the dairy culture of Cache Valley.

So? Nobody's disputing the high concentration of Mormonism in Cache Valley, including Preston. All I'm saying is that a huge block of cheese is much more typical to a Cache Valley resident (Mormon or not) than to a typical Mormon (Cache Valley or not). The sentence in question contributes little to nothing to the article. We don't need it.

2) The following is taken from one of many "provident living" food storage websites

"You can also purchase large blocks of high-quality cheese at the BYU dairy for a reasonable price. Buy in bulk (10-20 lbs) and you'll save a lot. Shred the cheese all at once, and freeze in small packets; it thaws very quickly, and is handy for salads, sandwiches, tacos, enchiladas, topping soups, etc." http://www.hashworks.com/foodstorage.htm

"For those with a large freezer or a large family, 5-pound blocks of cheese, 10-pound packages of frozen hamburgers and large quantities of frozen vegetables are often good buys. If the you-know-what hits the fan, you'll just have to eat alot of hamburgers for the first day or two." http://www.survival-center.com/guide/afford.htm

You're mixing up 72 hour kits with 2 year food storage. Besides, provident living is about living economically. If that means buying in bulk, so be it. Nobody is disputing that many Mormons buy in bulk, including cheese. But most Mormons will not recognize a huge block of cheese in a movie and think "wow, they must be Mormon stocking up for the last days". Barrels of grain or beans, sure. blocks of cheese, no.

"But most Mormons will not recognize a huge block of cheese in a movie and think "wow, they must be Mormon stocking up for the last days". Barrels of grain or beans, sure. blocks of cheese, no." You're wrong. I, being Mormon, recognized the large block of cheese immediately, I have seen the movie with a number of Mormon friends who also instantly recognize the block of cheese.

I, being Mormon and having ties to Cache Valley, also recognized the large block of cheese immediately, I have seen the movie with a number of Mormon friends with ties to Cache Valley who also instantly recognize the block of cheese. We all considered the large block of cheese as a Cache Valley thing. We could quibble all day about this. Again, the point is that the sentence in question contributes little to nothing to the article. We don't need it. If you're looking for Mormon influences in the movie, there are other things to mention that haven't been mentioned in this article: eg. the painting on Trisha's living room wall ("Girl Among the Hollyhocks" by John Hafen).

3) This is taken from a "recovering Mormon" website and indicates the ubiquity of the large block of cheese in Mormondom genrally. I have spoken with many non-Cache Valley Mormons about the large-block-of cheese phenomenon and I believe it extends far beyond the dairy capital of Cache Valley:

In Reply to: Large famlies = indirect child abuse. posted by fallen angel on February 04, 1999 at 16:35:59:

My mom always used to tell me she believed that if two people live the gospel and follow the commandments (wow), Heavenly Father would provide the rest.

Consider this...

"My parents had five children before my dad graduated from BYU. No job, nothin'. Just Saturday's at the Farm shoveling shit and lots of wonderful beans from Deseret Industries that mom would cook for hours and hours and we would dine on for days afterward. Powdered milk and big hard blocks of cheese that I could never cut to eat, and NO SNACKING. A stolen bowl of generic cereal would earn you a swift smack. There was never, ever, enough."

"How fucking ridiculous and irresponsible can two people be to bring children, count 'em FIVE children, into the world that they had no way of supporting? Even sicker is the fact that there are many "good" Mormon families out there just like mine."

"I agree with Fallen on her point, and I believe this "the Lord will provide" mentality and the reality of an oversized family absolutely winds up as abuse, indirect or not, to the children."

http://www.exmormons.faithweb.com/1999/large_families.html

This point only weakens your argument.

You'll need to do a lot more than just allege that it weakens my argument. I, frankly, don't see how it does at all. It's the account of a former Mormon complaining about the large blocks of cheese typical of his household.

So some poor family stocked large blocks of cheese. That's such a Mormon thing.

Idaho state commendation of the creators of the film. This seems worth putting somewhere.

 1                               A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 2    STATING LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND COMMENDING JARED AND  JERUSHA  HESS  AND  THE
 3        CITY OF PRESTON FOR THE PRODUCTION OF THE MOVIE "NAPOLEON DYNAMITE."

BenFrantzDale 02:27, Apr 20, 2005 (UTC)

"Controversial" timeframe

Who in the world "contests" the time setting of the movie? There would be too many anachronisms for it to be any time but the present. Obviously, Preston is very culturally backward, but I think there were enough incontrovertible elements in the movie that the theory that it took place in the past is not really reasonable. The only evidence given in the article is the '70s clothing and an old VCR, but there is a mountain of evidence supporting the fact that the movie takes place in a contemporary setting, including not least of all, the ID card that says 2004-2005! Is there anyone here who actually believes the movie is supposed to have taken place in the past? Nohat 08:10, 4 May 2005 (UTC)

I agree, the town's probebly just really backwards. The cooler kids put on the Backstreet Boys, because they're more up to date than the rest of the school (Obviously not, that up to date). And Napoleon Got the Jamiroquai tape off La Fawnda--Richy 13:10, 12 May 2005 (UTC)

The movie is set in 2004, just to clear up any confusion.

The Jamiroquai song came out in 2000, so it wouldn't allude to the 90s.

Additionally, Rico played Football "back in '82" so it can't be in the 70's

if anybody has ever been to a thrift store, it's practically a time capsule. i'm speakin from firsthand experience. old brown machines with fake wood panels, which was the style of the time...

Delicious Bass

Napoleon did fish for that delicious bass, and not in the freezer. In a deleted scene on the DVD he first runs away from the kickball game in a really boring montage and then goes fishing, presumably for the delicious bass. Bonus Onus 03:08, May 15, 2005 (UTC)

Colonial Juarez

Pedro and his family are never specifically mentioned in the movie as coming from Colonia Juarez. The prinicpal says he's from Juarez, but he and his family are obviously Catholics. Any thoughts? Gws57 July 1, 2005 14:02 (UTC)

I agree. The principal says Juarez, and probably most people from Mexico that come from Juarez come from Ciudad Juarez or Juarez City, which is right on the border of Mexico and Texas. It's a stretch to say that it definitely refers to the Colonia. In fact, they were probably just trying to pick a city that would be typical for Mexicans to come to the states from. FuzzyOnion 07:43, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

Stereotypical Cheerleader

The article points out that Summer is the "Stereotypical blonde-haired blue-eyed cheerleader." I have seen the movie very few times (2) but a quick glance at Haylie Duff reveals a set of brown eyes.

POV?

I notice there is nothing negative at all about this movie in the article. I think that may qualify as POV. Redwolf24 09:51, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

What would you recommend?

RJSampson 22:19, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

Hrm. Maybe something like "some people don't like this movie because they think it's stupid". Yeah, that's it. But seriously, we could mention, for example, that Roger Ebert only gave it 1 1/2 stars and said, essentially, that the movie is stupid. Nohat 21:44, 31 July 2005 (UTC)

Then Be bold and put something in - here is a reference for many reviews of the movie. I think Ebert's review that you refer to reflects his inability to grasp the movie - the main point of the movie and the director's ability to capture all the character's idiosyncratic view of the world is completely lost on him. 64.12.116.72 04:25, 2 August 2005 (UTC)

You've got to be freakin' kidding me. There's nothing understand. It's pointless and lame. -- Lenkyliciousness 09:29, 3 December 2005 (UTC)

How did you disguise your edit?

Someone changed the picture of the dvd to some stupid photoshop edit, and the history won't tell me what user did it.

Do you mean this edit? It was fixed within hours; the image is fine now and has been for a while. Everyking 05:22, 21 August 2005 (UTC)

Yes, that one, I fixed it.

Asperger's Syndrome?

The reference to Asperger's Syndrome seems out of place -- especially in the introduction. There's nothing in the film or the filmmakers comments that refers to it. I'd suggest deleting it or at least removing it from the intro. --Jeremy Butler 13:32, 4 September 2005 (UTC)

Yes, there can't be a reference to AS in the article as it would be personal opinion and un-encyclopaedic . That said, I went to see the film with two friends of mine, both in their 20’s and both with High Functioning Autism -its is usually more pronounced then Asperger's Syndrome. Both didn’t speak until they were 3-4 years old and were classically autistic as a children. One guy is Napoleon Dynamite, the other, you won’t know, he’s just quiet. Well, 'Napoleon Dynamite' turned to me during the film and said they were exaggerating Asperger's Syndrome. We didn’t find it offensive, it seemed to be from the Nerd’s perspective, but we would have liked to see a more positive ending --Diamond Dave 02/02/2006 21:45UTC

Bill Gates & Napoleon Dynamite short film

anybody have all the details on the film shown at the developer's conference starring Bill Gates and Napoleon? It's circulating the net and there is no doubt about it's authenticity

and Pedro's bewilderment at being reprimanded for practicing a "Mexican tradition".

What does that refer to - placing a cake on someone's doorstep? - is that a Mormon tradition? cda 17:40, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

Nothing, you Freakin Idiot! The Republican 00:48, 7 October 2005 (UTC)

~ The pinata. .."I don't understand.. in Mexico, we do that all the time.."

Line about merchandise

A line in the "Cultural Effect" section begins, "Although the only official movie merchandise is the DVD..." Though that may have been true once, it's obviously no longer correct, with a line of McFarlane Toys action figures and plenty of other stuff. I suggest that this part be rewritten. Andrew Lenahan - Starblind 21:36, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

A criticisms section.

This article seems mostly speaking of the popularity of the movie, but from what I've seen, people are split down the middle on whether is is good or horrible. A "criticisms" or "common Criticisms" section might be of use.

Trivia

"The extra scene at the end of the movie was actually included in the theatrical release of the film, not just on the DVD. It cost half as much to film the single extra scene than it did to film the rest of the movie. (Which is 200,000 dollars.)"

This doesn't seem to make much sense. Can anyone clear this up? 203.51.195.81 15:26, 20 December 2005 (UTC)

Userbox

Template:User napoleon dynamiteChernicky 19:47, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

Napoleon Dynamite is AMAZINGLY HILARIOUS!!