Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp 2015

You know, I was planning on letting this one go... just willingly forget all about it but it's been bothering me since I finished TEN YEARS LATER and I've been talking to some people about it so here I am. I guess I'll start by saying that I actually enjoyed the movie and FIRST DAY OF CAMP so this isn't a case of me just simply not appreciating nor getting the humour in this. In fact, I enjoyed the absurdity of both those instalments and in a way they've blended somewhat together in my mind. TEN YEARS LATER however, is exactly the opposite and as much as I try to enjoy it and find it fun I couldn't, it just isn't truly there.

So what exactly is my problem with TEN YEARS LATER? Well, mainly that it isn't as clever as it think it is. Someone recently told me that if I didn't enjoy it is because I "probably didn't get that they're making fun of and deconstructing the clichés we constantly see in TV and movies; it is mocking the American way of writing shows/movies." And let me tell you, NO. I get it, this is a show that believes it is doing something really clever and different; that it is so subversive it is deconstructing everything: "lmao, look at us! we're so self-aware! this whole thing it's a big joke!" as if that was an excuse for poor writing. This is supposedly a comedy but it is so ridiculous and trying too hard to be ridiculous and absurd that it stops being a comedy; it is just something that's there and exists. The characters are mostly wasted, they're nothing but little pathetic shadows of what they were. There are too many storylines and a lot of them just exist to justify why certain actors are there and barely a couple of them are interesting and/or fun to see. But who cares, I'm so self-aware, I'm just mocking everything else! Right? I'm not trying to figure out everything or make sense of this because I get that it is supposedly satire and that it is supposed to be absurd, but I just can't see it.

Someone else told me that "this wasn't brainless entertainment" but really it is, the difference is that it is dressed as something clever when it really isn't. That same person said that the point of this series is that there isn't one, it's just supposed to be absurd. But still, I can't find any justifiable reason why this exists. I don't know, I guess you do have a couple of laughs with this show but ultimately I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, let alone revisit it, ever.