5 Things 21 Jump Street Gets Right
5 Things 21 Jump Street Gets Right
(AKA Kiss my arse you know who you are)
Note: Originally I had written this when I have only seen the trailers to the Avengers movie and did not have a good impression while still on a high about how much I unexpectedly enjoyed 21 Jump Street. I had finished the list but held off posting it because I wondered if I should edit it slightly and make it just a 21 Jump Street love post without any digs at other stuff. But I just saw the Avengers movie last weekend and all bets are off (A post on that movie later). Besides, there aren't too many digs so it shouldn't matter too much.
21 Jump Street is a lowbrow dudebro comedy about two completely idiotic and incompetent white guys who are cops. No seriously, I'm being quite honest - this movie is not high art or necessarily the one glorious exception if you hate lowbrow dudebro comedies featuring idiotic and incompetent white guys who are cops. Take my love with a grain of salt, not as a plea to run out and watch it. I not only love it, but I actually learnt some things from it. I have been annoyed with aspects of the Avengers trailer and find the Steve/Tony section of the fandom almost unbearable most days, despite having liked the ship quite a lot in the past. I also once read a Steve/Tony fic that utterly enraged me (although it was more of a final straw that broke the camel's back because there has been others that I also really hated but didn't rant about). This is about 21 Jump Street but is clearly also applying to other things in life.
1) Depicting a Jerk with humanity and making us care about their problems.
Greg Jenko (played by Channing Tatum) is shown as a jerk in high school towards uncool Morton Schmidt (played by Jonah Hill). Yet this movie is about their buddy dynamic and friendship. What I loved about this movie the most was their relationship with each other and how it evolves. How did it work?
Well firstly, despite giving us a moment where Schmidt completely messes up his chance to ask a girl he likes to the prom (and being humilated by Jenko and his other popular friends who saw and mocked the whole thing), Jenko also gets a swift consequence that is ironically linked to the same issue that Schmidt had. Because he had such terrible grades, he ends up not being allowed to go to prom. (Jenko takes his prom very, very seriously).
Besides setting up what their high school years were like (giving us enough information to understand their character development), it shows us that they have both a lot to learn. They even give us a shot where they are sitting on opposite sides both feeling like shit and having the realisation that the other person knows how you're feeling because they are feeling the same way. It also makes sure that Jenko never gets rewarded for being an arsehole, that he seriously cannot get away with his charm. In other words, they both have to grow the fuck up.
Fancy that, teenagers realising that they have to grow up, unlike a 40-ish dude acting like a bratty and immature 13 year old in fanfic. (And I mean immature even for a 13 year old, not just simply 13 year olds being immature).
2) Depicting a former (implied and inferred) bully being buddies with a former victim in a way that actually makes sense.
Years later after high school and college Jenko and Schmidt meet again at police academy. They don't act like jerks towards each other, there's no Jenko reverting to being an arsehole and no Schmidt seeking revenge. The worst thing is just Jenko saying when he notices Schmidt is: "Not so Slim Shady, what's up? I haven't seen you since high school" but it lacks any real bite and is more neutral than anything. They just meet, recognise each other and get back to work on their own to become cops. After seeing Schmidt struggle with physical stuff and Jenko failing a test, we get this frankly adorable gem:
Jenko: Hey, you want to be friends?
Schmidt: Fuck yeah, I do.
Jenko is willing to put himself out there emotionally (without additional assholishness and passive-aggression) and Schmidt is willing to accept that. They both acknowledge their weaknesses and get a friendship going. And their friendship is hilarious and kind of touching. (Jenko literally drags Schmidt along when running so he doesn't lag behind, Schmidt also helps Jenko with his many weak spots like trying to defend Jenko for not knowing the Miranda rights[1] or trying to explain to a perpetrator just what the heck Jenko was trying to say[2]). There's also this incredibly sweet moment where in order to host a party Jenko puts up one picture on the wall packed to the ceiling of Schmidt's photos[3] and says: "Now it really looks like we're brothers". (They're undercover as brothers and staying at Schmidt's parents' house). Aaaaawwwww. Schmidt also later asks Jenko to the prom as a way of saying sorry and to let him know that he does care. At some point the line "I cherish you" is even used.
3) In depicting a friendship between two people, it actually acknowledges that two individual people are involved.
When Schmidt and Jenko finally get to become "a lifetime of being badass motherfuckers", they celebrate it as something they can do together, not as ego-tripping lone wolf pissing contest shit. Indeed, one of the story threads is finding out how sure their friendship is, because it does get tested and ultimately proven in several ways. Schmidt and Jenko are also both allowed to bounce off one another in a way that is actually funny to watch, rather than tedious because there is enough good to counter the bad. There's a fight scene between the two, but not only is it absolutely hysterical to watch, it was used correctly to bring issues to a head, allow for a catharsis and so they can resolve their issues quickly onscreen.
This movie actually acknowledges the fact that it is a relationship built for two, and those two come to this assignment with their own baggage to deal with. Jenko cops shit for his idiotic intial actions and finds himself suddenly more vulnerable and lonely than expected and Schmidt finds himself becoming a little too involved with being suddenly seen as pretty cool instead of pathetic, leading to some dangers in compromising his mission. When Jenko actually makes friends with the kind of people he would in his earlier years have mocked, it actually comes across as plausible because Jenko may have acted like an idiot to a student about five minutes into his mission but he didn't act badly to the people who end up being his friends and allies. While Jenko may not have initially understood his soon-to-be-new buddies, he doesn't mock them or treat them like shit, and they respond to him realistically.
Schmidt has more of an emotional journey concerned with his bravery but his adventures in high school undercover is about getting him to develop his social skills. Partially by accident and partially by him figuring out quickly that hey, he actually has the stuff needed to get an in with the cool kids, Schmidt ends up earning the friendship of the group of kids needed. (One cool thing about this movie, due to Jenko not researching his role Jenko the book dumb guy has to learn to get by on his brains and socially inept Schmidt learns to develop his social savvy - their methods of working on the case also reflects their character development).
Two individual characters gain something different for themselves from their shared experiences, and ultimately meet in between. Neither are depicted as being in the wrong wrong wrong, and both are treated quite fairly.
OK, these two last things aren't quite focused on Jenko and Schmidt but it's cool enought to mention here (Tip: Supporting or Minor Female characters do not need to be personal cheerleaders for the heroes, villains, wallpaper or dead)
4) Molly is ultimately not a damsel in distress.
She really isn't, despite seeming to be one at first (To be fair, she was pretty whacked out on drugs). I was so sure that she was going to turn out to be one or even get stuffed in the refridgerator but at the most crucial moment, she actually saves herself, thus also allowing Schmidt to do his part in saving the day. Fuck Yeah, Motherfucker! (Sorry, it's a quote from the movie).
5) Never settle, Molly.
There is this rather common sentiment that women should just accept that the men in their life are not perfect and just love them anyway. Seems like a good lesson to teach except that the men they're expected to accept are often pretty horrible people who are never obliged to return the favour. This dudebro movie could have gone there (and most movies usually do) but this one wonderfully enough doesn't. Schmidt had all of the markers of being the "Nice Guy"(TM) but in his final speech to her he subverts it. While I can't find the actual quote, what he basically does is tell Molly that yes, he lied to her and isn't who she think he is, and...
...that she should stay mad at him. She should stay mad at him because she should never settle for anything less than a guy who would never lie to her on big important stuff and treats her well. Throughout the movie it looked like Schmidt had a crush on her and was possibly seeing her as a way to heal his old high school hurts, but at certain points we get little glimpses that Molly has her own personal baggage to deal with and Schmidt ultimately realises this (she had a dad who abandoned her; this could have been the usual cliche except the movie doesn't do the usual cliche band-aid solution of throwing her a boyfriend or making it the sole source of pain for her and turning her into a hot mess of idiotic daddy issues that consumes and defines her). While Molly does give a kiss to Schmidt at the end of his genuinely nice speech, there's no real confirmation of them having a relationship, so it could be read as a thankyou or goodbye kiss if wanted. (Especially since it would be a wee bit inappropriate for them to have a relationship, since of the age difference (he's 24) and the fact that he's a cop on an assignment).
And just because it was hilarious:
Jenko: Fuck you, Glee!
[1] Captain Dickson: Do you even know the Miranda rights? Jenko: It obviously starts with... you have the right to... remain an attorney...
Captain Dickson: Did you just say you have the right to be an attorney?
Schmidt: Well, you do have the right to be an attorney if you want to...
[2] Domingo: You guys even real cops? You look like kids in Halloween
Jenko: Hey! You want me to beat your dick off?
Domingo: [looks surprised] You want to beat my dick off?
Jenko: Right here both hands!
Schmidt: I think what he was trying to say was, he's gonna punch you so many times round the genital area that your dick's just gonna fall off.
[3] Schmidt: [referring to a wall in his parents' house displaying many photos of him as a youth] It looks like I died in a car crash and you never got over me.
Note: Originally I had written this when I have only seen the trailers to the Avengers movie and did not have a good impression while still on a high about how much I unexpectedly enjoyed 21 Jump Street. I had finished the list but held off posting it because I wondered if I should edit it slightly and make it just a 21 Jump Street love post without any digs at other stuff. But I just saw the Avengers movie last weekend and all bets are off (A post on that movie later). Besides, there aren't too many digs so it shouldn't matter too much.
21 Jump Street is a lowbrow dudebro comedy about two completely idiotic and incompetent white guys who are cops. No seriously, I'm being quite honest - this movie is not high art or necessarily the one glorious exception if you hate lowbrow dudebro comedies featuring idiotic and incompetent white guys who are cops. Take my love with a grain of salt, not as a plea to run out and watch it. I not only love it, but I actually learnt some things from it. I have been annoyed with aspects of the Avengers trailer and find the Steve/Tony section of the fandom almost unbearable most days, despite having liked the ship quite a lot in the past. I also once read a Steve/Tony fic that utterly enraged me (although it was more of a final straw that broke the camel's back because there has been others that I also really hated but didn't rant about). This is about 21 Jump Street but is clearly also applying to other things in life.
1) Depicting a Jerk with humanity and making us care about their problems.
Greg Jenko (played by Channing Tatum) is shown as a jerk in high school towards uncool Morton Schmidt (played by Jonah Hill). Yet this movie is about their buddy dynamic and friendship. What I loved about this movie the most was their relationship with each other and how it evolves. How did it work?
Well firstly, despite giving us a moment where Schmidt completely messes up his chance to ask a girl he likes to the prom (and being humilated by Jenko and his other popular friends who saw and mocked the whole thing), Jenko also gets a swift consequence that is ironically linked to the same issue that Schmidt had. Because he had such terrible grades, he ends up not being allowed to go to prom. (Jenko takes his prom very, very seriously).
Besides setting up what their high school years were like (giving us enough information to understand their character development), it shows us that they have both a lot to learn. They even give us a shot where they are sitting on opposite sides both feeling like shit and having the realisation that the other person knows how you're feeling because they are feeling the same way. It also makes sure that Jenko never gets rewarded for being an arsehole, that he seriously cannot get away with his charm. In other words, they both have to grow the fuck up.
Fancy that, teenagers realising that they have to grow up, unlike a 40-ish dude acting like a bratty and immature 13 year old in fanfic. (And I mean immature even for a 13 year old, not just simply 13 year olds being immature).
2) Depicting a former (implied and inferred) bully being buddies with a former victim in a way that actually makes sense.
Years later after high school and college Jenko and Schmidt meet again at police academy. They don't act like jerks towards each other, there's no Jenko reverting to being an arsehole and no Schmidt seeking revenge. The worst thing is just Jenko saying when he notices Schmidt is: "Not so Slim Shady, what's up? I haven't seen you since high school" but it lacks any real bite and is more neutral than anything. They just meet, recognise each other and get back to work on their own to become cops. After seeing Schmidt struggle with physical stuff and Jenko failing a test, we get this frankly adorable gem:
Jenko: Hey, you want to be friends?
Schmidt: Fuck yeah, I do.
Jenko is willing to put himself out there emotionally (without additional assholishness and passive-aggression) and Schmidt is willing to accept that. They both acknowledge their weaknesses and get a friendship going. And their friendship is hilarious and kind of touching. (Jenko literally drags Schmidt along when running so he doesn't lag behind, Schmidt also helps Jenko with his many weak spots like trying to defend Jenko for not knowing the Miranda rights[1] or trying to explain to a perpetrator just what the heck Jenko was trying to say[2]). There's also this incredibly sweet moment where in order to host a party Jenko puts up one picture on the wall packed to the ceiling of Schmidt's photos[3] and says: "Now it really looks like we're brothers". (They're undercover as brothers and staying at Schmidt's parents' house). Aaaaawwwww. Schmidt also later asks Jenko to the prom as a way of saying sorry and to let him know that he does care. At some point the line "I cherish you" is even used.
3) In depicting a friendship between two people, it actually acknowledges that two individual people are involved.
When Schmidt and Jenko finally get to become "a lifetime of being badass motherfuckers", they celebrate it as something they can do together, not as ego-tripping lone wolf pissing contest shit. Indeed, one of the story threads is finding out how sure their friendship is, because it does get tested and ultimately proven in several ways. Schmidt and Jenko are also both allowed to bounce off one another in a way that is actually funny to watch, rather than tedious because there is enough good to counter the bad. There's a fight scene between the two, but not only is it absolutely hysterical to watch, it was used correctly to bring issues to a head, allow for a catharsis and so they can resolve their issues quickly onscreen.
This movie actually acknowledges the fact that it is a relationship built for two, and those two come to this assignment with their own baggage to deal with. Jenko cops shit for his idiotic intial actions and finds himself suddenly more vulnerable and lonely than expected and Schmidt finds himself becoming a little too involved with being suddenly seen as pretty cool instead of pathetic, leading to some dangers in compromising his mission. When Jenko actually makes friends with the kind of people he would in his earlier years have mocked, it actually comes across as plausible because Jenko may have acted like an idiot to a student about five minutes into his mission but he didn't act badly to the people who end up being his friends and allies. While Jenko may not have initially understood his soon-to-be-new buddies, he doesn't mock them or treat them like shit, and they respond to him realistically.
Schmidt has more of an emotional journey concerned with his bravery but his adventures in high school undercover is about getting him to develop his social skills. Partially by accident and partially by him figuring out quickly that hey, he actually has the stuff needed to get an in with the cool kids, Schmidt ends up earning the friendship of the group of kids needed. (One cool thing about this movie, due to Jenko not researching his role Jenko the book dumb guy has to learn to get by on his brains and socially inept Schmidt learns to develop his social savvy - their methods of working on the case also reflects their character development).
Two individual characters gain something different for themselves from their shared experiences, and ultimately meet in between. Neither are depicted as being in the wrong wrong wrong, and both are treated quite fairly.
OK, these two last things aren't quite focused on Jenko and Schmidt but it's cool enought to mention here (Tip: Supporting or Minor Female characters do not need to be personal cheerleaders for the heroes, villains, wallpaper or dead)
4) Molly is ultimately not a damsel in distress.
She really isn't, despite seeming to be one at first (To be fair, she was pretty whacked out on drugs). I was so sure that she was going to turn out to be one or even get stuffed in the refridgerator but at the most crucial moment, she actually saves herself, thus also allowing Schmidt to do his part in saving the day. Fuck Yeah, Motherfucker! (Sorry, it's a quote from the movie).
5) Never settle, Molly.
There is this rather common sentiment that women should just accept that the men in their life are not perfect and just love them anyway. Seems like a good lesson to teach except that the men they're expected to accept are often pretty horrible people who are never obliged to return the favour. This dudebro movie could have gone there (and most movies usually do) but this one wonderfully enough doesn't. Schmidt had all of the markers of being the "Nice Guy"(TM) but in his final speech to her he subverts it. While I can't find the actual quote, what he basically does is tell Molly that yes, he lied to her and isn't who she think he is, and...
...that she should stay mad at him. She should stay mad at him because she should never settle for anything less than a guy who would never lie to her on big important stuff and treats her well. Throughout the movie it looked like Schmidt had a crush on her and was possibly seeing her as a way to heal his old high school hurts, but at certain points we get little glimpses that Molly has her own personal baggage to deal with and Schmidt ultimately realises this (she had a dad who abandoned her; this could have been the usual cliche except the movie doesn't do the usual cliche band-aid solution of throwing her a boyfriend or making it the sole source of pain for her and turning her into a hot mess of idiotic daddy issues that consumes and defines her). While Molly does give a kiss to Schmidt at the end of his genuinely nice speech, there's no real confirmation of them having a relationship, so it could be read as a thankyou or goodbye kiss if wanted. (Especially since it would be a wee bit inappropriate for them to have a relationship, since of the age difference (he's 24) and the fact that he's a cop on an assignment).
And just because it was hilarious:
Jenko: Fuck you, Glee!
[1] Captain Dickson: Do you even know the Miranda rights? Jenko: It obviously starts with... you have the right to... remain an attorney...
Captain Dickson: Did you just say you have the right to be an attorney?
Schmidt: Well, you do have the right to be an attorney if you want to...
[2] Domingo: You guys even real cops? You look like kids in Halloween
Jenko: Hey! You want me to beat your dick off?
Domingo: [looks surprised] You want to beat my dick off?
Jenko: Right here both hands!
Schmidt: I think what he was trying to say was, he's gonna punch you so many times round the genital area that your dick's just gonna fall off.
[3] Schmidt: [referring to a wall in his parents' house displaying many photos of him as a youth] It looks like I died in a car crash and you never got over me.