That One Joke in 'Wet Hot American Summer'

The movie Wet Hot American Summer is very funny. It centers around a 1980s summer camp and uses silly, over-the-top, non-realistic humor better than probably any movie since Airplane. It's like a live-action cartoon. Plus, it has a heavenly host of great comedic actors - Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black, David Hyde Pierce, Amy Poehler, Bradley Cooper, Molly Shannon, Paul Rudd, and more! But there's one joke in the movie that always bugs me.


It's one of the first jokes in the movie, too. It's early in the morning on the last day of camp and a group of campers runs past Camp Director Beth (played by Janeane Garofalo). Beth sighs lazily under her breath, "You're not supposed to be out of your bunks. You're in trouble..."

It's funny because it's so true-to-life. It's the last day of camp. Beth is clearly tired and no longer interested in trying to discipline the kids. It's very honest and recognizable.

And that's exactly why it bothers me. Because there are NO other jokes of this type in the entire movie. It's funny, but it's not the right kind of funny. Maybe this is too nit-picky? It just feels wrong to me.

It's like hitting Murphy Brown with a pie in the face.