May 11th, 2010 by soullldiva

I don’t know if anyone remembers watching the movie Napoleon Dynamite for the first time. I remember sitting in the dirty, small AMC theater in the Burbank Town Center Mall (this was the only theater that was showing it at the time) and laughing at the odd comedy. I also was thinking that I knew at least a couple of people exactly like Napoleon in my little High School in Kansas growing up (you know who you are out there). The other thing that I thought, reluctantly, was that there was a little Napoleon in ME. WHAT???

This is such an interesting character that was developed by Jon Heder and Jared and Jerusha Hess. An outsider, an introvert, sometimes a jerk, bullied, pushed around, abused, and just weird. But he also loves fantasy, is creative, befriends the new guy, is unaware that he’s really that much of a dweeb, and willing to take risks and just show what he’s got.

Then comes the true surprise in the last 10 minutes of the film. The SKIT. When Pedro’s opponent for student body president, Summer, does her dance/sign language ditty, I’m thinking “what does this have to do with a school election?” Come on, what high school election was EVER based on platforms and NOT popularity? None of the ones in my school, that’s for sure. Pedro is done for. No one even told him there was a “skit”.

Napoleon to the rescue. With no second thought, with no thought at ALL (add dependable friend to the list above), he gives his audio tape to the stage manager and steps out in front of the crowd.

My jaw was literally on the floor as I sat in the theater. And the music? “Canned Heat” by Jamiroquai. Singularly one of the most danceable songs out there (and also used in the fun dance romp “Center Stage”). Nothing will endear you more to me personally than just letting it all hang out and really having a moment of pure enjoyment for yourself while you move your body. And that dance is completely improvised. Jon is not a trained dancer nor was he helped by any pro. But you can tell dancing comes very naturally to him. Those loose hips are sometimes very hard to teach (watch any first time dancers on DWTS), and he’s got them in spades. I wanted to stand up and scream at the end, and when the auditorium crowd does just that after a long pause, you feel completely vindicated for loving Napoleon and his original dance.

Bonus? He gets the girl in the end.