Bottoms Is A Modern Cult Classic  

Annie, you may be a Black Republican, but you're the smartest out of all of us.

Ever since the Twilight epidemic of 2008, I have been wondering what movie would become the next teen cult classic. We've had a few contenders over the years, one possibly being Do Revenge, which was supposedly the next Clueless/Heathers of our time. It was all over social media; everyone was like this was the new modern cult classic of our era or whatever, but I didn't buy it. It was missing heart. Call me pretentious, idaf, but I think a modern cult classic has to be deemed that organically.

Which is why I think Bottoms is the most serious contender. It's a new kind of old story that is uniquely its own.

Bottoms came out in 2018, and surprisingly did not take the entire world by a roar as I thought it would. People who'd seen it did rave about it, but that was a select few. Most, including myself, hadn't even heard about it. It took a random encounter with a friend's friend who I met for the first time to learn about Bottoms. They described it as "Fight Club but lesbian."

I was given no more information, and to be honest, I didn't think that I needed anything more. I was hooked.

The premise of the story is simple: PJ (Rachel Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Eidebiri) want to get laid. They start a fight club at their high school to get close to their respective crushes, which, of course, sets off a series of progressively more absurd events. I mean, setting off a bomb at a school football game level crazy, which I feel says everything.

Yeah, Hazel, let's do terrorism.

I always associate the term cult classic with movies like Heathers or Mean Girls, which are timeless and unique. I think that they require having a specific universe and style that belongs only to them. Bottoms matched the same vibes. It takes high school politics and makes it relevant to our day and age today. I mean, it's hilarious, but its also sensitive and intentional about the themes it pursues. It's abrasive and wild in a way that feels like it has something important to say. With Heathers and Mean Girls, the story was all about critiquing high school hierarchies and cliques. It was dismantling the inherent power dynamics built by larger institutional establishments, like high schools. Bottoms takes a similar concept but posits makes it more relevant and more woke. It pokes fun cliques, for sure, but it goes further when it explores gender performance, sexuality, and how they adapt to social identities.

Stella-Rebecca: [while watching PJ and Hazel make out] Oh, wait, I'm gay!

Brittany: Yeah, I'm not. I just like gay porn.

Jeff: This is nothing like porn at all. Wait... is porn even real?

I mean, you can't get dialogue like this elsewhere. It's campy af, but that's the fun of it. The movie is unafraid of taking things too far, and I think that's what makes it special. It repaves a narrative that feels familiar and nostalgic and relevant. It's a new kind of old story. Because, truth be told, the tropes are shifting. What it means to be problematic is different know; the social hierarchies in high school are further complicated by more social and historical contexts. More kinds of people and voices need to be brought into the center of the story. Bottoms does that.

With Pj and Josie, for instance, their biggest obstacle to fitting in is the inability to adapt to the social identity required to be a part of the popular group. They go to horrendous– hilarious– lengths trying to fulfill the expectation of linking up with someone, but these lengths reveal again the unrealistic standards plaguing the high school body like toxic masculinity, toxic femininity, the toxcitiy of the gay agenda, and jocks. For example, just the premise of starting the fight club hinges on the idea that it would get the girls closer to their crushes. Their underlying motive highlights the skewed perception of being "cool" and how certain terms like "feminism" can be exploited. Pj and Josie go out of their way to exploit the women around them, using "feminism" and "female comradery" as a guide to hide their ulterior motives, which is to objectify other women. This is the perfect example of subverting who can perpetuate forms of violence (it's not just men, guys) and how certain problematic ideologies can become rationalized.

That's my favorite way to be an ally. You just say you're doing something, and then you don't do any of those things, you know what I mean? You say, "I support women." You don't.

There's a visceral fear of being problematic and unhinged, and I think Bottoms embodies that perfectly. Pj and Josie are navigating a minefield of wokeness and performativity. They themselves are performing, trying to stay on par with their peers while also recognizing that people go at their own paces. Nobody knows who they are, not really, and that becomes abundantly clear as the fight club goes out of hand. I think that's what resonates so much with everyone who's seen it. The movie is about learning how to learn and unlearn different perspectives and ideologies; it is about understanding what it means to be authentic and true to yourself.

But it's not just that. It's also a girl's buddy movie and it frickin' slaps. Forget Pineapple Express; this is hardcore friendship. This is women feeding into one another's delusions; it is high-school experience that so many of us can understand; it is pure unhinged adolescence rolled up into a ball of craze and desperation. Josie falls into yet another one of her trademark monologues, and I get it, man. I am with her wholly and utterly.

Yass! Yass, queen! Slay! Yass! Yass! Slay! Yaaaaaaaaaah!

At it's core, Bottoms is about Josie and Pj's friendship just as it is about the new friendships that they form through the fight club. And it's so fun to watch. In fact, the whole watching experience becomes this meta way to connect viewers to each other. After watching it, I feel connected to my friend's friend because she loves this movie, too. When context gives us a chance, it is important that we pull random quotes into the conversation. Someone tries to convince me that they're a feminist, I yell, "Your favourite show is "Entourage"!" and it doesn't matter if they don't get me, that friend's friend does. Bottoms unites us, reminds us of the beauty of friendship. That friend's friend is now a close friend because the movie created a bond between us; we can all be messy together and it's okay because I know she's got my back.

Bottoms is a home in some ways. A deep, hyper-exaggerated, terrifying mess of a home, but one that speaks to the new generation. It is a slice of life, a glimpse into the underlying mentality that presses down on all of us.

So, if you're feeling a bit nostalgic and need some unhinged, maniac fun, go watch it now!

Listen up, you [redacted] pieces of shit! Welcome to our fucking fight club!