Mallrats was a farcical look at the world outside the horrible fate of retail (but still firmly entrenched in that world), and, while still a comedy, Chasing Amy tried its hand at being a little more serious than other Kevin Smith fare (and, I feel it is worth publicly stating: wow, watching that movie in 2021 is a different experience than in 1997).

Clerks was Kevin Smith’s amazing debut, and it all but defined the mood and attitude of a generation of people that were not even supposed to be here today. Had the damnedest time finding the remote for that DVD player…Īnd, since we are moderately on the subject, let’s talk about Dogma. And if you want the kind of low-key youthful rebellion that would inevitably be inspired by Kevin Smith’s films, consider the fact that my friends and I watched Dogma around midnight on gigantic screens in the sanctuary of a church. I was not old enough to date someone that had sucked 37 dicks (I mean, as far as I knew), but I was old enough to hang out at the mall, hate on magic eye posters, or have substantial opinions about working at a menial job. They were vulgar, often sexist/homophobic, and generally vaguely immature, but there was a truth buried in there that I felt like only my generation would understand. Perhaps something about his directing and writing was universal, or maybe my generation just happened to live at the edge of such things as “malls” and “the Catholic Church” existing, but, whatever the cause, Kevin Smith’s films spoke to me. That said? Goddamn did his early film oeuvre capture the feeling of being a teenager in the 90’s. He was born nearly fifteen years before this author, and his experiences are firmly those of Generation X. To be absolutely clear, Kevin Smith is, by all definitions, not a contemporary of my generation. I could watch a thousand “80’s comedies”, but when would I ever see a comedy that had the voice of an actual 80’s kid?

Chevy Chase had never played a Nintendo, and Leslie Nielsen clearly would never have an opinion on Voltron.

But, while I loved all these comedies, I had one complaint: all of this humor was aimed at my dad’s generation. After all, he was the man that introduced me to Woody Allen, and I watched the likes of Annie Hall, Love and Death, and Crimes and Misdemeanors well before I understood about 110% of the sex jokes contained therein. And this worked out well, as my father generally enjoyed comedies as well. Back in the dark ages of VHS tape rentals, I would always convince my dad that it was in his best interest to rent the likes of Airplane, Young Frankenstein, and Nation Lampoon’s Any Goddamned Thing. I am, and have always been, a comedy nerd. I have put some thought into this, and I have come to a realization:

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