By Sara Sugrue (April 5, 2005)

In an era cluttered with an emphasis on explicit lyrics, cleavage, provocative dancing, eating disorders, violence, peer pressure, popularity, alcohol, drugs, and the need for "parental advisory" stickers comes our knight in shining armor, our modern day hero, Napoleon Dynamite. "Complete with a tight ‘fro, sweet moon boots, and skills that can’t be topped," Napoleon and his crew have arrived to save the overexposed youth and introduce them to a simpler way of life.

"Napoleon Dynamite" is "out to prove that there’s nothing to prove." "Napoleon Dynamite" is the classic tale of the underdog; a social outcast that goes up against impossible odds and finds the strength within himself to overcome any situation. With his orange fro, retro glasses, high pants, moon boots, overused vocabulary, sweet dancing skills, dorky t-shirts, and a fascination with other worlds (including fantastical animals and urban street dancing), Napoleon is nothing short of a geek.

He lives in a dysfunctional family with his 31-year-old, live-at-home, older brother Kip and their grandma. Things go from bad to worse when their grandma injures herself while riding an ATV over sand dunes. Their Uncle Rico is then forced to move in to look after Napoleon and Kip. With dreams of making some "sweet moolah," Uncle Rico and Kip start a door-to-door tupperware business, leaving Napoleon to wallow in the miserable mire of his pitiful existence. Everything changes when Napoleon meets Pedro, the new kid at school who’s a near match to Napoleon’s nerdiness; and Deb, the shy, provocative, crafty outcast who has an eye for our hero. Napoleon’s life takes on new meaning when the trio launches a campaign to elect Pedro as the new student body president.

Although the plot of "Napoleon Dynamite" seems far-fetched and pointless at times, it offers up many situations that the current generation of teenagers can relate to. At one time or another, every teenager has felt as if they didn’t fit in with the rest of their school, much like Napoleon, the original outcast. Napoleon’s family serves as an example of how the majority of today’s America’s families are dysfunctional. There is no mention of Napoleon’s parents during the film. There is also the shy girl who sits alone at lunch, barely speaking or making eye contact with anyone, especially the boy that she has a crush on, such as Deb. There is the new foreign student, who feels out of place and is begging for someone, anyone, to help him in his ongoing struggle to blend into new, unfamiliar, surroundings. There is the uncertainty of first love. Napoleon and Deb play out the most awkward, nervous, courtship imaginable. Everyone has, or will, experience every nervous moment that the couple experience, such as the first dance or when your hands accidentally touch. There are no drugs, or swearing in the movie and the most popular girl in the school is an average-weight, fully-clothed class president. "Napoleon Dynamite" provides modern day heroes that any parent would encourage their children to look up to.

Walking down the hallways at George Mason, it’s apparent that Napoleon Dynamite has caught on. Teenagers across the nation have turned "Napoleon Dynamite," an independent film that debuted at The Sundance Film Festival, into the cult film of their generation. There are t-shirts, key chains, shoelaces, pencils, patches and other miscellaneous "Napoleon Dynamite" paraphernalia that were created to feed the high demand for "Napoleon Dynamite" products. It has become impossible to walk down the hallway without hearing the words "sweet," "skills," or "idiot" uttered in the same overly sarcastic voice of our hero. At our recent school variety show one of our own Masonites adorned herself in a "vote for Pedro" t-shirt and showed the crowd her sweet moves while depicting the climactic dance scene that took place during Pedro’s election speech. "Napoleon Dynamite" has saved a generation that has been in need for a hero.