B Movies Blog

Hello, Movie Mavens! Welcome back to the B Movies Blog. Today, we’re popping Alexander Payne’s Election into the ol’ VCR. 

I don’t want to get political, but we’re talking Election today. Coming off its 24th anniversary on April 25 (WOOF), Election is one of those movies I always find myself coming back to. Even if it’s just to hear Tammy’s iconic line. RIP Jessica Campbell. 

“It’s not like I’m a lesbian or anything. I’m attracted to the person. It’s just that all the people I’ve been attracted to happen to be girls.” – Tammy Metzler 

Election walked so that other midwest/middle America movies like Napoleon Dynamite could run. It’s also the alternative to the teen movie that high school film nerds (like myself) could watch and use to make themselves seem more mature (like myself). 

Election also launched Chris Klein’s career, and we stan the man who plays everyone from Dusty Dinkleman in Just Friends to Dr. Bill Townsend in Sweet Magnolias. He perfectly nails the one popular guy at every high school who you want to hate, but you can’t.  

I’d love to see Vanessa Lutz and Tracy Flick in a fight. 

On the flip side, Reese Witherspoon plays the girl in high school we all tried to like, but we knew would stab a knife in your back as she hugged you and complimented your shoes. You knew it wasn’t totally her fault, but her ambitions were too big for trivial things like high school friendships. 

The biggest difference between watching Election as a 30-year-old woman vs a 15-year-old teenager is understanding Matthew Broderick’s reasoning. Listen, I’m a firm believer in the principle of once a cheater, always a cheater, and I don’t condone cheating in any way (don’t look now, but my childhood trauma is showing). 

However, I totally get the feeling of life crashing down and wanting to have control over something… even if it means rigging a high school election. 

Election is yet another example of capturing lighting in a bottle. The initial charm of Election would be lost in a remake; it wouldn’t have the slightly fuzzy look and feel of a 90s movie we’ve all come to know and love. 

Election embodies the weird, irreverent, comedy we came to expect in the 90s, and that will always get my vote. 

A queen. An icon.