This clip in particular shows the character Jim masturbating to porn on his laptop when his wife goes to take a bath after their 2-year-old son had been put to sleep. Jim quickly stops masturbating when he sees his 2-year-old son standing in front of the bed, clearly unaware as to what is going on. Jim ends up slamming his laptop closed on his private part resulting in blood which his son notices. When Jim goes to the bathroom to clean up he finds his wife Michelle masturbating with the shower head. Both Jim and Michelle are immediately embarrassed by their actions and the way in which they were caught masturbating.
It is interesting to compare this scene to our discussion in class about pornography and sexual satisfaction. While Adolescents’ Exposure to Sexually Explicit Internet Material and Sexual Satisfaction: A Longitudinal Study and Processes Underlying the Effects of Adolescents’ Use of Sexually Explicit Internet Material: The Role of Perceived Realism were both studies based on adolescents, I decided to look at the way in which the media portrayed adult interaction with sexually explicit material. When looking at Jim as a character in the series, he also interacted with sexually explicit material while he was an adolescent in the previous American Pie movies. When Jim was an adolescent he related his own experiences, particularly with the exchange student Nadia, to those of others, the social comparison theory. He would therefore look at how he measured up to those on the screen. I would additionally say that he experienced perceived utility in which he would watch pornography as a source of useful information to learn and relate what is happening on the screen to that in the real world (Peter, J., & Valkenburg, P. M., 2010). He was uncomfortable with sexual activity in general and therefore looked to pornography and the media for help. However, now as Jim is grown up and married, he is not using pornography for this same purpose. Jim's use of pornography was extremely present in the other movies yet in the reunion this is the main time Jim is using pornography. This shows that there is difference among adolescents and adults as we can see by examining the changes in one character as he matures and gets married.
Additionally, in the previous movies Jim, and his friends as well, possessed instrumental attitudes toward sex. For example, the beginning of Jim and Nadia's relationship in the previous American Pie was not truly more of a casual game than containing relational aspects. This is especially clear when Jim uses a webcam to video their interaction and show his friends. If a boy was truly interested in pursuing a relationship with a girl I do not think this would be his plan of action.
As the examples I have provided show, while Jim was in high school, as portrayed in the previous American Pie movies, he used pornography differently and had alternative attitudes towards sex than when he is an adult with a wife and child in American Pie: Reunion. This could be the reason that when both studies examined adolescents only, their findings had to do with the social comparison theory, perceived social realism, social utility, and instrumental attitudes towards sex. It is possible that these terms apply to adolescents and maybe not as much to adults. This is where I would find it interesting for the same studies to be conducted on adults in order to see the findings and compare.
In the previous movies as well as this scene, Jim views and interacts with pornography alone, when he is sure nobody will walk in on him. As well, Michelle is in the bathroom with the door closed, most likely she assumed no one would walk in on her either considering the bathroom is a private place. While she is not watching pornography, she is still masturbating, just as Jim was doing. When Jim is walked in on by his son he is embarrassed, shocked and ultimately has a range of emotions. Similarly, Michelle is embarrassed when Jim walks in on her and Jim's face certainly shows shock to see Michelle. This scene brought me back to our class discussion of when we were first exposed to pornography. As many said, it was an accident, just as Jim's son Evan was exposed accidentally. While the personal examples from class were able to be recalled, I wonder if a child as young as Evan would be able to recall this. In the clip it does not have an impact on Evan and actually has a greater impact on Jim. I believe that this incident will scar Jim greater than it would Evan, considering he is too young to know what is going on in this situation. This scene also makes me wonder if pornography is used among adults, in this case married adults, or if it is something unusual that adults should be embarrassed about. Additionally, I wonder when is the age, maturity level, or life experience in which people no longer have instrumental attitudes towards sex that previously had these attitudes. Also, when is it that the way in which pornography is used changes? Is it when you are in a serious relationship? When you are married? When you are no longer living in your own room? These questions could all be answered using a study comparing adolescents and their usage of pornography and attitudes and then again later in life when they become adults.
Reference
Martinez, B. (2013, October 31). American Reunion 2012 caught asturbating ballbusting scene. Retrieved November 21, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlAFjHHRXTA
Peter, J., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2010). Processes underlying the effects of adolescents'
use of sexually explicit Internet material: The role of perceived realism. Communication
Research, 37(3), 375-399. doi: 10.1177/0093650210362464
Peter, J., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2009). Adolescents' exposure to sexually explicit Internet
material and sexual satisfaction: A longitudinal study. Human Communication Research,
35(2), 171-194. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2958.2009.01343.x
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