Lexicon: YAMAD

[libertango]

An acronym: Yet Another Movie About Dorks.

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Originally coined when we were living in Orange County, and saw the trailer for A Night at the Roxbury one too many times. That would it put it at 1998, when this genre was just beginning to become the industry-sucking black hole it's since become. (And, not coincidentally, an early movie starring role for Will Ferrell, who could well be called the King of YAMAD. Though it's a tight race with George W. Bush.)

The appeal of YAMAD to the bigger marketplace is fairly simple: No matter how dorky, how stupid, how unfunny, how clutzy you may be, there is always someone more dorky, more stupid, more unfunny, and more clutzy than you... And, hey, isn't it laff riot to point and giggle at them?

Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd as "Two Wild and Crazy Guys!" could be considered the ur-text of YAMAD, and you may notice that many Saturday Night Live alumni recycle the basic riff and are involved in the genre.

Judd Apatow today makes YAMAD, and the whole Ferrell/Ben Stiller/Owen Wilson combine may be considered the core of the group. This would make Zoolander the archetypal example, despite Roxbury giving name to the genre. ("Zoolander: The Citizen Kane of YAMAD")

Kevin Smith is an odd counter example, because while his movies usually involve YAMAD elements, they're frequently too funny and too original to really count. YAMAD done right, perhaps?

Interestingly, Urban Dictionary has a definition for "yamad" -- that at first glance has nothing to do with our use of the term but seems strangely appropriate...

Comments

[maryread.livejournal.com]

Seems to me Kevin Smith cleverly disguises his movies as YAMAD when they are far more intelligent and sympathetic than the point-and-laugh variety, a kind of stealth smarts. Maybe that's just because I like his tho.

I blame Seinfeld: smart people who should know better.