Being frank about the beans

Hard to fathom that it's been a solid two decades since the Farrelly brothers unleashed their runaway comedy hit "There's Something About Mary" upon the world. All these years later, it's irreverent impact can still be measured in modern comedy movies. We celebrated the picture's 20th anniversary at CineVerse last night by asking the following questions and discussing the following answers:

WHY IS THIS MOVIE WORTH CELEBRATING 20 YEARS LATER? WHY DOES IT STILL MATTER, AND HOW HAS IT STOOD THE TEST OF TIME?

• It still matters because it’s still funny, arguably because it’s so politically incorrect in an era of increasing political correctness. There are no sacred cows, no situation is taboo and nothing is immune from satire. 
• It has staying power because it works for a wide variety of viewers: men appreciate the toilet humor as well as the hotness of Cameron Diaz, and women like the romance angle and sweetness of Ted’s character. 
• Reviewer Gary Susman wrote: “What the film revealed is that women enjoy bodily-fluid humor, too (at least if it's relevant to the story), and that guys actually like romance.” 

IN WHAT WAYS DO YOU THINK THIS FILM WAS INFLUENTIAL ON CINEMA AND POPULAR CULTURE?

• It helped legitimize an emerging subgenre: the gross-out comedy, also called the crude comedy, which was also helped by contemporary comedy films from Saturday Night Live alums like Adam Sandler. 
• What are some of the hallmarks of the gross-out comedy? Much of the humor comes from jokes previously considered in bad taste, including public humiliation related to bodily functions and fluids, crude sexual activity, animal hijinks or death, the conditions of special needs individuals, and more. 
• It made a star out of Ben Stiller, who went on to a quite successful career, particularly in the following 10 years. 
• It created a slew of imitators who tried to replicate the gross-out formula and crude teen comedy in films like American Pie, Road Trip, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Old School, Bridesmaids, and the Hangover trilogy. 
• It also has an excellent credits/post-credits sequence, the “Build Me Up, Buttercup” number, which may have been influential on so many films today that feature post-credit Easter eggs (think of the musical number that accompanies the credits in “The 40 Year Old Virgin”). 

WHO DO YOU THINK THIS FILM APPEALED TO INITIALLY WHEN IT WAS RELEASED IN 1998, AND WHO DO YOU THINK IT APPEALS TO TODAY? AND IF THAT APPEAL HAS CHANGED, WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT THE FILM’S IMPACT, INFLUENCE AND LEGACY?

• Twenty years ago, it likely lured in teens and young adults as well as those who had seen previous Farrelly brothers comedies like Dumb and Dumber and Kingpin. 
• Debatably, the movie has wider appeal today because it became such a word-of-mouth phenomenon in 1998 as both a theatrical must-see and a can’t miss rental at Blockbuster. I know of people in their seventies who still watch and love “There’s Something About Mary.” 
• Consider that life is hard for a lot of us. What happens to Ted—unrequited love amid terrible trials and tribulations—can be sympathized and appreciated by many viewers, which makes this kind of an underdog story that’s easy to root for. 

WHAT ELEMENTS FROM THIS MOVIE HAVE AGED WELL, AND WHAT ELEMENTS HAVE NOT AGED PARTICULARLY WELL IN YOUR OPINION?

• You could make a case that all the major comedy bits are still funny to some extent. Audiences still have a great capacity to laugh at others’ misfortunes and when characters are publicly shamed and humiliated, as often happens in Farrelly brothers films. 
• Mary also stands as a pretty well-rounded and admirable female lead character who, while objectified by the males around her, has much more to offer than just a pretty face and body. 
• Yet it’s possible many people wince and groan today when seeing characters like the mentally challenged brother or the struggles of the would-be disabled architect. As a society, we’re more sensitive about trying to maintain the dignity and respect of people with these conditions. 

DO YOU THINK THIS MOVIE WILL STILL BE WIDELY WATCHED AND CONSIDERED RELEVANT IN ANOTHER 20 YEARS? WHY OR WHY NOT?

• Like any film, There’s Something About Mary stands at very least as a time capsule of what was funny and trendy at the time of its release—the late 1990s, in this instance. Putting the humor in context, it can probably still be funny and entertaining many years removed and for years to come. 
• Considering the pop culture phenomenon that it was, it’s quite possible that this movie will be remembered, talked about and watched for generations to come. Buzz films and trendsetters, even the irreverent and controversial ones, often prove to have a lifespan well beyond what is predicted. 

OTHER FILMS THERE’S SOMETHING LIKE MARY REMINDS YOU OF

• The comedies that followed featuring Ben Stiller playing a likeable but unlucky schlub, including the Meet the Parents trilogy and Along Came Polly 
• The American Pie movies 
• Judd Apatow comedies, including The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up 
• Cat Ballou, which also had narrating song performances 

OTHER FILMS DIRECTED BY THE FARRELLY BROTHERS

• Dumb and Dumber 
• Kingpin 
• Me Myself and Irene