I have read that Napolean Dynamite has several "inside" jokes that the viewer only gets if he was raised Mormon.

Can anyone give some insights?

I'm still trying to figure out the inside Jewish jokes in Fiddler on the Roof ...

Not sure if there were any truly inside jokes. But:

Freakin - a word used by some from the Utah and Southeast Idaho

Dangit - same

Ricks College T-shirt - This is now BYU-Idaho in Southeast Idaho

Old farmer guy giving advice at the end - gives advice you would here from an old Utah/Idaho farmer including the same mannerisms

Puffy Sleeves - Many prom dresses worn by Mormon high school girls get altered so that they are more modest. Many have those puffy sleeves

Alphaville/Forever Young at the beginning of the dance. They play it (or used to) at every Mormon dance.

quote:

---

Alphaville/Forever Young at the beginning of the dance. They play it (or used to) at every Mormon dance

---

Why?

Dang Dave, you must be a lot older than I am! I never heard that song until I saw the movie.

Napolean Dynamite was a movie made by Mormons for Mormons. It hit the Sundance Movie festival and blew up. All the people in the movie are Mormon or live in Utah/SE Idaho. The characters they protray are not necessarily Mormon because they don't come out and say they are Mormon but they are Idaho and act like it. Yes Ricks College is a LDS own school that used to be a Junior college but now is a 4 year school renamed BYU Idaho.

As mentioned above there are a few things in the movie that hint at the Mormon influence but for the most part the movie is making fun of Idaho people.

BTW Napolean Dynamite is one of many Mormon based movies to come out. The best by far is the movie Saints and Soldiers and The Work and the Glory.

http://www.saintsandsoldiers.com/
http://www.workandtheglory.com/

I personally would rank Saint and Soldiers right up there with Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers.