10 Films Directors Wanted You To Hate

Today, Wet Hot American Summer is considered a comedy classic that spawned two Netflix series and gave birth to several actors’ careers including Elizabeth Banks, Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, and Paul Rudd. It had to have been beloved from the day it hit theaters, right? Actually, Wet Hot American Summer was hatedby mainstream audiences and critics. Factor in who made the film and where they were in their careers at the time, then it becomes clear that Wet Hot American Summer’s vitriolic reception was completely by design.

The send-up of the summer camp movie genre was directed by David Wain and co-written with Michael Showalter, both of whom came from the 1990s MTV sketch comedy troupe The State. The State was known for its punk-spirited take on sketch comedy. Think Mr. Show and The Whitest Kids U’ Know, but going a step further. This group of young New York comedians were hired to make a hip sketch comedy show for teens, but week after week it actually made fun of teen culture, thus going above most of the target audience’s heads.

Several years after The State went off the air, Wain and Showalter gathered many of their friends, went into the woods of Pennsylvania, and shot this little indie as a semi-reunion of the State. Wet Hot is a continuation of that same brand of humor; namely, Wain, Showalter, and company were going to do whatever they though was funny, knowing full well that the majority of people weren’t going to get it. Comedy is subjective, and after the film became a cult hit, Wet Hot American Summer changed the industry into what it is today.