hey napoleon, gimme some of your tots

Watching Napoleon Dynamite (2004) over 20 years later

I wish I could go back in time and tell 2004 Kerry, a freshman in college, “I know you just saw Napoleon Dynamite at The Princess in Oxford, Ohio and thought it was the funniest movie you’d ever seen, but I need you to know that in 21 years you’ll be writing about it on Substack—don’t worry about what that is, it’s literally just a blog—and trying desperately to remember how you felt about it and how it was part of a changing comedy landscape.”

I think 2004 Kerry would have just asked, “Okay, but where can I find a Vote for Pedro shirt?”

The answer was probably Hot Topic¹, but that’s not why we’re here. We’re here to discuss Napoleon Dynamite and what it was like to watch it for the first time since college (with our eight year old son) and all the weird feelings it brought up in me. This is basically an after-the-fact dispatch of Flashback Summer. I saw Napoleon Dynamite right around the time I watched Garden State, another formative movie. It sounds a little cheesy to say it, but there was something crazy happening in film around 2004. Garden State, Napoleon Dynamite, Anchorman—we didn’t even know the influence Judd Apatow was going on have on comedy, basically rewriting the framework for a good 20 years. You know how people post about how it was exciting to be a millennial in Brooklyn in the 2010s when Girls was on the air (if you haven’t seen these posts, consider yourself lucky and yes, I am always considering taking an Instagram break because of stuff like this)? That’s how I feel about being 18 when all these movies came out. I saw them on dates, with my friends, at drive-ins. I listened to the soundtracks (well, not Anchorman). Going to school and dreaming of becoming a writer while so many coming-of-age (mostly male) stories were wildly popular and influential…well, it kind of did something to my brain, I think.

So what was it like to rewatch Napoleon Dynamite in 2025? Weird, mostly!

The opening credits are quite good.

First off, that White Stripes song: how did they get that? Did their entire budget go to music? Did Jack White just like the movie? Right away, we are getting the clear Wes Anderson influence, although it’s certainly not a direct imitation. I do feel that all the “Accidentally Wes Anderson” stuff in our culture has perhaps diluted what actually makes a Wes Anderson film stand out, but there’s really no way to look at this and not think of him, even if Wes Anderson himself would probably not use mustard to write the cast’s names. That’s the Jared Hess touch, baby.

For whatever reason, I remembered Napoleon as being a somewhat likable character, or at least someone to root for. But if we were rooting for him, it was in spite of his actions, because he is boldly unlikeable in a way that surprised me! He hates everyone at his high school, which kind of makes sense because they’re mean to him. But he’s not very nice, either! He mostly plays tetherball by himself and doodles mythical creatures in his notebook. When his grandma asks him how school went, he answers:

My son won’t stop saying this now.

He also lives with his thirty-something brother, Kip, who spends all day chatting with “babes” online. Kip makes me viscerally uncomfortable. I couldn’t handle his voice and demeanor without cringing. There’s a huge age gap between Napoleon and Kip, and the whereabouts of their parents aren’t mentioned, but that doesn’t matter here. This movie creates its own world. Jared Hess (and his wife, Jerusha, with whom he cowrote the movie) truly made this film in its own space, where the rest of culture doesn’t really exist. Everyone dresses like they’re in the 80s or 90s, but they have modern technology. The prom dresses look like they belong in an episode of Full House. The music is new wave, except when its Jamiroquai or the Backstreet Boys. People don’t talk about real/current movies or television shows. But this isn’t a flaw—if anything, it’s why the movie works.

Jared and Jerusha Hess met at BYU’s film school (thank you Wikipedia), and I don’t know how this influenced their film work. I tried to Google “BYU film school alumni” and Google would not let me. It kept giving me “NYU film school alumni” and like, guys, I KNOW Martin Scorsese didn’t go to BYU. I’m not knocking BYU’s film school, which I know literally nothing about—I myself got a creative writing degree at a university primarily known for its business school, so I’m not one to talk. But what I’m saying is that one could argue they were coming into this film as outsiders, and boy does that show. The structure of this film is bonkers. It doesn’t follow a conventional plot at all. There are multiple arcs in this story.

Basically, what happens is this: Napoleon’s grandma injures herself riding on the dunes (we actually LOL-ed at this scene).

Then Uncle Rico (that guy from the White Lotus) comes to stay with Napoleon and Kip while she recovers. Uncle Rico is presented as a guy who can’t stop reliving his glory days as a football player, but he’s gradually revealed as kind of a predator (the film downplays this, but he’s a weird loser who’s creepy to teenage girls).

When a new student named Pedro shows up at school, he immediately becomes Napoleon’s one friend. Napoleon, played by Jon Heder with a perpetually open mouth and an inability to smile, speaks as if he’s trying to get his words out as quickly as possible. Pedro mutters in a monotone, but he’s substantially more likable than Napoleon. There’s a sweetness about him, and he’s willing to go for what he wants (a date, the class presidency) even when the odds are against him.

Napoleon also meets a classmate named Deb, and he’s kind of mean to her, but he wants to be her friend? Deb and Pedro have a lot more humanity than Napoleon does—Deb is kind and hardworking, and she wears a side-ponytail that only adds further confusion as to when this movie takes place (why do I keep mentioning this when it does not matter?).

I wouldn’t have noticed this at all in 2004, but the way the film talks about and treats women is very strange. Not necessarily bad? But strange. Pedro asks Haylie Duff (the less famous Duff sister!) to the big dance, and she says no, and I guess this is supposed to make her bad. Granted, she could have done it in a more polite way, but it’s not wrong for a girl to say no to a boy. Napoleon asks another girl to the dance, and she doesn’t want to go with him but her mom says she has to. Deb agrees to go to the dance with Pedro (see, she’s GOOD), which prompts Napoleon to realize that he likes Deb. At the dance, Napoleon’s date ditches him (which is her right…he was not, at any point, nice to her!) and Pedro tells him…ahem… “I’ll let you dance with Deb for a few songs.”

Is all of this a big deal? No. Well, probably not. But is it indicative of the way our entire culture talked about women in 2004? Yes. And again, I’m not saying this makes the movie, or the filmmakers, bad. Napoleon and Pedro are clearly shown as being very awkward. Characters are allowed to say things that aren’t correct, obviously, and I want them to! I love an unlikable character! If Napoleon wasn’t incredibly weird and off-putting, this movie would have been boring and unsuccessful. It stood out because Napoleon is the way he is.

However. We were watching this with an eight-year-old, so it definitely prompted a conversation about how Deb did not need Pedro’s permission to do anything, and frequent sidebars that girls don’t owe dates to boys. It was a reminder that the way films spoke about women in 2004 was very different than the way they speak about women in 2025.

Hollis and I both remembered the big dance being the climax of the film, but it was only halfway through the movie! The structure of this film is nuts. Things are just happening. Hollis kept being like, “I had no idea where any of these scenes were.” The real climax happens when Pedro runs for president and Haylie Duff does a choreographed dance to BSB’s Larger than Life (an AJ vocal spotlight, which I appreciate). Pedro realizes he doesn’t have the necessary “skit” needed to run for president, so Napoleon, ready to be a good friend, goes out and does an impromptu solo dance to Canned Heat. The music in this movie is so good. Does anyone have a link to Jared Hess’s Spotify account…?

I’m writing this on our front steps right now and really hoping no one walks by and sees me watching Napoleon’s dance scene.

The film ends with Deb and Napoleon playing tetherball together as When In Rome’s The Promise plays (a GREAT song, an unimpeachable choice, you really got me here Jared).

It’s full circle: Napoleon isn’t alone. I may rag on him for showing no character growth and not being all that nice, but he did do one selfless thing for Pedro and I appreciate that.

Okay, here are a few more things:

-You know who DID show a lot of character growth? Kip. He starts the movie basically glued to the computer, but he finds the love of his life and is willing to change and grow for her! When he tells Napoleon, “Lafawnduh is the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” I was like…you’re damn right she is, Kip! I loved this interview with the actress who played Lafawnduh: “I thought either this was the funniest movie I had ever read or I was the corniest Black person I knew. Probably was a little bit of both. I met with Jory Weitz, who was casting. The moment he saw me, he was like, ‘My God. If you can act as good as you look, you are LaFawnduh.’ I was like, ‘Well, baby, that's not a problem.’ Two days later, the gentlemen flew in from Utah. I said, ‘Where's my baby, Kip?’ He was right there, flush red.” The whole thing is SO good, and kind of gets at why I think this relationship was the real heart of the film. They were so in love!

-I didn’t even mention that Diedrich Bader is here as an instructor of a martial arts technique called Rex Kwan Do. This is what I’m saying: there is a LOT going on in this movie, but I love that.

-Kind of related: this Letterboxd list of Jared Hess’s movie influences. I am not at all surprised by Army of Darkness!

-Kip and Lafawnduh’s wedding is a post-credits scene that instantly came back to me. Weirdly, Hollis remembered like every line from this scene. I hate to say “relationship goals,” but…

Since watching Napoleon Dynamite, we’ve been on somewhat of a Jared Hess kick. We watched Nacho Libre with our son (perfect film for a kid, lots of farts and fights) and then my son and I saw the Minecraft movie. Weirdly, I read an almost identical line in two Minecraft reviews:

“While I’m not the biggest fan of “Napoleon Dynamite” and “Nacho Libre,” “A Minecraft Movie” works best in those moments that you realize it was directed by the same person.”- Brian Tallerico, Rogerebert.com

“Unsurprisingly — or, as someone with a fatal allergy to “Napoleon Dynamite,” very surprisingly — most of that fun stems from the moments when “The Minecraft Movie” actually feels like it was made by the guy behind “Napoleon Dynamite.”-David Erlich, IndieWire

I wasn’t aware that most of the film world was holding such an anti-Hess sentiment. Roger Ebert was not a fan of either Napoleon Dynamite² or Nacho Libre. I’m fairly certain he would’ve really hated A Minecraft Movie, but I still wish I could’ve read his assessment. Personally, I found the non-Minecraft parts of the movie quite funny (I laughed out loud several times!), even as I realize that wishing more of a movie called A Minecraft Movie took place in the real world is a bit nonsensical. I found this piece on Pajiba that I think was written by Jared Hess’s nemesis. The piece asserts that Jared Hess is “failing upward” because his most recent movies have low Rotten Tomatoes scores and low earnings and now he’s been allowed to direct a big-budget blockbuster. I get that the industry determines quality based on these metrics, but as a viewer I don’t have to (see: this entire newsletter). I guess I’m just surprised by the level of antipathy directed toward him when I could easily think of, like, ten directors I find much more offensive.

Napoleon Dynamite may not be for everyone, but it was for a lot of people because it was markedly different than other movies at that time. This video is such a great explainer of how Napoleon Dynamite stood out, how the marketing worked³, and the influence it had on movies like Juno.

I can intellectualize and contextualize it all I want, but what’s it like watching it with an eight year old who doesn’t care about any of that stuff? Well, he loved it. He keeps asking us to ask him what he’s going to do today so he can answer, “Whatever I feel like I wanna do, gosh!”

Have you seen Napoleon Dynamite in the last 20 years? It’s currently streaming on Hulu, so now’s your chance! Please share any and all Napoleon memories: did you have a Vote for Pedro shirt? Let me know!

I have to go pick up my kid so please forgive any typos. See you next week. xo

1. How absolutely nuts would it be to wear a Vote for Pedro shirt now, in in the year of our Lord 2025? I would love it if you did.

2. The closing paragraph of his Napoleon Dynamite review: “I’m told the movie was greeted at Sundance with lots of laughter, but then Sundance audiences are concerned with being cool, and to sit through this film in depressed silence would not be cool, however urgently it might be appropriate.” I know I say this every week, but NO ONE is doing it like Rog!

3. When Jon Heder says, “Every fan felt like the first fan”…I did! I did feel like the first fan!