Wet Hot American Summer

WHAS-3940.CR2

Wet Hot American Summer makes me want to go back to summer camp.

I just finished watching the Netflix miniseries today, which is a prequel to the original movie. The setting is a 1980s summer camp in upstate New York. Despite it being a very different experience from the summer camp I intended (particularly the deaths–there are several violent deaths in the miniseries), it made me wish I could be a kid again for a summer.

I spent four of my summer (at least, it felt like the whole summer, but looking back it was just 2 weeks a year!) at SEP at UVA. SEP is “Summer Enrichment Program,” and it was as dorky as it sounds. We went to class during the day, and in the evening we did normal summer-camp things: lots of sports, games, and social activities.My fondest memories are of playing four-square on the concrete outside of Tuttle Dorm and frisbee on the UVA fields.

It’s a little surreal watching Wet Hot American Summer, because it reminded me of both the possibilities and the awkwardness of youth. I don’t actually want to go back to being 13 years old, but is there such thing as summer camp for single adults? Something that wouldn’t be dreadful for introverts like me?

Also, just FYI, the show is quite funny. Lots of subtle jokes that leave me chuckling. And the sheer number of big-name actors who were willing to participate is really impressive. I want to go watch the original movie again now.

4 thoughts on “Wet Hot American Summer”

    • Thanks for finding that, Laura! It’s an interesting twist on the concept of summer camp for adults. Looks like lots of team-building stuff, but with strangers? I wonder if anyone actually goes to the camp without a friend in tow.

      Reply
  1. My local con had a gaming summer camp that went very well. They booked a YMCA camp for a weekend and scheduled games as well as camp activities like canoeing and archery. I may try to attend the next one in the fall.

    Reply

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