American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile

It's very easy to overlook the real moral of this story -- that each teen needs to figure out for himself what he wants sexually, regardless of what parents or friends say. All the naked breasts, lingerie, sexist language, hard-on jokes, and gross-out humor can't help but get in the way. But strip away the raunchy dressing of THE NAKED MILE -- if you can -- and you have an oddly sweet love story of two teens in a committed relationship trying to figure out when and if they're ready to have sex. Though the extremely explicit presentation of the subject matter may make parents uncomfortable, it can give older teens a chance to talk about what messages they get from their friends about sex and how they can make smart decisions for themselves.

Parents may be alarmed by some of the things the girls say -- Tracy's friend advises her, "We're girls. Boys should know better than to trust us to be rational. It's not in our natures." -- and some of the things boys say -- when discussing Erik's "tragic" virginal status, a friend says, "I blame Tracy. If she would just give up a little ass maybe you wouldn't be killing your relatives with your money shot." All this bawdy banter and exposed flesh, in their own way, serve the plot, making Tracy and Erik work harder to reach the right decision for them. The fact that they choose love instead of promiscuity should provide some relief to parents.