Bad Movies/Good Party Themes: Spice World Party Like It's 1997 Party

The first Friday of the month has arrived and so has our new party theme!

Here is a fun fact about me, throughout my academic career I have found one thing above all others which expedites my paper-writing process and that is….the music of the Spice Girls. Now, some of you may be sitting out there, thinking, That’s ridiculous. And while you’re not completely off base, I would encourage you to give it a try if you’re ever engaged in the lengthy process of writing something that is meant to be serious. Here are some of the reasons Spice Girls work:

-          Spice Girl songs don’t require a great deal of mental effort to listen to, so they won’t distract you from the task at hand.

-          When you’re writing something serious, you can get weighed down in the process and start to wonder how you’re ever going to successfully incorporate everything you’ve researched into the set page limit (or wonder how you’re ever going to meet the set page limit). Enter the Spice Girls. It’s really hard to feel weighed down when listening to “Wannabe.” Seriously, try it. It’s hard.

-          In my experience, every paper that I have successfully written has hinged on the dance break I have taken mid way through. And when I’m jumping up and down next to my computer tray table (high tech) as “Spice Up Your Life” blasts on iTunes, I can feel writer-y greatness rising up in my chest.

-          Sometimes you need to take a resting break from writing, but if you let it go for too long, you’re not going to come back. So, lean back and close your eyes as the dulcet sound of “2 Becomes 1” washes over you. When it’s done, so’s your break.

-          When you've finished your paper, you’ll still have the songs in your head for some ready to go celebration singing.

In conclusion, it’s always worked for me. Therefore, it seemed appropriate that the Bad Movie during the final month of my academic career should be Spice World. Even just thinking about the film makes me hearken back to the year it entered our lives.

Ah, 7^th grade Kelly, I remember you fondly. You favored knock-off Jnco jeans, t-shirts (either intensely oversized ones depicting Star Wars characters or advertising roller coasters, or ones that belonged to your nine year old sister and were therefore far too small for you) and hoodless sweatshirts. Your hair was still growing out from the Amanda Borden cut of 6^th grade. It was a strange length and intensely poofy, as it would be years before you discovered the magic of the straightener.  But you were definitely right, crimping it made you look cooler. Or like a mad scientist. But aren’t they kind of one and the same?

With the help of my friends, it was decided on a simple theme that allowed us to revisit our childhood selves.

As for the movie? It was just as great as I remembered. It actually improves upon the group’s music, which I never thought anything would ever do. But you know what the music just didn’t have enough of? Aliens and Meat Loaf.

Problem solved.

Crackerjack dialogue to look forward to:

-          “Listen up, take my advice – we need five for the power of Spice.”

-          “They’ve got fire in their eyes, hunger in their bellies…and great big shoes on their feet!”

-          “When the rabbit of chaos is pursued by the ferret of disorder through the fields of anarchy, it is time to hang your pants on the hook of darkness.”

Tagline: “They Don’t Just Sing!”

For a Spice World Party Like It’s 1997 Party of your very own, here’s what you need (Caveat: Your 1997 may have been different than mine. Go with your gut.):

-          Spice World (1997)

-          Homemade decorated posters with plenty of Lisa Frank stickers. ‘Cause it doesn’t matter what year it is, she’s always awesome. 

Oh, Willow....always jumping in for the photo bomb.

Ignore Baby Spice's wonky foot. That was an accident. Stop judging me.

-          Snacks: Now, depending on your age, what you ate in 1997 might be different than what I did. So, go with your own experience here. If you were born after 1997 or are just looking for suggestions, here are mine:

-          Clothes: Dig through your closet, there’s probably something back there that can at least look similar to something that would have been worn in ’97. Roomie and I were both able to find clothes that we actually wore back then. (Included in my outfit was a sweatshirt that Roomie hates. She lists the following reasons as why: It’s hoodless / It’s white / It doesn’t have a front pocket / It has a big seal of a historical event / It’s not awesome. I dispute the last fact, but the rest of them provide a fair description of my sweet souvenir from Fort Erie circa late ‘96.)

-          Glittery face tattoos.

-          Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC music videos for before and after the movie

-          Group of Girl Group/Boy Band groupies and/or late ‘90s enthusiasts and/or people you wouldn’t mind being hopped up on sugar with.