Never Been Thawed...Ever

Never Been Thawed follows the lives of a handful of frozen entrée collectors. The film proceeds very much in the manner of a documentary in the sense that shots often cut to individual characters answering questions and explaining situations. While the movie seems to focus mainly on satirizing collecting, homosexuality, religion, music, and pop culture, it is not the main purpose of the movie. I believe the main purpose is to criticize insensitivity, hypocrisy, and people who are conflicted about their own identities through the humorous portrayal of things such as religion, collecting, and pop culture, as well as through the contradictory beliefs and actions of the characters themselves.

Insensitivity appears very early on in the movie when a mother and her son walk up to Chris, who is deaf, and ask him if he could teach her son some sign language for his Cub Scout badge. However, the way she words her question makes it seem like Chris is some sort of oddity (“a real live deaf person”) or a freak. At a later point Sean easily accepts Vince’s new design for the Mesa Frozen Entrée Collector Club’s website, even saying that it was far better than the old one that Shelly designed. He does all of this without considering Shelly’s feelings. Despite being a victim of another’s insensitivity, Shelly is just as unaware of others as Sean. Al has been in love with Shelly for a long time, playing the best friend role, just waiting for his chance to tell her how much he likes her. Vince is insensitive toward everyone but himself. He cares only about making money and being in charge of other people and situations. This ridiculous cycle of insensitivity among the characters is both exasperating and amusing. It also makes one reflect on their own actions as these situations are not at all unlikely or unfamiliar to most.

Hypocrisy is very prevalent in this movie and is mainly exposed through religion. Many of the very “religious” people in this film are not actually religious, but are using religion to get what they want. Milo opens an “anti-abortion” café across from an abortion clinic in order to draw in the protest crowds, which will be incredibly profitable for him. He does not care about ending abortion as much as he cares about making a lot of money. The same is true with Sean. He changes his band from being a punk band to being a Christian Rock band because he and the members would be able to be active and successful longer. He does not care about religion; he just wants to use it to gain fame and fortune. Shelly acts like a very devout Christian, however when given the opportunity to sleep with Sean she does not think twice. While amusing in the context of the movie, it is not uncommon to see people using popular and controversial causes such as religion, health, and even patriotism for their own personal gain.

There are many people in this movie who are confused or at odds with their own identity. Scott is obviously gay, yet he tries to be straight, because he does not want to go to hell for being gay. He is a fire fighter, but it seems he is really the fire station homemaker, baking food, giving massages, and directing training videos for other firemen. Al lives with his parents and seems to have no real goals in life. He is in love with Shelly but is afraid to tell her. He insists that he wants to be part of a rock band but is too timid and nice, and, of all the members of Sean’s band, he was the most suited to be a Christian music artist. Like the other characters in this film, Al collects frozen entrées to be part of a group and feel like he is doing something worthwhile. Shelly does not seem to know what she wants in life either. She says she believes in abstinence, but she obviously wants a sexual relationship. Sean and Vince, it seems, are the only characters who don’t lie to themselves . . . they just lie to everyone else.

Never Been Thawed is a very amusing film which, on the surface seems to be a film about very controversial and touchy subjects such as religion, pop culture, and homosexuality, but in actuality it satirizes (and occasionally exaggerates) the hypocrisy, insensitivity, and personal ignorance exhibited by many members of society.