Everyone seems to know what the movie "American Pie Presents: Band Camp" is all about. As a member of the marching band since the ninth grade, I always heard "This one time at band camp…" jokes. They were really annoying, and having never seen the movie, I just thought that people who weren't in band were making fun of us.
I recently watched the movie for the first time. I know – it sounds crazy that a band geek has never seen that specific movie. But for a long time, I was under the impression that it was really crude and extremely stupid.
I do have to say though, going into this movie with the thought process that this was going to be a bad and stupid movie, actually made it seem not as bad or stupid. I mean, yes, it was pretty dumb. The plot was awful, but I didn't turn it off.
But here's the thing. That kind of band camp is not what band camp is really like. And I'm not just talking about the sex and alcohol.
My high school band went away for band camp. In that regard, it was similar to the movie. Occasionally there was another band there. But we didn't compete with them. We were at camp to learn our field show, music, routines, etc.
Flash forward to college. This couldn't be a more wrong depiction of band and band camp. My college marching band rehearses and practices just as much as, or even more than, the football team.
During band camp, we are either out on the field learning drill, inside rehearsing music, or inside eating a meal. There is rarely downtime. And when there is, there is a scheduled activity going on, that is more often than not, mandatory.
I'm sure in college band sex and alcohol occur, but I am not a part of that, so I wouldn't know. I have always been that band person that says, "If you're not in band you can't say that," in response to "This one time, at band camp…" jokes.
And to a certain degree, I stand by that. I hate that people associate band camp with what this movie has depicted. At the same time, I know that people will only know what they want. If they haven't experienced a true band camp, they won't know that there is a huge difference between the movie and reality.
