Look, it’s fine: we know we’re supposed to think we’re laughing at him, that he is the victim. That if you choose not to get the joke then that’s your call to get offended (it was the 90s, guys).

Jokesplaining aside, though, it’s not that simple, is it? Because there is something far more insidious here than at first meets the eye. There’s a clever piece of misdirection at play, and it’s a narrative trick which is still being used in 2019… only, nowadays, it’s not funny at all.

Nadia’s punishment in American Pie puts an end to her education. However, the inference is that Jim’s fate – humiliation in front of his peers – is far worse. And it’s this reframing of the male aggressor as the victim which is still happening right now. Indeed, it’s a trick straight out of the Trump playbook.

When women accused POTUS Donald Trump of sexual assault way back in 2016, when he was on the campaign trail (something which has become all too familiar since), he claimed to be the victim of smear campaigns. And he’s not the only one.

“This has destroyed my family and my good name, a good name built up through decades of very hard work and public service,” said Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, when he testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. It’s why Harvey Weinstein hires lawyers who say that they believe Weinstein “has been railroaded” and that “movements allow emotion to take over and they’re devoid of fact and evidence,” and why R Kelly rages like a wronged child in front of a female reporter.

Damage to a man’s reputation is still seen as something far worse than damage to a woman’s body, mind, career, future. And this is in spite of the fact that he may easily bounce back from it, while she may struggle for years with the repercussions.

Back in the 90s, this belief was buried so deeply in the collective unconscious that we didn’t see it. Now, thanks to campaigns like #MeToo, it is close enough to the surface to be called out.

American Pie: what ‘that scene’ can teach us about toxic male privilege in 2019