In 1999, a phenomenal event occurred that forever changed the way people look at pastry: American Pie debuted in movie theaters.

American Pie is the story of a group of friends consisting of awkward Jim (Jason Biggs), Oz the jock (Chris Kline), Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) in a serious relationship with Tara Reid, the sly Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas), and resident asshole Stifler (Sean William Scott). The boys are in their senior year of high school and have embarked on a quest to get laid before prom night. Hilarious hijinks accompany their pursuit.

Along the way we meet many characters: the sexy foreign exchange student Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth) who prompts Jim to blow his load a little early in front of a live audience on the internet; Stifler’s hot mom, who becomes Finch’s conquest; Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), who becomes Jim’s girlfriend and sticks her flute where the sun doesn’t shine; and in my opinion the one who steals the show, Eugene Levy as Jim’s Dad who buys him pornography and catches him doing a pie.

American Pie was so successful that the cast was brought back for two sequels. In the first, American Pie 2 the gang returns from their first year of college and decides to spend the summer renting a beach house. In addition to watching Stifler get peed on or watching Jim glue “himself to himselfâ€? the friends have to deal with the idea that they may drift apart, a feeling felt by many when they return to their high school friends after the first year of college.

Then there’s the second sequel, American Wedding, where Jim and Michelle get married and Stifler plans a bachelor party to bring the trilogy to a close, where the gang does the inevitable they grow up.

The success of the American Pie franchise can be attributed to one thing: its ability to relate to its audience. The characters weren’t cookie cutter archetypes that are typically found in coming-of-age movies, they were regular people who acted their age. This means they drank beer underage, masturbated, watched pornography, dreamt of sex, and did all those things that you’re not supposed to talk about until your legal or married. It’s why the movies are so beloved by college students; they are hoping to live the experiences depicted in the movie thanks to the lack of parental supervision and it’s why the franchise continues to live on in a series of direct-to-DVD features.

American Pie isn’t just a slice of life, it’s a slice of what dreams are made of.