DeepSummary
The episode discusses how films like Wild Things and Cruel Intentions in the late 1990s depicted sexualized teenagers, even though a film adaptation of Lolita struggled to get released due to its subject matter. It examines how these films tapped into the cultural phenomenon of Britney Spears, whose persona and music videos centered around her status as a sexualized but not-yet-adult teenager.
Wild Things is analyzed as a postmodern noir film that plays with tropes of teen sexuality and femme fatales, while ultimately not depicting anything too explicit. The episode tracks how the success of Britney Spears' debut marked a cultural shift towards the increased commercialization and mainstreaming of sexualized teen imagery, even as there was handwringing over whether it was appropriate.
As Spears' career progressed, the contradictions between her sexy image and claims of virginity became more strained. The episode suggests her stardom highlighted generational tensions, with teens and adults consuming the same salacious teen pop culture through different lenses. As the 2000s progressed, franchises and PG-13 films became the safest box office bets.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Films like Wild Things and Cruel Intentions in the late 1990s depicted and capitalized on sexualized images of teenagers.
- Britney Spears' music videos and persona centered her sexuality while still being underage, provoking debates around the appropriateness of sexualizing minors.
- There was a broader cultural shift in the late 90s towards increased commercialization and mainstreaming of teen sexuality in media and entertainment.
- Despite periodic backlash and moral panics, the success of this sexualized teen content highlighted generational divides in how it was consumed and perceived.
- As teen pop culture focused more explicitly on sexuality, PG-13 blockbusters and franchises became the safer box office bet for Hollywood in the 2000s.
- The sexualized depictions often relied on contradictions, such as Spears portraying an innocent virgin persona publicly while her videos featured mature sexuality.
- Films like Wild Things walked a line of being provocative about teen sex without actually depicting anything too explicit.
- The phenomenon highlighted debates around adolescent sexuality, the male gaze, and the ethics of sexualizing and exploiting minors for profit.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “Wild Things is kind of stupid, kind of shallow, and doesn't really hold up on repeat viewings. But it also has the spirit of revolution.“ by Karina Longworth
- “She is not book smart, Gregoriadis writes, but she is intelligent enough to understand what the world wanted of her, that she was created as a virgin to be deflowered before us for our amusement and titillation.“ by Karina Longworth
- “I said this may be a little old for me, she tells Daly she watched one episode of South park, which she critiqued as sacrilegious, and Daley wrote that the record company would be disappointed if Spears album didn't sell 4 million copies in the US. Within ten months, it had sold 18 million worldwide.“ by Karina Longworth
- “Certainly, though, in some ways Neve Campbell's character is coded as queer, especially in contrast to the ultra normative femininity of Denise Richards.“ by Karina Longworth
- “The bottom of the frame is occupied by the eldest Spears sibling, brother Brian, who lies on the carpet shirtless with a tv remote in his hand pointed at his older sister, a stand in for every young man who could conjure Brittany as a fantasy object with the click of a button.“ by Karina Longworth
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Episode Information
You Must Remember This
Karina Longworth
10/10/23
If Adrian Lyne’s Lolita became a case study of what Hollywood and America didn’t want to acknowledge about its sexualization of young girls, as the 90s came to a close the culture was full of “acceptable” depictions of teens in heat. Two hit films from 1998 and 1999, Wild Things and Cruel Intentions, adapted classic templates of adult sexual manipulation to turn teen girls into femme fatales (probably not coincidentally, both featured actresses, Neve Campbell and Sarah Michelle Gellar, who were famous for playing high school students on TV). Also no coincidence: these films entered the culture simultaneous to the debut of 17 year-old Britney Spears, whose videos and persona centered her status as “not a girl, not yet a woman.”
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