Sexualization of Teen Dramas Is Problematic

With Euphoria‘s 2nd season underway, viewers are once again forced to question Hollywood’s obsession with putting teenaged characters in sexual and explicit situations. Certainly, there’s nothing inherently wrong with covering so-called “adult” topics in teen and young adult dramas. The issue lies in the fact that these shows are obsessed with showing such topics, usually in graphic detail.

Consider Riverdale. In 1 episode, characters Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge (both 15 going on 16) try out for their school’s cheerleading squad by making out in front of their peers in a “steamy” showcase of courage. In another, Archie Andrews and Ms. Geraldine Grundy (16 and 35 respectively) make multiple references to a so-called “Romeo and Juliet” sexual relationship between the 2, a sort of “forbidden lust” that both entertain. And that’s just in the 1st couple of episodes in the 1st season. In the 2nd season, Betty strips herself in front of a crowd of peers and adults alike, and pole dances in order to join a gang.

How about Pretty Little Liars? Sophomore Aria Montgomery (15) meets Ezra Fitz (22) in a bar and goes on to have a 1 night stand. Of course, that’s before Aria realizes Ezra is, in fact, Mr. Fitz – her English teacher. The 2 characters stay together (besides breaks in between during moments of melodrama that had nothing to do with the fact that Aria is a minor) until the end of the show.

And back to Euphoria. Written to supposedly steer teens away from mature situations that induce such trauma, violence, and heartbreak, the show handles sex much more than the previously mentioned shows. And as another show set in high school, that decision ultimately places teenagers in such scenarios far more often than is necessary. The 1st season’s most explicit (and disturbing) sex scene includes Cal Jacobs (43) and Jules Vaughn (17) shown in graphic detail. The rest of the show is much the same.

Each of these shows are set in high school, cultivated for a teenage audience, depicting teenagers on the big screen. The actors being adults does not change the fact that directors of these shows are intending for the graphic and explicit scenes detailed throughout each show’s seasons to be between teenagers – or sometimes between teenagers and adults.

Yeah, teenagers have sex. No matter what your 7th grade Sex Education teacher might have told you, sex does indeed happen in the real world. But these shows are obsessed with putting teenagers in (sometimes unrealistic – I mean, pole dancing to get into a gang?) serious and oversexual situations. Talking about underage sex is 1 thing, straight up showing it (graphically) is another.

With adults acting out teenage roles, directors feel much too comfortable with filming these scenes, with placing fictional children into such scenarios. Too focused on the fact that they can depict such topics, they don’t stop and think about whether they should.

Besides, there’s no reason as to why these dramas just have to take place in high school. Would the plot really change all too much if the characters were aged up a couple of years and attended university as adults, instead? While it’s still disconcerting sexualizing young adults fresh out of teenagehood as much as these shows sexualize teenagers, at least it wouldn’t be putting minors in such raunchy, sexual predicaments.

As stated earlier, there’s nothing wrong with discussing these topics. The truth is, sex, masturbation – these topics are so heavily stigmatized that sometimes, these shows are people’s 1st introduction to such concepts. But because these shows play a huge role in how many are exposed to them, all these scenes serve to make kids feel as though they’ve “fallen behind” if they don’t partake in such situations.

Sure, shows like Euphoria may be covering “real” topics, situations that impact teenagers in the real world. But why does it have to be so graphic?