Big Mouth
Big Mouth is an animated show that came out in 2017 commenting on adolescence and the struggles of growing up in this modern day and age.
I think this show is extremely clever in the way that it takes normal, often very un-amusing situations and turns them into comical experiences that seem absolutely ridiculous. The main example of this is the manifestation of "puberty" as furry monsters that accompany their assigned teen or preteen on their journey to adulthood. They can only be seen by other teens who have hit puberty, which is a joke in itself, and try to influence the kids to act like the stereotypical hormonal girl or boy.
For example, the female hormone monster, Connie, eggs Jessie (the main girl character) to steal from a store to deal with her feelings about her parents getting divorced.
The way the writers made the hormone monsters the bad guys while making them lovable and the comic relief simultaneously was a stroke of genius. Taking real experiences, real life, and repackaging it in a way that is entertaining and informative for both kids and adults should be the goal of any TV show.
Despite how crude and often gross the show is, I believe it is one of the best things out there to watch. All of the implicit messages that are forced on a viewer in many shows or movies are explicit because they are being made fun of and ridiculed. All the stereotypes- like the sassy gay character- are overtly show and made fun of. Instead of playing into everyone's biases and prejudices, they put them out in the open which will benefit viewers in the long run.
If people are aware of the automatic lenses they have and the categories they put characters in unconsciously, they are more likely not to marginalize characters and people in general in the future.
This is a good show for teens, especially preteens, to watch. It brings light to a lot of real things kids will go through and it takes some of the pressure, nervousness, and anticipation from the experience- like getting your first period, or having your first kiss. Normalizing these experiences will make kids less embarrassed and more informed when they start to go through "changes", as the show's theme song so readily reminds us. Episodes like the Planned Parenthood one about the different types of birth control are as accurate as they are hilarious. The show is a digestible way to learn about the things no one seems to want to discuss openly- sex and drugs.
In the episode where Jessie and Nick get high off one of her dad's edibles, Jessie gets the good side if the high while Nick gets paranoid and starts hallucinating. Jessie and her friend have to talk him down and take care of him, and this whole experience cations kids against trying drugs and gives an example of what to do if someone has a bad reaction.
I think Big Mouth sheds light on the elephant in the room, not matter what it ends up being. If more shows were this blatant about what life is like, and represented kids accurately like Big Mouth does, the media and its influence on the younger generation would be less detrimental.
I think this show is extremely clever in the way that it takes normal, often very un-amusing situations and turns them into comical experiences that seem absolutely ridiculous. The main example of this is the manifestation of "puberty" as furry monsters that accompany their assigned teen or preteen on their journey to adulthood. They can only be seen by other teens who have hit puberty, which is a joke in itself, and try to influence the kids to act like the stereotypical hormonal girl or boy.
For example, the female hormone monster, Connie, eggs Jessie (the main girl character) to steal from a store to deal with her feelings about her parents getting divorced.
The way the writers made the hormone monsters the bad guys while making them lovable and the comic relief simultaneously was a stroke of genius. Taking real experiences, real life, and repackaging it in a way that is entertaining and informative for both kids and adults should be the goal of any TV show.
Despite how crude and often gross the show is, I believe it is one of the best things out there to watch. All of the implicit messages that are forced on a viewer in many shows or movies are explicit because they are being made fun of and ridiculed. All the stereotypes- like the sassy gay character- are overtly show and made fun of. Instead of playing into everyone's biases and prejudices, they put them out in the open which will benefit viewers in the long run.
If people are aware of the automatic lenses they have and the categories they put characters in unconsciously, they are more likely not to marginalize characters and people in general in the future.
This is a good show for teens, especially preteens, to watch. It brings light to a lot of real things kids will go through and it takes some of the pressure, nervousness, and anticipation from the experience- like getting your first period, or having your first kiss. Normalizing these experiences will make kids less embarrassed and more informed when they start to go through "changes", as the show's theme song so readily reminds us. Episodes like the Planned Parenthood one about the different types of birth control are as accurate as they are hilarious. The show is a digestible way to learn about the things no one seems to want to discuss openly- sex and drugs.
In the episode where Jessie and Nick get high off one of her dad's edibles, Jessie gets the good side if the high while Nick gets paranoid and starts hallucinating. Jessie and her friend have to talk him down and take care of him, and this whole experience cations kids against trying drugs and gives an example of what to do if someone has a bad reaction.
I think Big Mouth sheds light on the elephant in the room, not matter what it ends up being. If more shows were this blatant about what life is like, and represented kids accurately like Big Mouth does, the media and its influence on the younger generation would be less detrimental.
This has to be one of my favorite TV shows. I like how to talked about how Big Mouth focuses on many current teenage topics, and turns them into something that is very entertaining to watch.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that Big Mouth is having a sort of positive influence on us. The show helps us feel less awkward about ourselves since it makes all of our weird quirks and problems more normal and humorous, it makes everything less weird and scary when it is funny. I love watching Big Mouth and it kind of sucks that so many people hate it, especially since it is having a relatively positive effect on our ability to feel comfortable in our own skin.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Big Mouth is very influential for everyone that is or has been exposed to it. I think it really makes the aspects of our lives we are uncomfortable with discussing normal, and there is so much power the show holds by being able to do so. I personally love Big Mouth, and while I can understand people's negative views of it, there is no doubt that it is a very smart and reflective show in the end
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