{"id":421,"date":"2025-06-03T19:13:05","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T19:13:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/?p=421"},"modified":"2025-06-04T02:35:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T02:35:36","slug":"growing-pains-is-big-mouth-more-than-just-gross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/?p=421","title":{"rendered":"Growing Pains: is Big Mouth more than just gross?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Premiering in 2017, Netflix’s show \u201cBig Mouth\u201d has become one of the company\u2019s most notable shows. The series follows a group of middle school students as they explore the ups and downs of puberty, sex, and their bodies. While the series is known for its star-studded cast of voices (Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Maya Rudolph, to name a few) and its distinguishable animation style, I find the existence of the show itself a fascinating thing when thinking about representation. Particularly, I\u2019m interested in where the show lies in the discourse between Kristen Warner\u2019s \u201cIn the Time of Plastic Representation\u201d and Aymar Christian\u2019s \u201cBeyond Branding\u201d and whether it is a \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cbad\u201d representation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Known for its graphic depictions of sex, bodily changes, queerness, etc\u2026the show has garnered much negative attention. There are some insane, honestly gross plotlines (i.e. when we find out that one of the most sexually-driven characters, 13-year-old Jay Bilzerian, has frequent sex with his pillow (\u201cPam\u201d), and eventually impregnates her with a mini pillow) that at times, make it hard to watch without cringing. Indeed, while the show is extremely funny, many find it strange and unwatchable in that it depicts the sex lives of minors, yet is geared towards an adult audience. In fact, many websites say that the show isn\u2019t even appropriate for 12-year-old audiences\u2026even though that is the exact age demographic represented! It does make us question: what work is this representation actually doing? To what extent is it simply sexually exploiting children for adult entertainment? Is it simply a marketing opportunity for Netflix where \u201cintersectionality has superficial branding value\u201d and the real demands and desires of communities and viewers aren\u2019t being taken seriously?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I think it\u2019s less black-and-white than that. In fact, I do not think that the show is an example of Warner\u2019s \u201cplastic representation\u201d because there is actual \u201cmeaningful imagery\u201d in the show\u2019s 8-season-long exploration of puberty, hormones, emotions\u2014all things that we, even as adults, must contend with (Warner 35). While, of course, some parents might not allow their young children to watch the show (for obvious reasons), the series does a pretty good job at educating viewers about sex (much more than the basics we get in high school sex ed) and everything associated with it. Behind all of the gross humor and uncomfortable yet memorable lines, the series exposes and normalizes<\/em> the raw, awkward truths of growing up, experiences that we ALL <\/em> go through but don\u2019t talk about. And, I would argue, having it be on a platform as big as Netflix is important for the mass audience it reaches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While we can argue that the series is disgusting, we can also observe the myriad ways in which the show is doing good work for our world. Articles like \u201cBig Mouth<\/em> is Telling #MeToo Stories Better Than Any Other Show on TV\u201d (Esquire) or \u201cBig Mouth: <\/em>Can TV Teach Us To Be Better People?\u201d (Women Empowering Women) reveal how the series is not simply entertainment, but educational in its deep attention to relatable topics such as consent, birth control, periods, sexuality, fingering, depression, masturbation, anxiety, etc\u2026 As the show comes to a close, I still don\u2019t quite know where I stand. The show can be gross and uncomfortable, but it can also be funny and make people feel seen. In many ways, I find joy and comfort in the series because finally, someone is talking about these things!<\/em> And to me, that means something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Premiering in 2017, Netflix’s show \u201cBig Mouth\u201d has become one of the company\u2019s most notable shows. The series follows a group of middle school students as they explore the ups and downs of puberty, sex, and their bodies. While the series is known for its star-studded cast of voices (Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Maya Rudolph, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=421"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":438,"href":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421\/revisions\/438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}