Rating: 1/5
I’m just going to come right out and say it: This movie and the praise it has received online was disappointing. With the recent release of the sequel, and the announcement that there will be a third movie in 2021, I wanted to share my thoughts.
When I saw the movie, I wasn’t a fan of the plot line in general. But what frustrated me the most is the lack of a lesson or any kind of moral. Obviously, not every movie is going to teach a lesson! However, I’m very surprised at the minimal backlash it has received regarding gender equality and women’s empowerment. I’ve seen a lot of negative reviews of this movie, but from personal experience there are way too many young teens who care about these issues but choose to glorify the movie, on and offline.
Regardless of the controversy around this movie, it’s still getting a 3rd one. The Kissing Booth’s Instagram also has almost 2 million followers. This doesn’t sound like a big deal, but movie accounts usually don’t have a huge following. This is just another form of proof that this movie is having a large amount of influence among young and impressionable viewers.
There are a few scenes that specifically upset me when watching it. I even almost turned it off in the middle because of how appalled I was when I saw them. Towards the beginning, there’s a scene where Elle has to wear a very short skirt to school because her pants ripped and the rest of her uniform is at the dry-cleaner’s. When she gets to school, a male student tries to touch her inappropriately, but then they both get the same punishment (detention), even though it’s obvious that what this boy did was much worse than breaking the dress code. He then proceeds to ask her out on a date, which she says yes to!
The other scene I was somewhat mortified by comes a little while later, when Elle runs around the boys’ locker room in her underwear. Just to impress, you guessed it, another guy.
Didn’t we just have a whole movement where we taught young women to do things for themselves, and not for men? Where did this activism go not only when this movie was written, but when people watched and supported it? Being an activist isn’t easy. If you are using your voice to advocate for a cause, you can't pick and choose what to support and when. I’m practically begging you: Don’t be a performative activist! Everyone is entitled to their views, but please don’t say you support something and then totally disregard it when you see it in pop culture. There are way too many instances where we think of something as offensive, but the second a couple of attractive celebrities do it there’s suddenly absolutely nothing wrong. The least we can do is stand by our opinions, even if they don't go along with everyone else's.
My point is, I know so many people who identify as being a feminist who praise this movie. There are a lot of movies that have similar themes, but there are tons of differences in the way they approach them.
Most movies that have themes similar to The Kissing Booth that came out recently at least acknowledge what’s wrong in the scene, turning it into a plot point to fight for equality. Second, this movie is targeted at young pre-teens/teens. Things can get lost in translation. I’m sure the popularity of this movie has sent the wrong message to a young girl. Did it make her think that she should expect to be harassed by boys in her school, or that it's okay? Did she question her worth? Movies are more powerful than people think. And third, which is probably my biggest issue with the movie, is that this only came out in 2018. That’s 2 years ago. If it had come out a long time ago, maybe we could be a little more forgiving. But the fight for gender equality isn’t over - in fact, we're in the thick of it - and this movie definitely didn’t help.
I wrote this to express a point of view that I haven't seen represented much online among people my age, but if you have any other opinions (whether you agree or disagree), feel free to share them! I’d love to hear what you have to say :)
Xo, Weezy