I’m basically going to have to parse out my exposure to Riverdale because this morning I tried to watch more of it and got as far as the show putting tender piano music over a pedophile emotionally manipulating her victim into not telling authority figures what she did bc “what I feel is real and if you tell we’ll never see each other again”
All they had to do was make a nice show with some typical teen drama but still reminiscent of the comics we know and love but they just HAD to go the PLL route. Like they should have just left well enough alone.
If it helps (which…“helps” is a relative term) the one person who finds out about it confronts Archie and tells him that he thinks Ms. Grundy is manipulating him for her own means. It’s mixed messages in the narrative, for sure. But as far as I’ve seen, most people can see through the bullshit.
Is it Jughead? Because he may be a tryhard goth Truman Capote wannabe, but that just means he would know a crime when he sees one.
It is Jughead, and he does flat out tell Archie that she’s manipulating him and doesn’t care about him, and that’s good, yes, but there’s still a refusal so far to have anyone call it what it actually is (and to be clear, Jughead’s disapproval is framed in the context of ‘she’s using you’ versus ‘SHE IS YOUR FUCKING TEACHER AND AN ADULT AND YOU ARE AT MOST, SIXTEEN) – and the refusal of all these shows to address the fact that their teacher/student scenes are scenes of statutory rape and inherently predatory – that is a definite message in and of itself.
Anything less than outright condemnation of these ‘relationships’ within their respective narratives just serves to frame them as grey areas where viewers can argue with themselves ‘its not really that bad’ because the shows literally want them to do that, they don’t want viewers to say to themselves ‘this shit is fucked up’, because the former is controversial and edgy whereas the latter is something that leads viewers to change the channel. Riverdale, Scream, PLL, they all know exactly what they’re doing when they frame teacher/student scenes like they do, and its exploitative as hell. They know what they’re portraying is wrong, but CALLING it flat out, unequivocally wrong would defeat the whole purpose of engaging in those kinds of storylines, so they don’t.
And so its no coincidence that virtually every teen show on television includes a teacher ‘dating’ a student, and almost nowhere do we see that ever called out for being actual rape and predatory behavior, which means all these shows would rather actively contribute to the mainstream normalization of statutory rape with a side of abuse of power dynamics thrown in than be accused of ‘preaching’ or whatever the bullshit excuse is this week.
The only teen show I can think of in recent years (like the past decade) that unequivocally condemns an adult/teenager sex scene and treats the adult as a victimizer and the teenager as their victim was The Fosters.
And Daria:
Mr. Edwards – Ah, but what to assign? (approaches the Fashion Club) You see, the only books worth reading are those written in the deep, passionate waters of life.
Stacy – So, like Jaws?
Mr. Edwards – No, no, like the novel I’m writing. (he leans over Tiffany’s desk) It’s about a slightly older, sensitive man and the love a budding woman child feels for him when she gets to know him better.
Tiffany – What…?
Mr. Edwards – See… love can be so simple when the hand of experience nurtures the budding flower to full blossom.
Tiffany – You’re writing about gardening?
(at the Morgendorffer house)
Quinn – And my Language Arts substitute wouldn’t stop talking about this stupid novel he’s writing!
Helen – Mm-hmm…
Quinn – About some professor who dates a budding child woman because he wants to blossom her.
Helen – Mm-hmm…
Quinn – And then he started acting out his stupid book for us, stroking Tiffany’s hair and telling her about his anguished soul…
Helen – Mm-hmm… what?! He was stroking Tiffany’s hair?!
Quinn – I know! Like Tiffany would ever date someone who wore a tweed jacket.
Helen – Daria! Get me the…
(she turns and sees Daria standing beside her, phone in hand; she had seen where this was headed moments earlier)
Helen – (takes phone) Thank you.
(outside the school; a tearful Mr. Edwards is leaving, his belongings in a box)
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