Thankfully, MTV lately seems to be making a conscious effort to trend toward plus realism-based programming aimed at younger demographics (contrived reality shows like Jersey rive aside), at least judging par newer series like The Hard Times of RJ Berger, the now-cancelled Skins, and the network's latest entry Awkward, which follows Jenna (Ashley Rickards), a high school outcast who uses a false rumor that she attempted suicide as the launching pad for attaining higher visibility among her classmates. With each series, the network seems to be doing better and Awkward is par far the best of the bunch.
As in the former two series, the adolescent characters in Awkward talk about sex with a genuine frankness not often seen in shows aimed at teens – a frankness that may not be "P.C.", but that nevertheless approximates the way real young people speak to one another.
Which is why following an Awkward panel at the télévision Summer Critics Press Tour in Los Angeles last week, I made sure to catch up with several members of the show's cast to talk to about the show's unflinching attitudes regarding teen sex, and how those attitudes might be reflected in the series going forward.
"I think the most annoying thing is when toi watch a teenage montrer and they want to talk about sex, and so they keep using the word 'sex'," a dit Brett Davern, who plays populaire class president (and potential l’amour interest) Jake Rosati on the show. "And it sticks out like a sore thumb, because it's like clearly the network ou ... Standards and Practices won't let them use… slang, ou euphemisms, ou whatever. And it's so fake, and so not real. I l’amour the fact that our montrer lets us use slang, and use language that kids use."
Molly Tarlov, who plays full-figured cheerleader and "mean girl" Sadie Saxton, told me that Sadie's discomfort with the very subject of sexuality and her own body is a result of issues she has with her weight (not to mention her secret crush on Matty, played par Beau Mirchoff). This is externalized in Sadie's attempts to exercise a severe level of control over her classmates, even when it comes to things like how much skin they expose.
"She doesn't touch [on] the body [image] thing unless it's a real moment where she comes out and is really honest about it," a dit Tarlov. "But toi know, in the third episode there's some hot tub action, which is much to Sadie's chagrin. So she tries to control everyone else's bodies [and] keep them covered up, because she's embarrassed about her own [body]."
Also featured in this week's episode (the series' third) is a subplot involving the character Lissa, played par actress Greer Grammer (daughter of Kelsey). Playing on an oft-talked about phenomenon in which teen girls preaching abstinence attempt to justify anything "short of" non-vaginal sex as a means to maintain their virginity, the storyline has holier-than-thou Lissa (think Mandy Moore's character in Saved) trying to plus intimately connect with boyfriend Jake without going "all the way."
Greer Grammer as Lissa and Molly Tarlov as Sadie
"[Lissa] is not only very Christian, but she's the president of the abstinence club in school," explained Davern. "Which comes into play in this suivant coming episode, episode three. There's some stuff that goes down at a party between Jake and Lissa where she wants to give Jake a present but keep her virginity."
And no, the montrer isn't just talking just about oral sex, but anal sex as well. At one point Lissa announces she's going to give up her "behymen" as her way to please her boyfriend, but to stay "pure" at the same time. While the montrer doesn't huge a sledgehammer to make the point, it's clear that the viewer is supposed to think Lissa is ridiculous to believe she is somehow not having sex that "counts."
While the obvious implications of the scene Davern described could certainly be defined as "edgy" par the standards of network television, as far as series creator/exec-producer Lauren Iungerich is concerned the scenario isn't out of left field when toi consider what regular teenagers go through on a daily basis. In fact, the montrer somewhat mirrors her own sexual awakening as a teenager.
"When I first started having sex… I had sex with somebody because I felt like I had to get it over with," she said. "And afterwards [it] was sort of this like, 'Oh my god, I gave this thing [up]. I'm really vulnerable… I've shared something truly intimate with somebody I don’t even really know.' Not until you're older do toi realize what intimacy really is, and it has nothing to do with sex. And that's [Jenna's] journey."
The trap that some shows featuring similar female-centric premises have fallen into in the past is to present the male characters as one-dimensional pricks, but Iungerich refused to venture down that well-beaten path, particularly in crafting the Matty character.
"People think Matty's just kind of a cad… [but] he doesn't know what he wants!" she said. "He's a good kid! toi know what I mean? It's not like Jenna's not consenting to this relationship. She's consenting. And when she finally asks for what she wants and he's not ready for it, he says 'I understand and I appreciate that ... and I will still be your friend. I'd like to be more, but I can't give toi what toi want right now.'"
As described par lead actress Rickards, Iungerich didn't just rely on calling up her own past experiences as a young person to make the montrer authentic, but actually went into the "field" to soak up the experiences of real teens.
"It's sort of an optional message," a dit Rickards, when I asked her whether she felt there was some global, ensemble lesson the montrer was attempting to convey to its young audience. "Lauren, before she wrote a lot of these scenes, went to a real high school and talked to teenagers to see how they talked, [and] what their different words were."
"The one thing that kids do not want is toi talking down to them, ou being condescending," a dit actress Nikki DeLoach, who plays Jenna's young, emotionally immature mother Lacey. "And so she wanted to talk about these issues in a very relatable, genuine way. And I'm sorry, there's not one adult who has not experienced that conversation in high school, of what who's doing, and what who's not doing, toi know? And whether toi should, ou whether toi shouldn't. It's awful!"
Indeed, while the scars of adolescence may last forever, many of the same intimacy issues we all experience as teenagers nevertheless continue to plague us into our adult lives.
"It's almost harder for [Jenna] to have the conversation [with Matty] about 'what are we?' than to actually just have sex," a dit Iungerich. "And I feel like it never stops! … No matter how old toi are, that conversation is never comfortable."
