The early teens. Talk about a time in life I would not want to run back. Pimples, watching my voice and body change, growth spurts. It was all bad. Couldn’t wait to get it over with. Thanks to Netflix animated hit “Big Mouth,” I can relive it all without actually have to live with it.
In season 1, we get introduced the shows main characters Nick Birch and Andrew Glouberman. The two find their way through 7th grade life with their firends Jessie Glaser, Jay Blizerian and Missy Foreman-Greenwald. Over 10 episodes, the crew discovers wet dreams, the fact that girls get horny too, porn addiction and more. Normal 7th grade stuff.
Then there’s the life stuff that many people wrestle with, no matter what the age. Jessie deals with the fact that their parents relationships aren’t what they want them to be after stumbling onto the news that her mom is cheating on her dad with another woman. This eventually ends to divorce, breaking the heart of young Jessie.
“Big Mouth” manages to tackle all kinds of issues, big and small in a light-hearted way that only normalizes issues that most kids would be freaking out over.
Season 2 picks up right where S1 leaves off. Nick and Andrew are both growing into young men, just not at the same time. As Andrew gets taller and sprouts a mustache, Nick is staying the same height and struggling to keep his two pubic hairs in tact.
Meanwhile, an old student looks like a new person this year to all the kids in school thanks to her new boobs. This sparks a conversation about body image amongst the girls, especially Jess and Missy.
One of my favorite episodes in S2 is “Drug Buddy.” Jess, rebelling against her mother over the fact that she’s leaving her dad and is now dating a woman begins to go down the normal cry for help that most kids would dealing with such adult issues. She begins to do little things like talk back. Her behavior eventually grows into bigger things like shoplifting.
Meanwhile, young Nick is living with a shame monster after being caught with his pants down at a party with his manhood out there for all to see.
In this episode, Jess’ rebellion meets Nick’s embarrassment and morphs into a hilarious moment involving edibles.
Jess steals a bag of gummies from her pot smoking dad and eats the bag with Nick. Like most first time consumers, they didn’t feel a thing at first. Then, that moment hit.
The two go through their first high moment together.
https://youtu.be/0A6GNhNBJgk
I can see where this issue can clash with cannabis activist. Some can view this episode as a reason gummies should be banned or packaging and names be changed in order to keep out the hands of young children.
The episode highlights what we all know about growing up. There comes a rebellion in you’re in your teenage years that pushes you to see what’s over in that garden they keep saying don’t eat from. You can change the name, packaging or remove them from shelves all together, that won’t stop someone from wanting to try one.
I applaud the show for tackling so many issues, including this one in a fun way. Sometimes you have to see your life through someone else for you to see what is really happening. I think “Big Mouth” is great for that. No matter the age.
Not pop you a gummie, or not, and watch both seasons of the show.
