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Would it be hard for a movie like Never Been Kissed to be made today?

posted 5 years ago by TMC-4 (19458)
24 replies | jump to latest

For starters, social media would likely make it harder for Josie's undercover scheme (and for people to not more quickly uncover her real idenity) to work. Plus, I find it hard for people to quickly digest Josie's romance with Mr. Coulson (leading up to the climatic "kiss") simply due to the unfortunate implications behind it. It's kind of like in Clueless where Cher winds up with Paul Rudd's character and we're supposed to ignore the fact he's virtually her brother (ex step-brother but still...)

http://recapscallion.blogspot.com/2010/05/never-been-kissed.html

https://www.thelist.com/113889/never-kissed-things-adults-notice-90s-rom-com-classic/

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/04/229220/never-been-kissed-anniversary-teacher-student-relationship-controversy

Mean Girls probably made it harder to take the earnesty of this film seriously. That scene where that girl who vaguely looks like Drew Barrymore, crying about her "feelings" seems like a direct shot at Never Been Kissed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR528E5_8yI&t

[–] Faridah (1338) 5 years ago

Yes because I don't many schools would accept someone undercover even if they knew about the investigation I think they wouldn't allow it. One of the first give away would be she doesn't have transfer records from other schools. I guess some could be made up or claim she has homeschooled all her life or something but I think schools would see the records are fake.

[–] TMC-4 (19458) 4 years ago

Rob's entire scheme to enroll himself into high school along with Josie doesn't make any sense. He did that because he believes that it would be a backway shot to play minor league baseball, but how is lying about your age going to achieve that goal? I mean don't you think that pretty soon the "truth" will come out about Rob's age if any team would be interested in signing him?

[–] Kowalski (60079) 8 months ago

ASK VLADE DIVAC.

[–] TMC-4 (19458) 3 years ago

I don't know if Drew Barrymore was or is now aware of this but Cameron Crowe in real life, went undercover at a high school when he was 21 years old. He was gathering information for what would become the screenplay for Fast Times at Ridgemont High. So the idea at least back in the '80s of someone going undercover at a high school really isn't that far-fetched.

https://danielvandenberg.substack.com/p/never-been-kissed-1999

When Drew was being interviewed by David Letterman back in 1999, she said that Never Been Kissed was complete work of fiction, and it wasn't inspired by a real life incident:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvTb62snFgk

[–] Iffy762 (1331) 4 years ago

I think the implications of her romantic tension with Michael Vartan's character would kill the film nowadays, even though both of their characters were of legal age; his character doesn't know she's of age when he starts falling for her, that just wouldn't fly nowadays I think. Also I think her deceit would kill audience sympathy for the character. It just wouldn't work.

[–] TMC-4 (19458) 4 years ago

The more that I read about Never Been Kissed some 20 years after it first came out, the more that I've come to the conclusion that man, this movie has not aged very well. I mean Drew Barrymore, David Arquette, and even Michael Vartan's characters are really not that sympathetic when you really, really think about it:
https://goat.com.au/entertainment/never-been-kissed-is-actually-a-really-messed-up-film/

https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/in-the-news/drew-barrymore-never-been-kissed-1999/

This in particular caught my eye:

https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a39070/is-never-been-kissed-totally-weird/

Nope. The premise of Never Been Kissed is deeply strange and problematic. The Sam Coulson character is a sacrificial lamb at the altar of Josie Geller's popularity fantasies. Sure, the premise is catnip for nerds who had crushes on their teachers or professors (me), but the weirdness of an adult teacher having feelings for someone they think is a teenager—and who is their student—is just wrong. This movie would never, ever, ever get made now.

https://www.thecherrypicks.com/stories/im-still-not-over-the-sexual-politics-of-never-been-kissed/

Never Been Kissed attempts to seal its story with a cute smooch. However, the insistence that love conquers all – no matter how unethical the love story – is dangerous. Never Been Kissed encouraged young millennials to see age-related power differences as funny, normal - even romantic. Now, when I see grown-up Josie defiantly shouts, “I’m not Josie Grossie anymore!” I disagree. Teenage Josie was pure of heart and lovely, and adult Josie exploits kids for her own gain. If that’s not gross, I don’t know what is.

https://www.ranker.com/list/never-been-kissed-is-super-twisted/veronica-walsingham

[–] Iffy762 (1331) 4 years ago

Totally agree. It was appealing because Michael Vartan and Drew Barrymore both convey extreme adorableness, but even when the movie first came out, you could tell both characters were morally problematic. I think in order to enjoy the movie, you sorta have to mentally insert his character from Alias, and maybe her character from Ever After.

[–] TMC-4 (19458) 4 years ago

I seriously wonder if Drew Barrymore herself, is now aware of how problematic the storyline in Never Been Kissed is? It's like how Molly Ringwald has now come out and admitted that some of the themes from her teen movies from the '80s like 16 Candles haven't aged well.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/02/entertainment/molly-ringwald-sixteen-candles/index.html

https://www.indiewire.com/2018/09/molly-ringwald-sixteen-candles-rape-culture-1202008034/

https://www.elle.com.au/culture/16-candles-problematic-21215

Never Been Kissed is admittedly, one of Drew Barrymore's more popular or adored "adult" movies. I remember when Drew was on Katie Couric's talk show around the time that her first daughter was born. And when Katie polled her audience about what Drew Barrymore movie is their favorite, they said without question, Never Been Kissed.

https://twitter.com/katiecouric/status/296346337207803904

[–] Iffy762 (1331) 4 years ago

Yes I remember seeing that one quite recently and thinking, "Oh wow, was that really considered ok back then?" I think it's actually good that teenagers today look at these movies and find some of these things shocking, because it says that those behaviors among teens would not now be accepted by the teens themselves. To be fair, I did not grow up in the USA so when I saw those movies, those behaviors were things that "people in America" did. So I can't actually say "those things were accepted then but are not accepted now". Maybe they were not accepted back then either but were mainly seen in movies?

The continuing popularity of Never Been Kissed... I think women really like a story where the dowdy girl gets the hot guy, especially if it's combined with the idea that the dowdy girl is really an unrecognised hot girl (usually shown by getting some kind of makeover). (I think that movies where the dowdy girl gets a makeover don't get made often, partly because women also feel insulted when the dowdy girl has to become hot in order to get the guy. Think of how many movies feature very ordinary-looking guys who get the hot girl without the guy having to change his looks at all). Never Been Kissed kind of rests on this idea that Michael Vartan's character is drawn to Drew Barrymore's character because of something internal in how they relate to each other, not because of her looks. So I think that's very appealing to women. Then I think the movie couples that with what amounts to a redemption story, where Drew Barrymore's character has to admit her faults and appeal to be forgiven for them and to be loved despite them. Maybe women are drawn to the idea that he likes her no-matter-what, since, for many women (possibly for most women), being in a romantic relationship is very much conditional on being physically attractive and providing services to men.

[–] TMC-4 (19458) 4 years ago

Mona May, the costume designer on why she thinks that the movie is so popular now:

https://www.bustle.com/p/how-never-been-kissed-pulled-off-that-iconic-kiss-scene-according-to-the-cast-crew-16999037

There was something very dear about Drew's character that people fell in love with. People can really understand the struggle of falling in love, of love and deceit, and finding yourself and becoming who you are. Even now it's such a subject du jour: who are we as women?

https://www.shondaland.com/watch/a27102829/never-been-kissed-underrated-teen-romantic-comedy/

[–] TMC-4 (19458) 4 years ago

Simon Hattenstone, who interviewed Drew Barrymore for The Guardian said that Never Been Kissed is essentially a modern-day fairytale (a la Cinderella) for a generation of teenage girls. They could likely relate to Josie's feeling of not belonging, her clumsiness, her fixation with words, and her overeagerness:
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/oct/25/drew-barrymore-mother-locked-up-in-institution-interview

[–] TMC-4 (19458) 4 years ago

Michael Vartan himself, is aware of the potential problems with the whole "teacher falls for what he thinks is a student" plot point:

https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/Drew-Barrymore-20th-Anniversary-Never-Been-Kissed-46014981

About the whole student-teacher romance, though: In an interview with Page Six about the movie, Vartan said it's hard not to find that plot point problematic — even though Josie is actually an adult posing as a student. "I don't know if someone who had a darker disposition at the time, maybe the creep factor would have intensified it a bit. But, if I'm a 30-year-old man and I think this girl is 17, it's completely inappropriate," Vartan said.

https://pagesix.com/2019/04/09/michael-vartans-sweet-disposition-got-him-cast-in-never-been-kissed/

Like I said before, Mr. Coulson isn't exactly innocent himself even though Josie deceived him into thinking that she was underaged. I mean, he doesn't exactly have a hold of his boundaries even if Josie likes him. Why exactly is Josie made out to be the bad guy? Yeah, it sucks that she lied to you over who she really was but you shouldn't be hitting on and flirting with a girl that you presume to be 17 in the first place.

https://www.bodyandsoul.com.au/mind-body/wellbeing/how-well-does-never-been-kissed-hold-up-20-years-later/news-story/d98d77f9b0d95c4396c43516353cd82a

[–] Iffy762 (1331) 4 years ago

Wow, I'd forgotten that was his first movie. I remember him from Alias, so I guess I thought he got the movie based on his work on Alias. It must have been the other way around.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (12440) 4 years ago

It was actually awkward, even back in the 90s when this came out. We in the audience just rolled with it.

[–] Iffy762 (1331) 4 years ago

Heh heh. I think a lot of us were thinking, "Hmm, this is not going to age well." And we were right!

[–] TMC-4 (19458) 4 years ago

Not to go off on an tangent, but 50 First Dates is another Drew Barrymore movie that for its own reasons, would probably have a hard time being made today without some sort of immediate backlash.

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/jmdqvm/what_movies_in_the_past_do_you_all_think_would/gaum3au/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

[–] Iffy762 (1331) 4 years ago

I never saw that one. It always seemed like such an odd and fundamentally sad concept. There are people who really have that condition and I can't imagine it's easy for them or their families.

[–] snepts (11123) 4 years ago

But is it a good movie?
I think Drew is an attractive woman, but does she have enough to carry this film?
I don't care about it being made today (1999 v 2020). Is it a good movie?

[–] TMC-4 (19458) 4 years ago

If I wanted to ask whether or not Never Been Kissed was a good movie overall, then don't you think that I would've started a separate thread on that matter? This isn't about whether or not the movie is good, it's about whether or not the plot is "politically correct" enough to work today.

[–] snepts (11123) 4 years ago

Indeed. We should never migrate thoughts in this arena. My apologies.
This movie Never Been Kissed would be hard to be made today.

[–] ducksoup (3933) 4 years ago

I don't understand. Snepts tries to ask a question, but can't because it's not the question you asked? That seems a little authoritarian, doesn't it?

[–] TMC-4 (19458) 4 years ago

https://fansided.com/2020/04/17/15-romantic-comedies-primed-reboots-remakes/8/

Why it’s primed for a reboot: Look, Drew Barrymore might never have been better and more electric on-screen than in Never Been Kissed, and that’s reason enough to leave this pre-millennium masterpiece alone. But as long as we’re still watching 25-year-olds play teenagers on TV, why can’t we reboot Never Been Kissed with one of the kids from Riverdale and have an endearing late bloomer infiltrate the Gen Z popular clique? Josie Grossie for a new generation.

Before the visions of Josie 2.0 learning Tik Tok dances in homeroom sends a chill down your spine and sours the idea in your mind, remember that a new Never Been Kissed could course-correct some of things that haven’t aged well in 20+ years and offer an updated reflection on how the social tides of adolescence have shifted. More so than most of the rom-coms on this list, a Never Been Kissed update could totally avoid heternormativity and rewrite Josie’s special first kiss on the baseball field. Except this time around, that pivotal moment will be live-streamed on the internet.

Never Been Kissed's Josie Grossie Joins Drew to Practice Delivering News | Drew's News

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-EhZX0_SZI&feature=youtu.be

[–] Dainty (1864) 4 years ago

The fact that it’s a film that “wouldn’t be made today”, makes it more interesting.

[–] Bossdog677 (1454) 8 months ago

Any movie that would be made today isn't worth watching.