Unpopular opinion, but R-rated “teen dramas” like Euphoria should just be set in college.

The characters don’t look or act like teenagers. They’re played by adults, doing adult things—clubbing, drinking, hooking up, and having way too mature relationships for high school. Yeah, some teens experiment, but not like this. If you removed the scenes at school, everyone would assume these characters are 21-25.

Character ages should make sense narratively. Nickelodeon and Disney shows like iCarly or Victorious worked because they were actually about teens, played by teens, written for teens. Even Spider-Man makes sense as a teenage story—he’s a kid juggling real responsibility. But with Euphoria, it feels like they just made everyone “15” for shock value.

If your show’s rated TV-MA and aimed at adults, just make the characters adults. It’d be more believable and way less creepy.

  • TheLeadenSea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    73·
    1 day ago

    I otherwise agree, but “young adults or adults” seems to imply young adults are not adults, which they are

    • Grimreaper@sopuli.xyzOP
      1·
      12 hours ago

      “young adults or adults” seems to imply young adults are not adults, which they are

      I know I’m saying younger adults or maybe slightly older adults, like the youngest being 21 and the oldest being 25 or something. If you want the characters to be in close proximity with each other and still have this school dynamic, then college is perfect; there are people in their late 20s or early 30s getting their PhDs in these teen dramas. The writers never actually show the awkwardness of high school; they only want to show them talking, acting and doing adult things but never really show the consequences or have teens realise maybe they are too young for this. If you want a show where the characters look, act, and do things 21-year-olds do with little to no consequences and no adults even asking the slightest of questions, then just make them 21 and in college.

    • dohpaz42@lemmy.worldEnglish
      131·
      1 day ago

      In my experience, “young adult” refers to a specific stage in life, and takes place directly after teenage, but before your 30s (i.e. 20-30). In fact, the fact that the word adult is in “young adult” does imply that they are adults, just more to their larval stage.