90s Lolitas Volume 3: Wild Things, Cruel Intentions and Britney Spears (Erotic 90’s, Part 19)
Oct 10, 2023
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Exploring the sexual themes and controversies of the 90s in Hollywood, the podcast discusses the portrayal of teenage sexuality in 'Cruel Intentions', the controversial depiction of teenagers in 'Wild Things', and the emergence of Britney Spears as a teen pop star and the implied racism in the music industry.
Films like Wild Things and artists like Britney Spears challenged conventional narratives and pushed boundaries in the late 90s, using misdirection and subversive storytelling to disrupt expectations and explore new sexual norms.
The discussion of Brittany Spears' image and music highlighted society's discomfort with the sexualization of young women and blurred boundaries between adolescence and adulthood.
The cultural obsession with teenage sexuality in the late 90s resulted in the commodification of teen culture, driven by older audiences and impacting the film industry's approach to creating content.
Deep dives
Wild Things challenges conventional noir and erotic thriller tropes with a postmodern approach
Wild Things, released near the end of the 20th century, subverts the moral traditions of noir and erotic thrillers by using a postmodern approach to storytelling. The film constantly misdirects the audience, blurring the lines between reality and illusion. It breaks from the conventional rules of the genre, allowing the femme fatale to come back from the dead, kill everyone, and walk away rich and happy. Wild Things challenges the idea of stable characters by showing that anyone can remake their public-facing identity at any time. The film taps into the cultural fantasies of sex with teenagers but reveals the consequences of letting libido rule.
The sexualized image of Britney Spears in the late 90s raises questions of appropriateness
Britney Spears, in her late teens, became a cultural phenomenon with her sexualized image and music. Critics and observers debated the appropriateness of her presentation of teen sexuality. Some rationalized that she was complicit in her own sexualization, while others expressed concern about the messages conveyed in her lyrics and stage performances. Her appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, along with provocative photos inside, generated both curiosity and controversy. The debate surrounding Spears' image highlighted society's discomfort with the sexualization of young women and the blurred boundaries between adolescence and adulthood.
The film and music industry of the late 90s exhibited a postmodern approach to sexuality
The late 90s witnessed a shift in the film and music industry towards a postmodern approach to sexuality. Films like Wild Things and artists like Britney Spears challenged conventional narratives and pushed boundaries. They disrupted expectations by using misdirection, blurring reality, and engaging in subversive storytelling. These works reflected a cultural moment that sought to balance between sexual expression and societal expectations. The postmodern approach allowed for exploration of sexuality while questioning traditional moral standards. This era of the late 90s demonstrated a desire for liberation and a redefinition of sexual norms.
The Limited Impact of Wild Things on Sexual Subversion
The podcast episode discusses how the movies, 'Wild Things' and 'Cruel Intentions,' attempted to depict teen sexuality, but ultimately failed to challenge conventional concepts of heteronormativity. It explores how 'Wild Things' received attention for its controversial scenes featuring nudity and threesomes, but was still considered less sexually subversive than other films of its time. The analysis suggests that the movies sold the idea of teenage sexuality while being consumed by older audiences, perpetuating the sexualization of young stars like Neve Campbell and Denise Richards. The podcast also highlights the power dynamics in Brittany Spears' career, where she was marketed as a sexual commodity to both younger and older audiences, masterfully oscillating between a sexual persona and proclaiming real-life chastity.
The Teen Boom and the Commodification of Teens in Pop Culture
The podcast delves into the teen boom of the late '90s and early 2000s, examining the cultural obsession with teenage sexuality. It discusses how the attention directed towards teenage celebrities like Brittany Spears and Lindsay Lohan was driven by older audiences, creating a commodification of teen culture. The analysis reveals that while young stars like Brittany Spears were performing teenagehood through an adult gaze, their personal lives were heavily scrutinized and exploited for tabloid stories. The podcast also touches on the impact of this cultural shift on the film industry, where studios focused on creating content that appealed to all ages, often avoiding explicit sexual content. The episode concludes by exploring the lasting impact of the teen boom on the perception and consumption of sex in films.
If Adrian Lyne’s Lolita became a case study of what Hollywood and America didn’t want to acknowledge about its sexualization of young girls, as the 90s came to a close the culture was full of “acceptable” depictions of teens in heat. Two hit films from 1998 and 1999, Wild Things and Cruel Intentions, adapted classic templates of adult sexual manipulation to turn teen girls into femme fatales (probably not coincidentally, both featured actresses, Neve Campbell and Sarah Michelle Gellar, who were famous for playing high school students on TV). Also no coincidence: these films entered the culture simultaneous to the debut of 17 year-old Britney Spears, whose videos and persona centered her status as “not a girl, not yet a woman.”
