The Kissing Booth is one of those beautiful and romantic movies that we first classify as a typical teenage cliche. But today our purpose is different: let’s talk about how happiness is approached at the movie and how it can be positive for a generation that tends to feel an existential void. If you’ve already seen the movie be sure to share your opinion and if you haven’t already, don’t waste your time anymore and run to Netflix. But beware, this article contains spoiler!
Image Source: IMDb
The movie begins with the presentation of the protagonists: Elle (Joey King), Lee (Joel Courtney) and Noah (Jacob Elordi). Elle has been Lee’s best friend since they were born, and to keep that friendship on track, they made list of rules to follow. One of the most important rule to Lee is number nine, which strictly prohibits the relationship with family members. But this begins to be a problem for Elle when she realizes she has a crush on Noah, the brother of her best friend.
As the story goes by, an interpretation that comes quickly to our heads is that Elle and Lee will actually find out that they were born to be together as a couple. Maybe that’s because there’s nothing more common in teenage cliches movies that best friends falling in love. This happened on 13 Going on 30, The Duff, Love, Rosie and many others.
But that’s exactly where the greatest magic of The Kissing Booth comes in. Best friends are just best friends and there is not even the possibility of getting past that. Quite the contrary: they do everything for each other in the name of the friendship.
One point that is addressed from the beginning is that Elle and Lee need to come up with an attraction to the school party. Ideas are rolling until at some point the kissing booth appears as a miraculous solution for all of their problems. The idea is going on with some difficulties, but on the day of the party, it becomes a success. Everything went well until, by accident, rule nine is broken: Elle is blindfolded and Noah kisses her. The romance between them starts but, from the beginning, they have to deal with two problems: first, Elle thought that she was just “one more” of the list of Noah and, secondly, Lee could never distrust of it.
When talking about the first problem, it is interesting to think that Noah has a reputation to follow in school and, for many moments, he’s a violent character. The question of “why being a violent person” is something very little addressed on the movie and we miss it. However, it is possible to infer that it is due to the reason that he is not happy living with the status. This is the first point where the theme of happiness is approached on the movie. If on the one hand we have Noah, who even being so popular, does not feel happy and complete with his life and his reputation, on the other hand we have Lee, who is very happy with the life he has even not being “all that popular”.
Image Source: IMDb
This status that permeates Noah’s relationships is what makes Elle thinks that she is not that important, but as the romance unfolds, she realizes that they really are in love and that’s where the second problem comes in: how to hide that passion from your best friend?
Obviously, the inevitable happens and Lee discovers the secret romance. The friendship is shaken and Elle chooses to recover her friend who gets very upset that she has broken the rule. This is a moment of the movie in which, as much as we are distressed by the romance that is not working, our heart is warm by finally having a film that proves once and for all that: 1- true friendships go through a lot of things and 2 – a man and a woman can be best friends without second intentions.
At this point, we have already arrived at the school dance which theme is memories. This is where everyone remembers the kissing booth and Elle gives us a lesson: our happiness can be complemented by other people, but essentially depends on ourselves and the good we spread around us.
At the climax of the story, which occurs at the best friends’ birthday party, Lee gives his greatest test of friendship and decides to give up rule nine, leaving Elle free to live her love with Noah.
The last scene of the movie (and if you do not like spoilers is better to stop reading here) is to prove that The Kissing Booth is not just a teenage cliche. The couple have to be apart because of the distance and Elle, who is already very empowered by this time, is able to keep happy because, after all, what we live is a story, and only having moments with the people you love as part of your life is enough to move on.