Last year, Netflix released Big Mouth: a TV-MA original show centered around five adolescent middle scholars experiencing puberty for the first time. The characters are trying to adjust to all of the hormonal, emotional, physical and societal changes that encompass it, while trying to deal with their own personal problems in both their home and school lives.
The five main characters are Nick, Andrew, Missy, Jay and Jessi, seventh grade friends dealing with their coming of age arcs together, each in their own unique way. The show has a very unorthodox method of expressing the trials and tribulations of puberty in the form of the male and female hormone monsters Maurice and Connie. These two act as a sort of angel on your shoulder representation of their hormonal shifts, inner thoughts, sexual urges and more. The monsters appear to be real within their world as they interact with the five children and the world around them.
Controversy arouse as the children were often depicted in very explicated, bizarre and downright off-putting sexual situations such as when Jay had sex with his pillow and ended up impregnating it, or when Jessi has a conversation about female anatomy with her own vagina.
Some fans defended Big Mouth, claiming the writers use very over the top humor to lighten the mood as they venture into some very mature subject matter while making it more relatable and comfortable for viewers who had to overcome similar endeavors such as sexual tension, issues with self-image and understanding one’s sexual orientation. Arguments against it claim the show is too overly gratuitous as it has adolescent main characters written experiencing very mature subject matter, causing it to be made in poor taste or even pornographic.
Personally, I found the series to be very entertaining and genuine. There may be a plethora of shock and gross out humor but it never feels like a cheap technique for easy laughs. Many of the jokes are clever, unpredictable and well timed.
There was never a moment where season one felt boring or generic. The writers were able to keep me guessing the direction a scene was going.
The dialogue is quite creative and original. In addition, besides comedy, the show has its more dramatic plotlines such as cheating, loneliness and break ups. So I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in it as it is a one of a kind show.