A little bit of research — sampling a summer’s worth of mostly made-for-Netflix teen comedies — reveals that “raunchy” has new goal posts, “frank sexuality” is something the ratings board is no longer holding the line on in movies for 16-and-under.
And that we’re not singing “Sixteen Candles” any more.
“F#%@ the Prom,” “The Kissing Booth,” “Adventures in Public School,” “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,” “The Outcasts,” “#Realityhigh,””Alex Strangelove” and “SPF 18” — not all made for Netflix, but top trending titles that are “what the kids are watching these days” point to a sea change in a genre Hollywood only pays attention to in fits and spurts.
What rounds up an audience, streaming, is a movie with Joey King planning on giving her first BJ — maybe to a Catholic priest in training.
Blue Fox filmed “Summer of ’03,” a woman wrote and directed it (another trend in teen rom-coms) and even if this doesn’t do business in theaters. it’s going to dominate Netflix before Christmas.
