HYSTERICAL GIRL (2020) & Dora: A Teen, Young Girl, & German Man | Freud's Age-Gap Case Study

Kate Novack, 

the screenwriter, producer and director of Hysterical Girl (2020), summarized her short documentary for the New York Times as follows:

The short documentary above re-examines one of Sigmund Freud’s five major psychological case histories — the only one he produced of a female patient. “Hysterical Girl” uses a feminist lens to imagine Dora, the name Freud used at the turn of the 20th century to protect his subject’s identity, as a girl today. In the film, she tells her [fictional] version of events, alongside Freud’s own words. [Emphasis added]

Dora was 17 when her parents brought her to therapy after she accused a family friend of sexual assault [sic]. “Please,” Dora’s father asked Freud, “bring her to reason.” During the 11-week treatment, Freud chipped away at the case: Why would you continue to see the man you say assaulted you? Are you out for revenge? Did you secretly want it? A century later, the questions women face in similar circumstances haven’t changed much.

If you haven't read Freud's case study, it's important to emphasize that:

• Novack: "[....] uses a feminist lens to imagine Dora."
  
• Novack: "[...] tells her [fictional] version of events, alongside Freud’s own words."
• Dora did not report that she was sexually assaulted; however, the family friend made a "sexual proposition"

And by comparing Dora's family friend to the likes Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and Jeffrey Epstein, Novack was being revealing when she wrote that: “Hysterical Girl” uses a feminist lens to imagine Dora [...]," because unlike Freud, one would be hard pressed to find a feminist whom would (openly) share that a nymphet could possibly be attracted to an older man.

Let's take a closer look at Freud's version of events. (Interestingly, nymphets typically have to be convinced that they were groomed and victimized, but Freud attempted to reassure Dora, whose real name was Ida Bauer, of just the opposite.)

Here's the event that prompted Ida's parent, whom married when her father was 27 and her mother was 18, to have her visit Freud:  

In summer of 1989, 16-year-old Ida and her family went to a lakeside resort to visit the Zellenkas family. Ida told her parents that during the visit, Herr Zellenka made a sexual proposition to her, which caused Ida to slap his face and run away. 

Subsequently, Ida's parents found a letter in her desk in which she stated that she couldn't bear living. Soon after, Ida fainted, she suffered a bout of amnesia, and her father took her to Freud, "Please try to bring her round to a better way of thinking."

Initially, Herr Zellenka denied the allegations, and Frau Zellenka reported that Ida: "[...] showed an interest in sexual matters and nothing else [...]". And that the nymphet had been reading Mantegazza's Physiology of Love and other books of the sort. 

It turns out that Herr Zellenka had previously kissed Ida - when she was 14. #plottwist It happened after Herr Zellenka invited Ida to his shop to watch a church procession, and while they were alone, he took the opportunity to hold her close and give her kiss on the lips. Ida fled the scene but kept in contact with Herr Zellenka.

Afterwards, Herr Zellenka sent Ida flowers and "expensive presents". As mentioned in the documentary, one of the presents was a jewel box that Freud interpreted as a box that Herr Zellenka wanted Ida to place her jewels in. 

Per Freud, Ida admitted that, after the kiss but prior to the lakeside scene, she could have been in love with Herr Zellenka. So why did Ida reject Herr Zellenka's sexual proposition at the lakeside resort?

It turns out that before Herr Zellenka propositioned Ida, she learned from the governess, a young girl, that Herr Zellenka and the governess had a sexual affair that Herr ended abruptly. The governess fled once she was certain that the affair would not resume. Thus, per Freud, Ida violently rebuffed Herr's advances due to "vengeful jealousy". Ida was aghast to learn that Herr even used the same lines with the governess, "There is nothing between me and my wife."

What Novack's documentary left out is that Ida admitted to Freud that after the sexual proposition, she desired to see Herr again, because she wanted him to prove that he was "serious" and didn't intend to: "[...] toy with her feelings as he did with the governess."

Interestingly, after his sessions with Ida, Freud came to, among others, the following conclusions:

• Ida practiced "childhood masturbation"
• Ida had a "[...] deeply rooted homosexual love for Frau K [i.e., Herr Zellenka]" whom Ida opined had an "enchantingly white body"
• Ida had a "defloration fantasy" that starred Herr Zellenka

And there were some interestings footnote in the slim volume e.g., a 14-year-old girl, who suffered from "alarming hysterical vomiting", shared with Freud that she had been "[...] masturbating for many years with a strong flux of flour albus* [*a whitish vaginal discharge] (which [per Freud] was clearly linked to her vomiting).

Lastly, we want to be perfectly clear and state that we don't condone Herr Zellenka's behavior, because men should avoid kissing, without consent, and men should avoid sexually propositioning any woman - of any age. 

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981): Indiana Jones Was Not a Pedophile & She Knew What She Was Doing

Kevin Kayhart posted on the Daily Mail (9 June 2021): "Raiders Of The Lost Ark's Karen Allen defends her underage character Marion's relationship with Indiana Jones: 'I don't think of him as a pedophile'"

In the post, Kayhart wrote:

Karen Allen, star of the classic film Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981), has come out in defense of the age gap between her character Marion Ravenwood and love interest Indiana Jones, played by Harrison Ford.      

Over the last few years, the reunion scene, where the age difference is insinuated, has come under scrutiny enough for Allen to go public and declare Indy is 'not a pedophile.'  

In the scene, Marion punches Indy and says, 'I've learned to hate you in the last 10 years.' After explaining how he never meant to hurt her, she responds, 'I was a child! I was in love! It was wrong and you knew it,' for which Indy shoots back: 'You knew what you were doing.'  

During an interview with Uproxx, Allen weighed-in on the scrutiny and revealed the age she thought her character was during their initial relationship.

'I think I say I was 16. I don't know. That's always what I imagined is she was 16, he was 26. And he was her father's student. And it's left very mysterious,' Allen, 69, said before sharing a couple of potential scenarios about their past.

Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)

Well, of course Indiana Jones could not have been a pedophile, because at 16, Marion would have been post-pubertal; thus, Jones would correctly be referred to as a(n) ephebophile\nympholept, which is much less ominous. And based on the New York Times Notable Book, The Red Queen, and the (incorrectly titled) documentary Are All Men Pedophiles? (2013), all men are nympholepts. 

We're shocked that there hasn't been particular attention paid to Jone's clapback, "You knew what you were doing." Thereby, to the dismay of middle-aged feminists and teen boys, Jones opined that at 16, Marion was old enough to consent to an age-gap relationship and that he didn't groom or victimize Marion. (We're assuming that Jones observed the local age-of-consent laws.)

However, based on the transcripts of the story conferences between George Lucas, Spielberg and Lawrence Kasdan, Marion was an even younger nymphet:

Lucas: He could have known this little girl when she was just a kid. Had an affair with her when she was eleven. 

Kasdan: And he was forty-two. 

Lucas: He's thirty-five, and knew her ten years ago when he was twenty-five and she was only twelve. 

Lucas: It would be amusing to make her slightly young at the time. [Slightly?] 

Spielberg: And promiscuous. She came on to him.

Lucas: Fifteen is right on the edge [...] it is interesting. Once she's sixteen or seventeen it's not interesting anymore. But if she was fifteen and he was twenty-five and they actually had an affair the last time they met. And she was madly in love with and he. 

Spielberg: She has pictures of him.

Initially, Lucas and Kasdan suggested that Marion be 11 and Jones be 42. Then Lucas suggested that Marion be 12 and Jones be 35. And Spielberg added that Marion should be a nubile nymphet - both promiscuous and a seductress. Interestingly, Lucas opined that a 16 or 17-year-old nymphet is not as alluring as one 15 and younger. And Lucas suggested that Marion be 15 "right on the edge" and have a (sexual) affair with Jones while being "madly in love". 

Jurassic Park (1993)

Lastly, Kayhart's piece reminded me of a scene from Spielberg's Jurassic Park (1993). In the scene, when a Vegasaurus happened upon Dr. Grant, Tim and Lex (Ariana Richards), Tim said, "It looks like it has a cold." However, since there are no visible signs of a cold, it's not apparent from the film how Tim was able to make that diagnosis. 

Thus, my question is, did Spielberg spew the rich viscous fluid from the phallic Vegasaurus upon Ariana Richards' 14-year-old face as a sexual innuendo, as an attempt at comedy, or both? 

The Young Copywriter's Thing for Way Older Men

In The Cut's "Sex Diaries" (JUNE 6, 2021), a 23-year-old Brooklyn based copywriter confessed: "Somehow I only ever want to date men who are way older." [Emphasis added]

And she "impulsively confess[ed]" her feelings for a scientist, whom she shared of the man who's 11 years her senior,: "Funny how I can’t go a day without thinking about him now."

However, The Scientist informed the copywriter that he liked her but "[...] the timing is wrong."

She thought, while on a date with an indie-pop musician whom she met in high school,: “Wow, I wish I was with The Scientist right now.”

Ultimately, The Scientist informed her that he hadn't: 

"[...] been in a serious relationship in years, that he has a lot on his plate at the moment, and that his emotionally distant personality and strong love of threesomes is bound to “make me miserable.” [Emphasis added]

Even though, The Scientist told the copywriter that he "still likes" her, by 11:55 p.m. on DAY SEVEN, he hadn't responded to a text that she sent on DAY SIX at 5 p.m..

[SPOILERS] HBO's MARE OF EASTTOWN: "Teenage Girls Are Fucking Sneaky"

Here's HBO's plot summary for Mare of Easttown:

As her life crumbles around her, a small-town Pennsylvania detective Mare Sheehan (Kate Winslet) investigates a local murder [of Erin]. The series explores the dark side of a close community and provides an authentic examination of how family and past tragedies can define our present.

Mare of Easttown is unique in its use of the allure of a (dead) nymphet to make a hit streaming series. For example, near the beginning of episode 2, Erin's 17-year-old topless corpse was on display. 

Erin's 17-year-old Topless Corpse

And very interestingly, the series did not consider Erin a victim in her attempt at teen prostitution via Sidedoor's escort service, and the series did not imply that Erin was groomed into her age-gap sexual affair with John Ross.  

Of Erin, Mare said:

"If you're a teenage girl, baby at home and a [strict] dad like Kenny, you're not gonna open an account on Sidedoor with pictures like this on your own computer. Trust me. Teenage girls are fucking sneaky."

Detective Colin Zabel, Mare's partner, may have been naive about nubile nymphets, but not Mare.  Erin may not have considered teen prostitution for a Prada bag, but nonetheless, 17-year-old Erin seriously contemplated teen prostitution to earn money for your child's ear surgery.

Of his relationship with Erin, John Ross shared with Mare:

"It wasn't just sex, okay? Yes, there was sex. It was. We were both having a hard time. I mean, she was having problems at home, and then things between Lor [my wife] and me weren't great. We could confide in each other in a way that we couldn't with other people. I mean, we had this connection." [Emphasis mine]

Erin's Sidedoor Escort Account

Thus, John stressed that his age-gap affair with Erin was consensual. Erin even hid a photograph in her bedroom of the age-gap couple - postcoital. But more interestingly, not once did Mare accuse John of grooming and victimizing Erin.

Uncle John & Erin Postcoital

Erin didn't want to end her age-gap affair with John, because she came to the realization or was convinced that she was groomed and/or a victimized. It turns out that she was simply tired of the lies (i.e., hiding her age-gap affair) and wanted to go public. To which John replied:

"Are you fucking crazy! You're a fucking child!"

And John's son did not confront his father about having an affair with Erin. On the contrary - he scolded Erin. 

"Stay away from my family! Why would you do this?" [Emphasis mine] 

Wait, although it wasn't stressed in the series, did I mention that John was Erin's uncle?! 

Let's review Erin's "sneaky" behavior:

Erin made an account of Sidedoor, an online escort service

Erin had an consensual incestuous affair with her uncle 

Erin took a postcoital selfie (with her uncle in the background) 

Erin told her boyfriend that John's baby was his son. (Yes. Erin had a teen boyfriend too whom shared that, in terms of his parent's attic, "That's where she'd suck my dick.") 

Mare of Easttown and Mare's comment about "fucking sneaky" teens reminded me of Betsy Karasik's Washington Post Op-Ed (August 30, 2013) where she opined that consensual sex between teachers and high school students should not be criminalized:

"When it comes to having sex on the brain, teenage boys got nothin’ on us. When I was growing up in the 1960s and ’70s, the sexual boundaries between teachers and students were much fuzzier. Throughout high school, college and law school, I knew students who had sexual relations with teachers. To the best of my knowledge, these situations were all consensual in every honest meaning of the word..."

15-year-old Winslet in Dark Season

And talk about art imitating life. Per Kate Winslet's Wikipedia page, 15-year-old Winslet had an age-gap affair with 27-year-old actor-writer Stephen Tredre:

While filming Dark Season, 15-year-old Winslet began a romantic relationship with actor-writer Stephen Tredre, twelve years her senior.[14][200] She considered him a major influence in her life and they lived together in London.[7][24][222] They broke up in 1995, but remained close until he died of bone cancer two years later.[14][223] Winslet skipped the premiere of Titanic to attend his funeral.[224] In a 2008 interview, she admitted to having never got over his death.[7]

 

BIG LITTLE LIES: Teen Sex & Virginity 4 Sale For College

Abigail didn't share the details about her secret passion project with her father, but she shared: 

"Well, colleges look for passion projects now, you know. It's not just about, like, GPA and being captain of volleyball." 

Subsequently, Abigail's step-mother, sympathetically shared with Abigail's father: 

"She is auctioning off her virginity on the Internet. For Amnesty International; so, it is for a very good cause."
"She's selling her virginity on the Internet?!"
"Good cause?"

Consequently, Abigail's father asked:

"What the fuck! You're selling your virginity?"
"Yeah. I thought you'd be proud of me."
"Proud of you?"
"Yeah. A lot of girls lose their virginity for a lot less."

The following morning, Abigail's father tried to rationalize with her, but she responded:

"Dad, come on. A 16-year-old white girl from Monterey selling her virginity online? Wolf Blitzer would saddle that up for weeks. That's the way."

Wait, did Nabokov write those lines? Wolf [would] blitz her. And saddle that up. For weeks!

Like Demi Moore's mother, it appeared that Abigail's father began to condone teen prostitution. He shared with his ex-wife:

"Abigail is auctioning off her virginity in order to raise money to protest sex slavery. No, I'm being serious. She said if a 7-year-old can be sold to sex slavery, then no one would bat an eye if a white, rich American girl sell hers online."

 

Saxena wrote in the Elle post "Why Aren't We Talking About Abigail's 'Secret Virginity Project' On Big Little Lies?" (MAR 30, 2017):

[...] Abigail's project raises—about virginity, sex work, and social consciousness—are worthy ones.

When I first watched the episode I, like Madeline and Nathan, thought Abigail's project was a ludicrous, terrible idea [...] I tried to think of what I would say to a hypothetical teenage daughter of mine if she came to me with the same plan. Which is when I realized that I couldn't come up with a great argument.

Like many left-leaning women, I believe in bodily autonomy and that teenage girls are too often shamed for their bodily choices by a patriarchal society. The age of consent in California is 18, but in 31 other states it's 16. Legally Abigail is around the age where she can make this kind of choice. She's old enough and of sound(ish) mind, so by my own logic, she should be able to do what she wants.

Though 44% of people think prostitution should be legal, and Abigail's own chosen charity Amnesty International voted to campaign for the decriminalization of sex work, many people struggle with the idea that someone like Abigail would engage in sex work of their own free will. 

Like Abigail's father, Saxena was initially against teen prostitution, but she "couldn't come up with a great argument" against it. And Saxena opined that since Abigail was "around" 18, "she should be able to do what she wants". And Saxena reminded us that: "[...] many people [unjustifiably] struggle with the idea that someone like Abigail would engage in sex work of their own free will." But then Saxena contradicted her entire piece by writing: "It's obvious that her plan is a bad idea." Editor?

Lastly, it's important to remind that Abigail was selling her virginity to get into a good college. To raise awareness for Amnesty International's campaign to decriminalize sex work, was secondary. Remember Abigail shared with her father:

"Well, colleges look for passion projects now, you know. It's not just about, like, GPA and being captain of volleyball." 

#collegeadmissionsscandal

Sex Ed for Manhattan Prep Students: Masturbation & Porn Literacy for Teens

We've previously written about raunchy teen behavior at some of Manhattan's "top" schools. For example, we shared when Emily Jane Fox related in her New York Times Bestseller, Born Trump: Inside America's First Family, that Ivanka flashed a hot dog vendor from the third floor window of her Chapin 8th grade classroom. 

And we related that Tamar Lewin posted in "Teen-Agers Alter Sexual Practices, Thinking Risks Will Be Avoided" (April 5, 1997) for the New York Times that Hunter, a top high school on Manhattan's wealthy Upper East Side, provides "mint-flavored condoms with no spermicide, labeled ''ONLY for oral sex'' for the Hunter High nymphets.

Now Dana Kennedy posted for the New York Post that "Dalton parents [are] enraged over ‘masturbation’ videos for first graders" (May 29, 2021) Kennedy wrote:

Last fall, parents at the posh $55,000-per-year Dalton School got wind of their first-graders being taught sex-education lessons that included masturbation.

The Post viewed video of a cartoon Fonte used in one of her sex-ed classes for 6-year-olds showing little kids talking about “touching themselves” for pleasure.

Then the little girl character chimes in: “Sometimes, when I’m in my bath or when Mom puts me to bed, I like to touch my vulva too.”

And Kennedy reported for the New York Post that "Columbia Prep students and parents reel after class on ‘porn literacy’". Kennedy wrote:

When juniors at [Columbia Grammar & Prep School] the $47,000-a-year Manhattan school showed up for a health and sexuality workshop, most thought it was “just going to be about condoms or birth control,” a student told The Post.

Instead, it was something called “Pornography Literacy: An intersectional focus on mainstream porn,” taught by Justine Ang Fonte, who’s the director of Health & Wellness at another elite prep school, Dalton.

Fonte’s presentation, some of which was seen by The Post, included a list of the most searched pornographic terms of 2019, including “creampie,” “anal,” “gangbang,” “stepmom” and more.

One slide cited various porn genres such as “incest-themed,” consensual or “vanilla,” “barely legal,” and “kink and BDSM” (which included “waterboard electro” torture porn as an example). 

Barely legal? #pun

Kate Haralson vs Matthew Perry: The Entrapment of Older Men for Jokes

Matthew Perry & Kate Haralson via Page Six

Eileen Reslen reported for Page Six "Kate Haralson kicked off Raya after calling out Matthew Perry" (May 7, 2021) 

Kate Haralson was kicked off Raya, an exclusive dating app, because she shared on TikTok that when she was 19, she matched with the 51-year-old actor Matthew Perry. 

Per Reslen, Haralson: "[...] released the video to expose how older men in Hollywood are “taking advantage” of younger women on dating apps."

But Reslen revealed that she knowingly "[...] had the app’s age range set to meet older men 'for the joke of it.'"

Reslen posted on TikTok:

When you match w Matthew Perry as a joke on a dating app an he facetimes you and plays 20 questions with you

Wait, so Reslen entrapped older men on the app by pre-setting the age range to show how older men are “taking advantage” of younger women - as a joke? 

And how did 51-year-old Perry take advantage of Reslen? He played 20 Questions with the then 19-year-old nymphet. 

But Raya and a number of TikTok users weren't buying Reslen's story. For example, Raya kicked Reslen off the app, and she shared with Page Six:

“A lot of people were saying I’m a bully and mean for posting this, and it made me feel kind of bad, but at the same time, I feel like a lot of guys in Hollywood are talking to all these young girls and it’s something that I think a lot of people should be aware of”

Are we assume that Reslen feels that an older man possesses magical powers, solely due to his age, which renders a younger woman (completely) mentally and physically helpless. 

Are we to assume that Reslen feels that 19-year-old porn stars should only do porn with other 19-year-olds, which is unlikely as your average straight male porn star is approximately in his mid-thirties with Manuel Jeannin, arguably the #1 straight male porn star, sitting at a whopping 45-years-old. 

And are we assume that Relsen feels that 18-year-old OnlyFans users should only allow other 18-year-olds to view their salacious content? 

Or is Reslen like (most) Orthodox Jews and Muslims who advise nymphets to avoid porn and OnlyFans?

Hulu's PLAN B (2021): A "Raunchy Teen [Sex] Comedy"

Here's Hulu's plot summary for Plan B (2021):

After a regrettable first sexual encounter, a straight-laced high school student [Sunny] (Kuhoo Verma) and her slacker best friend [Lupe] (Victoria Moroles) have 24 hours to hunt down a Plan B pill in America's heartland.

Seconds into Plan B, which BuzzFeed referred to as "Hulu's New Raunchy Teen Comedy", Lupe sexted a picture of her panties covered derrière, and Sunny masturbated to a picture of a "man" in her science book. 

While dressing for gym class in the high school locker room, Megan shared, "Oh, did I tell you? We finally tried reverse cowgirl." Subsequently, during gym, Megan straddled, rubbed it against her bottom-grass, and licked a hockey stick. 

The lesbian subplot appeared to be disingenuous and masquerading as a lipstick lesbian subplot, because Lupe shared that she had sex with a boy at church camp, that she had previously performed oral sex on a boy, and she apparently watched heteronormative porn.

Sunny: "Oh, what's a skull fuck?"

Lupe: "It's when a guy puts his junk in your mouth and humps your skull."

Sunny: "That's a real thing?"

Lupe: "I'll send you some links."

In addition to the lipstick lesbian subplot, Sunny and Lupe came upon a couple of nymphoplepts, one of whom demanded that Sunny, "Pee on my face - right now!"

In an effort to get a fake I.D. from a drug dealer, Sunny and lipstick lesbian Lupe argued over whom would "suck his dick" for the counterfeit card. 

Lupe: "What? You can't suck his dick. I'm gonna suck his dick."
Sunny: "Let me sucnk his dick!"
Lupe: "No, let me suck his dick!"

Lupe shared that Sunny masturbates on the regular, "[...] you spent the whole weekend doing flash cards and diddling yourself as usual." And Kuhoo Verma shared with Buzzfeed that her character Sunny reminded her of herself in middle school:

"I looked to 'middle school Kuhoo' and looked to, like, how she navigated the world and felt such awkwardness and weird sexual shame [...]"

Lastly, Plan B is a Hulu Original, an American High film ("Embrace the R-rated reality of high school"), thus far, the film has 100% Tomatometer from 26 film critics on Rotten Tomatoes, despite the fact that the film has a 2021 date, it's considered one of the Best Comedy Movies of 2020, and Emma Specter of Vogue opined: "Plan B Is the Sex Positive Buddy Comedy I Needed as a Teenage Girl" (May 28, 2021)

TANNER HALL (2009): A Schoolgirl Seduces English Teacher

Tanner Hall (2009) won the jury prize for best film at the 2010 Gen Art Movie Festival here in NYC. And from IMDb is: 

“[...] a vivid peek into the private world of an all-girls boarding school. In a cozy, but run down New England, the knot of adolescent complexity is unraveled through the coming of age stories of four teen-age girls”. 

The film was co-written by Tatiana von Furstenberg, the daughter of Diane, and Francesca Gregorini. The idea for the film developed after Tatiana and Francesca met at Brown University, and it is based on their experiences at boarding school. 

In the film, Victoria, Mr. Middlewood’s boarding school student, unsurprisingly initiated the student-teacher affair. For example, Victoria feigned a fall in the shower; so, that Mr. Middlewood could rescue her. Consequently, the literature teacher carried his student's half nude dripping wet body to the nurse’s office. 

Initially, Mr. Middlewood was reserved and had a standoffish attitude in reaction to Victoria's advances, even after she suggested that the class read Lolita while she invitingly performed fellatio on a pencil. 

However, things took a turn for the worse after Mr. Middlewood didn't have patience to allow Victoria to advance the relationship at her own pace. Mr. Middlewood made an age-gap affair faux pas and took the enormous step of giving Victoria a car for her birthday; so, that they could:

“[...] go away together somewhere. Anywhere […] Finally, you're of legal age. I know you want it as much as I do. We don't have to fight this anymore.” 

Victoria replied, “Mr. Middlewood you're scaring me. Just forget about me, okay?” 

Mr. Middlewood was correct in assuming that Victoria wanted it as much as he did, but that should have been his firm but unspoken mindset.

The boarding student-teacher affair wasn't the only age-discrepant relationship the two Ivy League coeds wrote in their film. In addition, boarding school student Fernanda (Rooney Mara) had an affair with Gio (Tom Everett Scott) - the middle-aged husband of her mother’s best friend from college. 

And unsurprisingly, Tanner Hall had a schoolgirl lipstick lesbian subplot. 

Lastly and interestingly, Tanner Hall was not written through a feminist lens, because both relationships were written with sympathy and empathy.

FX\Hulu's BETTER THINGS: Truth or Dare | Toys in Teen's Vagina

Here's Better Things' rather ambiguous ABOUT THE SHOW posted on FX:

Better Things is the story of Sam Fox (Pamela Adlon), a single mother and working actor with no filter, raising her three daughters, Max (Mikey Madison), Frankie (Hannah Alligood) and Duke (Olivia Edward) in Los Angeles. She also looks after her mother, Phil (Celia Imrie), an English expat with questionable faculties who lives across the street.

Whether she's earning a living, navigating her daughters’ changing lives, or trying to have one of her own, Sam approaches every challenge with fierce love, raw honesty and humor.

What FX didn't post is that Better Things is a model example of how the allure of nymphets is used by a television series to garner views. 

For example, in S01E01, recently turned 16-year-old, Max asked her mom, "Can you get pot for me?" Subsequently, Max is shown upon her bed, high on pot, in a pair of panties with her foot upon another nymphet. 

In S01E3, Max is show lounging upon her stomach in a pair of (cheeky) panties. Consequently, as Mel (Lenny Kravitz) was visiting, Max's mom demanded, "Put. Pants. On." (For a number of reasons, including this scene, I suspect that that is not Sam's (Adlon's) derrière in the (above) FX advertisement for Better Things.)

In S01E04, after Sam mistakenly set off the fire alarm, Max and her friends come out of the bedroom to investigate but with no explanation as to why an Asian nymphet is in a pair of turquoise panties. 

In S01E05, the viewers are reminded that there's nothing like the allure of (ballerina) nymphets (i.e., teen's in tights and leotards). 

Just to name a few more examples, in S02E01, we're introduced to Arturo, 16-year-old Max's 32-year-old boyfriend.

And in a game of Truth or Dare, Duke dares a pre-teen, "Put four Monopoly pieces in your vagina." She did! And another pre-teen is dared to yell, "Penis!" at the adults. She did and was awarded an air high-five from a man!

Very interestingly, Pamela Adlon and Louis C.K. are co-creators of Better Things, which is not surprising in light of Louis C.K.'s I Love You, Daddy (2017), which is a model example of how the allure of nymphets is used in a film. 

In the film, that additionally starred Adlon, Glen Topher (C.K.), a television writer and producer, is surprised by his teen daughter''s (Chloë Grace Moretz) strong attraction to a middle-aged film director (John Malkovich). 

Unsurprisingly, Better Things, which has been renewed for a fifth season, has a 97% Average Tomatometer and a 85% average Audience Score. 

TAN: Quick Bites | Director Nicholas Ray's (44) Sex with Actress Natalie Wood (16)

Caroline Howe related in her Daily Mail review of Shawn Levy's The Castle on Sunset: Life, Death, Art and Scandal at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont that 44-year-old director Nicholas Ray had sex with 16-year-old actress Natalie Wood. 

16-year-old actress Natalie Wood & 44-year-old director Nicholas Ray

Consequently, actor Dennis Hopper went around the Chateau with a gun hoping to ironically 'beat the shit' out of Ray and "win over" Natalie.

I related in Teens Love and Want to F*ck James Franco: A Study of a Life and Works that James Franco composed the following two stanzas in the poem "Chateau Dreams" from his book of prose Directing Herbert White: 

In '54, forty-three-year-old Nick Ray

Fucked fifteen-year-old Natalie Wood in Bungalow 2

Thus, per Franco, Wood was 15 when she was "fucked" by Ray. And only God knows how many nymphets had sex in the infamous Chateau Marmont, but Glenys Roberts related in a Daily Mail post that: 

Scarlett Johansson and Benicio Del Toro

"A 19-year-old Scarlett Johansson was so overcome by its heady atmosphere in 2004 that she couldn’t wait to get upstairs with [thirty-seven-year-old] Puerto Rican star ­Benicio Del Toro and ripped off his clothes in the lift. ‘We were making out or having sex or something,’ she readily admitted later."