Yes, the show "Big Mouth" is too insensitive

By Rachel Levin, Staff Writer

“Big Mouth”, an adult cartoon comedy about going through puberty, came out in 2017 but has been steadily popular since. The subject matter covered often forces the creators of the show to walk a fine line between dark humor and being straight up disturbing. “Big Mouth” has crossed that line quite a few times.

Does “Big Mouth'' have an obligation to write a genuine middle school take on puberty? Honestly, neither the writers nor the people watching it are close enough to middle school age to do that, so it's understandable if that vision is a little skewed. However, puberty isn’t the only thing the show is informing its audience about. It also covers race and LGBTQ topics, and it doesn’t do so particularly well. Its depictions of bisexuality, pansexuality and transgender people are not ideal, and often fall into sterotypes.

Although it is a comedy show, “Big Mouth” still takes on the responsibility of being respectful to these sensitive topics when the creators choose to include them. Often, the show chooses comedy over political correctness or sensitivity, assuming its audience will excuse them because they’ve slapped a dick joke over it. Or quite possibly assuming the audience already has knowledge of these things.

Presumably, no children who don’t understand sex are watching the show. If the show was targeted toward that audience, it would have a whole other load of problems. But it's not, and if that demographic is watching it, that is frankly their parents’ responsibility. But as much as an adult audience should know how the gender spectrum works, many don’t. And if a show is going to be on the front lines of representation then it should make sure those depictions are accurate and well researched.

Take the show “Sex Education.” The show is undeniably comedy, but it achieves a balance that allows for serious discussions and explanations of the identities it is trying to portray. When it comes to these moments, “Big Mouth” is lacking. 

“Big Mouth” does cover those issues it started out with (coming of age, sexuality and mental health) adequately, but in terms of its more ambitious endeavours, it simply needs to try harder.