TV shows or movies that depicts teens having romantic relationships with adults?

August 30, 2010 1:34 AM

I'm doing research for a book and I'm looking for tv shows or movies that depicts teens having relationships with adults. I have a partial list that includes: PRETTY LITTLE LIARS, ONE TREE HILL, CALIFORNICATION, BORED TO DEATH, and PINEAPPLE EXPRESS. I'm also looking for examples of teens talking about sodomy e.g. NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE and National Lampoon's PLEDGE THIS. Thanks!
posted by lrnarabic to society & culture (49 answers total)

teens + adults:
dawson's creek (pacey + english teacher)
buffy (buffy and angel. not sure if centuries old vampire counts as adult)
hawthoRNe (jada's daughter + some dude at the hospital)
posted by anthropomorphic at 1:48 AM on August 30, 2010

Kids
Thirteen
posted by Biru at 2:02 AM on August 30, 2010

Swingtown--the teen daughter (Laurie) has a relationship with her summer school teacher (Doug).
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:03 AM on August 30, 2010

American Beauty
Lolita
Leon
Desperate Housewives
Weird Science
posted by alchemist at 2:40 AM on August 30, 2010

OC - Luke and Marissa's mother
posted by djgh at 2:47 AM on August 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

The first thing that comes to mind is Hard Candy.

On Damages, Patty Hewes' son who has just graduated high school has a relationship with a much older woman.

Caprica has a rather unique take on a teen girl dating an older man through the guise of virtual reality.

The Vampire Diaries is another like Buffy where an underage girl is in a relationship with a much older man who gets away with it because he ostensibly looks like a teen himself -- although this is one of those shows where everyone is 22 playing 16 so I guess the whole concept is a little iffy. See also, True Blood.
posted by Rhomboid at 2:50 AM on August 30, 2010

"Kids" is brutal, but it was the first thing that came to my mind, too. Anything Larry Clark, probably.
posted by nevercalm at 2:53 AM on August 30, 2010

Glee has a high school boy sleeping with many moms and bored housewives (he has a pool cleaning service, which he makes good use of to meet older women).

And I do think the previously mentioned Buffy the Vampire Slayer works, because the age difference does come up frequently in their relationship (and even appearance wise, he seems to be mid-twenties, which is not the age to be dating a fifteen year old).
posted by Margalo Epps at 3:48 AM on August 30, 2010

Harold and Maude (1971)

From IMDB:

The self-destructive and needy wealthy teenager Harold is obsessed by death and spends his leisure time attending funerals, watching the demolishing of buildings, visiting junkyards, simulating suicides trying to get attention from his indifferent, snobbish and egocentric mother, and having sessions with his psychologist. When Harold meets the anarchist seventy-nine-year-old Maude at a funeral, they become friends and the old lady discloses other perspectives of the cycle of life for him. Meanwhile, his mother enlists him in a dating service and tries to force Harold to join the army. On the day of Maude's eightieth birthday, Harold proposes to her but he finds the truth about life at the end of hers. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

posted by Harald74 at 3:55 AM on August 30, 2010 [2 favorites]

In "Manhattan," Woody Allen dates a 17-year-old.
posted by dunadan17 at 4:01 AM on August 30, 2010

River's Edge.
posted by dbiedny at 4:04 AM on August 30, 2010

Gavin & Stacey features a nearly 30 year old man dating a 17 year old. It may not suit your purpose- the teenage girl is an unseen character, so her perspective is completely absent.
posted by PercyByssheShelley at 4:11 AM on August 30, 2010

NO NEED TO SHOUT. It's bad manners, ya know.

lrnarabic wasn't shouting. Rendering titles in CAPITAL LETTERS is an accepted practice when you don't have access to (or don't think you have access to) italics.

To the topic at hand: There's the obvious Lolita.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:17 AM on August 30, 2010

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (though whether Scott can be considered to be an "adult" for much of the movie is questionable.)
posted by Johnny Assay at 4:45 AM on August 30, 2010

Y Tu mama tabien
An Education
Clueless
Mysterious Skin
posted by haplesschild at 4:52 AM on August 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

^That would be tambien, not tabien, sorry
posted by haplesschild at 4:53 AM on August 30, 2010

An Education
posted by pecanpies at 4:54 AM on August 30, 2010

Storytelling, although the teen in question is a college student. This is most definitely not a mainstream film.
posted by fuse theorem at 5:53 AM on August 30, 2010

In Boston Public, one of the teachers has an affair with a young lady he later finds out is one of the students at his school.
posted by puritycontrol at 5:54 AM on August 30, 2010

The Last Picture Show, book and film.
posted by Bromius at 6:00 AM on August 30, 2010

Election.
American Pie (OK, might stretch the definition of relationship...)
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 6:03 AM on August 30, 2010

Weeds (season 4, I believe).
Life as a House
In the first season of Felicity, Elena has an affair with her professor; she would be an adult, though, but only 18 or 19 so technically a teen.
posted by emumimic at 6:22 AM on August 30, 2010

In an early season of "Gossip Girl" (season 2, perhaps?), Nate had a relationship with an older lady.

I hear there's a camp counselor/camp attendee relationship in the new show "Huge".
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:26 AM on August 30, 2010

Thinking that many of John Irving's books feature young men having their first sexual experience with older women, I went looking for those that have been turned into movies, and found The Door In The Floor.
posted by komara at 6:41 AM on August 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

I would have though Summer of '42 would have been one of the first responses.
posted by planetkyoto at 6:42 AM on August 30, 2010

Fast Times At Ridgemont High

The Phantom of the Opera (implied)

Roman Polanski's home movies?
posted by jfwlucy at 6:46 AM on August 30, 2010

L.I.E.
posted by schmod at 6:51 AM on August 30, 2010

Veronica Mars features a number of teen/adult relationships, with varying degrees of dysfunction.
posted by Adridne at 7:01 AM on August 30, 2010

There's a gym coach/student relationship (sort of) in Mean Girls
posted by almostmanda at 7:03 AM on August 30, 2010

Ghost World
The Man Who Wasn't There
Taxi Driver (sort of)
posted by Rumple at 7:03 AM on August 30, 2010

Blue Car. Good, complex movie about a teacher/student relationship.
posted by dlugoczaj at 7:42 AM on August 30, 2010

Lawn Dogs is about a relationship between a girl and man that others think is scandalous, but really isn't... (interesting factoid: Mischa Barton is something like 10 or 11 years old in this film)
posted by analog at 7:57 AM on August 30, 2010

Paper man
posted by Sarosmith at 8:00 AM on August 30, 2010

"Beautiful Girls" - Timothy Hutton's character is mooning over a 13-year-old Natalie Portman, who lives next door. It's never inappropriate, but she unwittingly opens his eyes to how much he needs to grow up.
posted by slyboots421 at 8:17 AM on August 30, 2010

Life as you know it was a ridiculous teen drama on ABC that featured a student and a teacher in a romantic relationship.
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 8:52 AM on August 30, 2010

Lovely and Amazing
Tadpole
posted by Joe Beese at 9:34 AM on August 30, 2010

Wild Things with Matt Dillon, Neve Campbell and Denise Richards.
posted by soelo at 9:58 AM on August 30, 2010

Weird Science
posted by MuffinMan at 10:46 AM on August 30, 2010

Paris goes out with a guy in his fifties in Gilmore Girls.
posted by karminai at 10:56 AM on August 30, 2010

The Reader.
posted by Lieber Frau at 11:25 AM on August 30, 2010

Apologies for the double post, but I forgot Notes on a Scandal.
posted by Lieber Frau at 11:28 AM on August 30, 2010

Do you mean actual relationships or just sex? Because one of the American Pie movies (horrified to admit I know this) has the guy in love with Stifler's mom finally having sex with Stifler's mom.

Also, Big Love, the HBO TV show, in season two maybe, includes the prophet being married to a young teen girl.

If people are counting Buffy, you should probably include the Twilight series, in which Bella is 17 and Edward is 100 years old or something.

Various films based on Amy Fisher.
posted by bluedaisy at 11:37 AM on August 30, 2010

Two movies about teen/adult relationships and pathos: Fishbowl An Education. They both came out last year.
posted by Phalene at 12:11 PM on August 30, 2010

^Fishbowl & An Education
posted by Phalene at 12:11 PM on August 30, 2010

The Adults in the Room is an interesting example of this, dealing not only with the narrative of the director's teenaged relationship with an older man, but also how that relationship has affected him as an adult and the process of making the movie-within-the-movie.
posted by lantius at 1:07 PM on August 30, 2010

Does Stacey's Mom count?
posted by Ideefixe at 4:29 PM on August 30, 2010

Wow, thanks so much to everyone for the responses! This is extremely helpful! I can't express how thankful I am. I'm so excited about writing this book. Do I really have to do the [mark as best answer]? Thanks again and keep them coming!
posted by lrnarabic at 9:54 PM on August 30, 2010

Soaps are a good place - both Coronation Street and EastEnders had storylines on this in recent times.
posted by mippy at 8:09 AM on August 31, 2010

Poison Ivy had Drew Barrymore's ~16 year old character seducing her friend's father (Tom Skerritt). Ick.
posted by kbar1 at 11:22 PM on October 29, 2010