The Skins debacle on MTV brought underage sex, drinking, and generally bad behavior back to the forefront of the pop culture conversation. Every few years, society stands back aghast at what kids are up to, and then they forget again until a new crop of kids wakes up with an erection or their period and the cycle starts over.
It's been going on since the teenager was born in the 1950s, as baby boomers came of age and a new sub-market was born with disposable incomes, flashy cars, and duck tails. Before, the world hadn't been worried about teens. But now they were fast, loose, and out of control. Cue James Dean's smirk, Elvis' crotch, and Elizabeth Taylor and Debbie Reynolds, and tight-fitting clothing. And Nancy Sinatra. Jesus, I love Nancy Sinatra.
We won't even begin to talk about teens making suggestive music. Britney, Christina, Miley and Lindsay Lohan all made wildly perverse music for young ears. Even Selena Gomez was making oddly sexual music for Disney a few years back, and she's dating Justin Bieber now, so that's creepy.
Since the '70s, teens have been, in one way or another, exploited by Hollywood. Routinely a role comes around that shocks everyone and has people shouting about pedophilia, hebephilia, ephebophilia and all sorts of moral derangement. Yes, those are all real philias, I promise.
Perhaps the most recent, biggest cinematic scare was 2007's Hounddog with Dakota Fanning, where the young actress' character was raped. No one wanted to see the movie, for what it's worth, but it did show that Fanning was growing into bigger and more adult roles.
Boys have an easier time being sexual at a young age onscreen, because when they do it, it's more than likely considered "art" and not pandering. Guys like Zac Efron, and Taylor Lautner from Twilight were jailbait for millions of older women for years before they turned of legal age, but no one calls those ladies out for being perverted.
The past 30 years, some stars have made their names as comely teen sexpots. Brooke Shields was the first with Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon. For a period in the late '90s, the hot underage indie pinup was Christina Ricci, whose developing body appeared in movies like Buffalo 66, The Opposite Of Sex, and The Ice Storm. Lindsay Lohan was making comedies like Mean Girls that took a frank look at teen sex before she turned 18. Then, you know, other stuff happened.
We picked some of the most controversial teen roles over the past 30 years, along with a piece of the most suggestive dialogue from each film. This list has boys and girls in it, just to show we're equal-opportunity around here. We only used the actors and actresses who were under 18 at the time of filming. Did you realize that most of the casts from Cruel Intentions and American Pie were almost pushing 30 when those teen movies came out?
Brooke Shields in Pretty Baby "Well, you look nice, and you have a nice chest. I can feel the steam inside me right through my dress."
Brooke Shields in The Blue Lagoon "I've seen you play with 'it,' and I know what happens when you play with 'it' for a long time.
Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver "You walk out with those fuckin' creeps and low-lifes and degenerates out on the streets and you sell your little pussy for peanuts?"
Elijah Wood/Christina Ricci in The Ice Storm "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."
