A ton of shows and movies have this weird dynamic that it is glamorous for a minor to hook up with an adult when in reality it is so disturbing. In society, not only is this illegal, it is greatly frowned upon. So why is it so common on screen?
I made a list of shows that have this trend:
-Aria and Ezra (Pretty Little Liars)
-Archie and Ms. Grundy (Riverdale)
-Nick and Adrian (The Crush)
-Jane Eyre and Rochester (Jane Eyre)
-Nate Archibald and Catherine Beaton (Gossip Girl)
-Wren and Spencer (Pretty Little Liars)
-Serena van der Woodsen and Ben Donovan (Gossip Girl)
-Brooke Davis and Nick Chavez (One Tree Hill)
-Dan Humphrey and Rachel Carr (Gossip Girl)
-Jim and Tracy (Election)
The most popular of these is Aria and Ezra from Pretty Little Liars. Not only was he 23 while she was 16, he was her teacher as well. To make matters even worse he pretended to not know how old she was and still had sex with her. Later in the series you find out he stalked her AND her underage friends way before he formally met her.
So that is a quick synopsis of this age-inappropriate relationship. So could someone explain to me why this is the most popular couple in teen drama TV shows and why this couple labeled Ezria (Aria+Ezra) has won the Teen Choice Award for "Best On-Screen Couple" three times?!
In the news we always hear about child molesters and pray that they are sent to jail but at the same time we root for the same type of relationships on screen. The media needs to stop the abundance of illegal relationships and making it seem so amazing.
The danger of these relationships stems from the fact that adults should be a trusted figure for kids to look to for guidance. Once that barrier between under 18 and over 18 is broken everything goes haywire.
