Fatigue is a very real thing when it comes to television. A show will come around and steal the hearts of viewers everywhere, seeming to have not a single flaw, and then it comes back with the second or third season just to disappoint. Maybe it’s not bad, but it doesn’t deliver anything new or dare to keep going on the path it was during its premiere days.
Big Mouth is now in its third season and showing no signs of slowing down.
It seems like it was just last week when the show hit laptops and TVs everywhere, causing an equal uproar in shock and praise. The show’s comedic, hold-no-punches style of depicting puberty is equal parts hilarious as it is beneficial. It’s a show that could be compared to something like Family Guy in terms of humor and raunchiness, but it has more purpose and intention behind the madness. And now, two seasons later, it’s still going as strong as ever with even more room to grow.
A show like Big Mouth has a unique opportunity to serve as a form of education for young viewers. It’s hard to argue that an adult cartoon show should be shown in place of most sex education, but it really is beneficial past the more R-rated humor. The show makes light of puberty and all of the awkward situations and hormonal outbursts that come with it. It has the capability to provide helpful information in a format that allows adolescent problems to be normalized and even laughed at.
The majority of people’s education in terms of sex or puberty usually come in two forms: strained, horribly awkward talks with parents or school-sanctioned sex ed that usually boils down to “don’t have sex or you’ll get gonorrhea.”
Big Mouth not only points out the faults in those — it also tries and succeeds in essentially creating a whole new form of sex ed. The hot-button topics, the talks most don’t want or know how to have; they’re all there but in a format that’s relaxed and accessible.
The fact that the series is still going strong in its third season is only more promising. Instead of hashing over the same topics or staying within the limits it has already set, it’s still pushing boundaries and experimenting with what it can do. Even more outlandish scenarios, even more risky topics, Big Mouth is not shying away from the woes and questions of puberty — it’s continuing to embrace it.
Now that the show has proven it can stand the test of time and not become the same old show viewers have seen before, it can follow its characters through high school and beyond. It can be the show for kids growing up now and for years to come to watch and to be comforted by a show that’s not afraid to make a joke out of puberty. The potential Big Mouth has to grow from early middle school problems to even heavier, more in depth ones that come up in high school is truly exciting.
This uncensored animated show about middle school kids going through puberty might just be the most beneficial show to come from any TV station or streaming service as of late. And it might just continue to be that show for years and years to come.
Jackson Horvat is a sophomore studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Do you agree? Tell Jackson by tweeting him at @horvatjackson.
