The era of pubescence is one that ev- ery person has to face when transition- ing from childhood to adolescence. Also known as the most awkward stage of life, puberty is an unguided experience that we navigate through for a few years.
Puberty is a natural experience that everyone trudges through; however, there is very little representation of teens going through puberty on any media.
While there have been TV shows that capture the lives of teens growing up, only recently have there been shows solely about the experience of puber- ty. Such shows include Puberty Blues (2012-14), Newton Puberty (2015-pres- ent) and Sex Education (2019-present), and the animated series Big Mouth (2017-present).
Big Mouth was is a Netflix original series that premiered on Sept. 29, 2017, with the pilot episode “Ejaculation.” Big Mouth was created by Nick Kroll,
Andrew Goldberg, Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett. This animated series is based on the lives of young teenag- er Nick Kroll (voiced by himself) and Andrew Goldberg (voiced by John Mulaney).
In Big Mouth, Andrew, Nick and their friends go on the roller coaster ride that is puberty. The show does not use any censorship to cover up the raw reality of puberty.
Every aspect of puberty from acne to menstrual cycles to pubic hair to sexu- al desires is completely exposed for the audience to see.
As Andrew, Nick and their friends stumble their way through pubes- cence, they’re guided by Maurice “Maury” the Hormone Monster. Mau- ry is an invisible monster that causes the effects of puberty to kick in. He introduces Andrew (who hits puberty first before Nick) and sometimes Nick to various sexual desires such as mas- turbation, porn and physical desires with girls.
Maury also has a counterpart named Connie who is a hormone monster for girls. Connie introduces Andrew and
Nick’s friend Jessie and Missy to the wonders of the menstrual cycle, random mood swings and anger spells, and the discovery of sexual desires as well.
With season one and two ready to binge on Netflix, season three will be released on Oct. 4.
After season two, the show left off with a Valentine’s Day special which Goldberg says will follow the story plot and is the beginning of season three.
