If you spend too much time on the internet, it can start to feel like everyone is talking about age gaps all the time—and if they’re not talking about them, they must be solemnly thinking about them. This week, the discourse has regrettably come for one of our most beloved and promising stars, Jenna Ortega. Her latest movie, Miller’s Girl, is trending on Netflix after its release earlier this year; it features a sexual relationship between her character, the ridiculously named “Cairo Sweet,” and her literature professor, played by the much older Martin Freeman.
According to various publications, viewers are reeling from the scandalous relationship in this movie—the word “controversial” has really seen its stock rise this week—but, to be honest, normal people on the internet don’t seem to care. So, wherefore all the coverage? Apparently, the alleged furor over this movie has gotten so bad that Martin Freeman is out in the online streets teaching basic media literacy, and yet, I have not seen a single post about this pop up on my timeline organically. Is this what happens when we stop teaching critical thinking in schools, or is the entertainment media world just short on newsworthy topics to cover this week?
By all accounts, Miller’s Girl is a trashy throwback thriller of questionable quality that, regardless of its level of accomplishment, should not be taken as an endorsement of student-teacher relationships. That said, it’s unclear how many people are actually sincerely “unsettled” by the film, as a headline in The Independent claimed soon after its January release. Most of the tweets cited in that particular article seem more like social media puffery than actual concern. See: “MARTIN FREEMAN WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO JENNA ORTEGA” and “I don’t like to think of Freeman having sex with anyone, let alone someone less than half his age. I imagine he is smooth inside his pants, like a Ken doll.”
