Last night we watched Big Time Adolescence on Hulu. It's a movie starring Pete Davidson as Zeke, a stoner in his mid-twenties who is friends with Monroe, the sixteen-year-old brother of his ex-girlfriend. Zeke is lovable in his own way; he goofs around with Mo along with Zeke's other friends who are closer to his age, drinking and smoking. It's not a good situation for Mo. But the blame doesn't and can't lie with Zeke.
Zeke is a buffoon. Zeke has nothing but good intentions for Mo, but is clueless to the fact that what he's doing is more harmful than beneficial. Some of it is simple social issues, such as when he tells Mo to ghost the girl he likes to make her want Mo more. Zeke thinks this is a great idea, and because Mo looks up to Zeke - he has for close to nine years - he listens. And Mo is never surprised when Zeke's ideas don't pan out.
Part of this might be that Zeke's frontal lobe isn't fully developed, if it's there at all. Almost nothing ever bothers Zeke, not even his girlfriend leaving him or what she does afterward, so Zeke never sees a problem with any situation. In his world, everything is good all the time. When he and Mo are in an art museum, he thinks he can simply purchase one of the paintings; it never occurs to him that museums don't work that way. When he's told he can buy a replica in the gift shop, problem solved. It's all good for Zeke.
I think the blame - if any is to be placed - lies with Mo's family and Zeke's friends (although the latter might be almost as oblivious as Zeke). But how do you deal with someone whose heart is in the right place and whose only goal is to help someone else? Mo needs booze for a high school party? No problem. Zeke remembers what high school was like; this will be good for Mo. It's no secret that Zeke drinks and smokes all the time, yet Mo's parents (including his
father, played by Jon Cryer - and am I the only one who thinks Cryer now looks like a shrunken version of WWE's Big Show?) and sister have little problem with sixteen-year-old Mo hanging out with Zeke all the time. By the time it becomes an issue, it's too late to do anything about it. Characters such as Zeke aren't unusual. Seann William Scott's Wheeler in Role Models has similar traits, but Davidson's Zeke seems more... lovable. Against my own judgment and wishes, I like the guy, despite the fact that he's such a screw-up. I think much of this is due to the fact that I've been teaching Zekes for over sixteen years now. These are the kids at all grade levels who drive me crazy. They don't do their work. They don't pay attention. They're constantly disruptive. But there's something lovable about them. Despite the aggravation they put me through and despite the setbacks they inflict upon the rest of the class (which, I hope, I handle slightly more effectively than Mo's parents), I can't help but love these goofballs. I guess my hope is that the end of the movie (fear not - no spoilers) is similar to what happens to the knuckleheads who come through my classroom; they grow up, turn themselves into functional adults, and pay it forward.
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