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Culture in the 90s was obsessed with the sex lives of teenagers. This is a theme we will come back to several times throughout the season. In this episode, we’ll talk about Drew Barrymore, who became a massive star at age 7 in E.T., went to rehab at 13, became an emancipated minor at 15, and immediately started pushing buttons with naked photo shoots and her comeback role as a murderously seductive teen in Poison Ivy. With teenaged Drew scantily clad in magazines and on screen – and “Long Island Lolita” Amy Fisher making headlines for shooting her adult lover’s wife – the media was eager to exploit the precocious sexuality of other teen girls. But while she made her film debut in the Poison Ivy-esque The Crush, Alicia Silverstone vocally pushed back on being branded “the next Lolita”.
Update May 23, 2023: In this episode, I mistakenly credited the role of Cooper’s mom in Poison Ivy to Kathy Ireland. The actual actress in the film is Cheryl Ladd. This was a stupid mistake on my part, and I regret the error. I regret all errors, which is why I try very, very hard not to make them, but as I don’t have a fact checking staff, and I myself am stretched very, very thin, sometimes they will unfortunately slip through. However, I was made to regret this error even more than I would another error, because of the hostility some listeners used on social media to point it out. I am certainly afraid to ever make a mistake in the future!
SHOW NOTES:
Sources:
Little Girl Lost by Drew Barrymore and Todd Gold
“The Cast and Creator of ET Have Moved on, But, Six Years Later, The Movie Phones Home New Records” People Magazine, December 5, 1988
“I Wanted People to Know I Had A Problem” by Elaine Warren, TV Guide, March 25, 1989
“Drew Barrymore’s Struggle: No Happy Ending” People Magazine, January 29, 1990
“Child Star, Child Addict” by Joanne Kaufman, Ladies Home Journal, March 1990
“New Line Offers $50 mil 6-pic Pack at Cannes” Variety, May 9, 1991
“Barrymore…Drew Barrymore” Interview Magazine, July 1991
“Drew Drops In” by Lynn Snowden, ELLE, September 1991
“Poison Ivy” by Todd McCarthy, Variety February 3, 1992
“The Return of Drew” by Stephen Rebello, Movieline, March 1992
“Movie Review: Family Itchin’ for Trouble” by Peter Rainer, LA Times May 8, 1992
“How 'Poison Ivy' Got Its Sting” NY Times, May 3, 1992
“Poison Ivy” by Jeff Menell, Hollywood Reporter, May 7, 1992
"She Joins A Family And Leaves It Well And Truly Wrecked" Janet Maslin, NY Times, May 8, 1992
“Movie Review: Family Itchin’ for Trouble” by Peter Rainer, LA Times May 8, 1992
Poison Ivy, Folks! Siskel & Ebert, May 8, 1992
‘POISON IVY'; Lesbianism: Not a Nasty Word. NY Times, May 17, 1992
“Morning Report” LA Times, June 29, 1992
“Poison Ivy” by Lawrence Frascella, US Magazine June 1992
“Splendor in the Grass” Cover Story, Interview Magazine, July 1992
“Dirty Directing”: interviews with Adrian Lyne, Paul Verhoeven and Katt Shea Ruben by Lawrence Frascella, US Magazine August 1992
“Drew” by Mary Murphy, TV Guide, 1992
“Sex, Lies & Videotapes” by Joe Treen, People Magazine, October 12, 1992
“Correspondence…” Rolling Stone, December 10, 1992
“Inside Movies: In Brief” US Magazine, January 1993
“Amy Fisher Story a Surprise Smash In 3 TV Movies” NYTimes, Jan. 5, 1993
“The Crown Princess” by Stephen Rebello, Movieline, March 1995
“Amy’s VCR Plus” TV Guide, March 6, 1993
“Barrymore ‘Nightmare’” Hollywood Reporter, March 15, 1993
“Dirty White Girl” by Pat Jordan, GQ, March 1993
“Crazy for Drew” by David Handelman, Vogue, June 1993
“Alicia Silverstone” Interview Magazine, February 1994
“Wild at Heart” by Christian Wright, Allure, March 1994
“Morning Report” Los Angeles Times, March 25, 1994
Drew Barrymore Marries Jeremy Thomas by Cindy Pearlman, Entertainment Weekly, April 29, 1994
“Production Line” Screen International, June 10, 1994
“Xpansive Drew” Interview by Ricki Lake for Interview Magazine, October 1994
“True Drew” photos by Ellen von Unwerth, Playboy, February 1995
“A Dash Of Cold Water” People Magazine, March 20, 1995
“The Making of Alicia Silverstone” by A.J. Jacobs and Jeff Gordinier EW, March 31, 1995
“She's 18, and Ready or Not She's a Celebrity” James Ryan, NY Times, July 16, 1995
“Fresh Princess” by Richard Natale, LA Times, July 16, 1995
“Little Girl? Not!” Bart Mills, Chicago Tribune, July 16, 1995
“The Girl With The Most Cake” US Magazine, July 1995
“Alicia in Wonderland” by Michael Musto, Vanity Fair, August 1995
“Women We Love” issue, Esquire, August 1995
“Love Me So Naughty” by Kristen O’Neill, Premiere, August 1995
“Ballad of a Teenage Queen” by Rich Cohen, Rolling Stone, September 1995
“Ciao To Vanity Productions” by Sharon Waxman, Washington Post, June 23, 1998
“Drew Barrymore: The Day I Divorced My Mother – An Exclusive Extract From Drew Barrymore’s Memoir Wildflower” The Guardian, Oct 15, 2015
Alicia Silverstone: 'I probably behaved not as well as I could have' by Benjamin Lee, April 18, 2020
“Here’s What Drew Barrymore Sent Godfather Steven Spielberg After Posing for Playboy in 1995” (Video) by Andi Ortiz, The Wrap, February 22, 2021
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Music:
The music used in this episode, with the exception of the intro, was sourced from royalty-free music libraries and licensed music collections. The intro includes a clip from the film Casablanca.
Excerpts from the following songs were used throughout the episode:
Gra Landsby - Fjell
Eggs and Powder - Muffuletta
Holo - Grey River
Cobalt Blue - Marble Run
House of Grendel - Lemuel
Inside the Paper Crane - Origami
Chai Belltini - Vermouth
Cicle Vascule - Cicle Kadde
Vdet - Fjell
Mill Wyrm - Potions
Riesling - Cafe Nostro
Plum Blossom - Kokura Station
Jespen - Texana
Where it All Happened - Cold Case
Vik Fenceta - The Fence
Alicia Silverstone in Aerosmith's Cryin' Music Video, 1993
Alicia Silverstone in The Crush, 1993
Credits:
This episode was written, narrated, and produced by Karina Longworth.
Our editor this season is Evan Viola.
Research and production assistant: Lindsey D. Schoenholtz.
Social media assistant: Brendan Whalen.
Logo design: Teddy Blanks.
Alicia Silverstone on the Oscars Red Carpet, 1996