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If Adrian Lyne’s Lolita became a case study of what Hollywood and America didn’t want to acknowledge about its sexualization of young girls, as the 90s came to a close, the culture was full of “acceptable” depictions of teens in heat. Two hit films from 1998 and 1999, Wild Things and Cruel Intentions adapted classic templates of adult sexual manipulation to turn teen girls into femme fatales (probably not coincidentally, both featured actresses Neve Campbell and Sarah Michelle Gellar, who were famous for playing high school students on TV). Also, no coincidence: these films entered the culture simultaneous to the debut of 17-year-old Britney Spears, whose videos and persona centered her status as “not a girl, not yet a woman.”
Denise Richards and Matt Dillon, Wild Things, 1998
SHOW NOTES:
Sources:
“Interview: Neve Campbell, It's her party. Scream all you want” by Janchee Dunn, Rolling Stone, Sept 18, 1997
“Wild Things” (cover story) by Benjamin Svetkey, Entertainment Weekly. 02/20/98-02/27/98, Issue 419/420
“The Lust Waltz” by Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly. February 27, 1998
“Wild Things” by Roger Ebert, March 20, 1998
“Schoolgirls Make Alligators Look Like Ingenues” by Janet Maslin, NYTimes, March 20, 1998
“‘Wild Things’ Runs Rampant With Twists and Surprises” by Jack Mathews, LA Times, March 20, 1998
“‘Wild’ Rationale Bared” LA Times, April 4, 1998
“Wild Things” by Leonard Klady, Variety, March 27, 1998
“Kevin Bacon: Twisting and Turning in Wild Things” by Tom Provenzano, Drama-logue, March, 1998
“Neve Campbell” Drama-logue, March, 1998
“Film Review: Wild Things” by Leonard Klady, Variety, March 18, 1998
“To Die For” by Amy Taubin, Village Voice March 24, 1998
Stewart Klaxons’ Film Column, The Nation, April 2, 1998
“Movies” by David Denby, New York Magazine, April 6, 1998
“Wild Things” by Tom Charity, Time Out London, May 13, 1998
Advertorial for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer prom dress collection, Seventeen Magazine, April 1999
“…As ‘Shut’ case opens” by Dan Cox, Variety March 29, 1999
“A Woodstock Where Teeny Is Everything” by Neil Strauss, NYTimes, July 6, 1999
“Too Sexy, Too Soon?” Brittany Spears Cover Story, People Magazine, February, 2000
“Britney’s Wild Ride” by Alex Tresniowski, Elizabeth Leonard, Julie Jordan, Chris Coats, and Olivia Abel, PEOPLE, February 14, 2000
“US politician Joins Britney in Pepsi Advert” by Julia Day, The Guardian, Mar 20, 2001
“Pop Goes the Boom?” Cover Story by Josh Wolk, Entertainment Weekly, June 8, 2001
“'Britney Spears wanted to be a star': An oral history of '...Baby One More Time'” by Jessica M. Goldstein, Entertainment Weekly, October 23, 2018
“Britney: Do as I say, not as I do. She wonders why people fret that she's too sexy, but she doesn't think kids should emulate her” by Gary Susman, Entertainment Weekly, October 27, 2003
“The Total Film Interview - Matt Dillon”, Total Film September 01, 2005
“The Tragedy of Britney Spears, She was a pop princess. Now she's in and out of hospitals, rehab and court. How Britney lost it all” by Vanessa Grigoriadis, Rolling Stone, February 21, 2008
“Twenty Years Ago We Had a Countdown to Britney's 18th Birthday Christopher Barnard considers—what have we learned since?” by Christopher Barnard, VICE, December 1, 2019
“The 100 Greatest Debut Singles of All Time” Rolling Stone, May 19, 2020
“Like A Virgin: How Purity Culture Harmed Britney Spears & A Generation Of Pop Stars” by Danielle Campoamor, Refinery 29, July 1, 2021
“Britney Spears Was Never in Control Why did I ever believe a teen girl could hold all the power?” by Tavi Gevinson, The Cut, Feb. 23, 2021
Wild Things homoerotic shower scene between Matt Dillon and Kevin Bacon was cut from movie, director says "They were supposed to look each other up and down and then wham — go at it." by Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, March 18, 2023
“Why TLC Said 'Hell No' To Britney's '...Baby One More Time' T-Boz and Chilli explain why they passed on the pop princess' debut single” by Cory Midgarden, MTV.com, October 17, 2013
Wild Things Turns 25: RARE On-Set Interviews, Entertainment Weekly
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Britney Spears in the Baby One More Time video, 1999
Britney Spears by David Lachapelle, 1999
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:
Benbient - Canton Becker
Riesling - Cafe Nostro
I Knew A Guy - Kevin MacLeod
An Unknown Visitor - Cold Case
Bellow's Hull - Reflections
True Blue Sky - Bitters
Line Exchange - Marble Run
Lick Stick - Nursery
House of Grendel - Lemuel
One Quiet Conversation - K2
Levanger - Lillehammer
Junca - Orange Cat
Cruel Intentions, 1999
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.
