Comedy
Cobra Kai
The Gen X-targeted nostalgia bait revisits Daniel and Johnny’s rivalry from The Karate Kid … 34 years later.
It’s been said that Harrison Ford became Han Solo because he once installed a door for George Lucas. Legendary actress Lana Turner was sitting in a malt shop when she was noticed by an agent. Stars are born in all sorts of ways—sometimes even through the soul-sapping audition process.
That’s how Paige Townsen (no “d” at the end) became a star. Hollywood’s newest would-be “it” girl was just an unassuming college student before her roommate, Cassie, encouraged her to try out for the lead in the upcoming film Locked. Naturally, she gets the part. (Otherwise this would’ve been a mercifully short series.) Perhaps it was her acting that nabbed her the role, or her flaming red hair, or her mysteriously over-plumped lips that seem to make it difficult for Paige to smile.
But getting the part was easy compared to what awaits her. For now she must deal with backstabbing rivals and a bevy of potential suitors. And because Paige wants to stay in school, too, she’s got to figure out how to juggle time on the set with time at her desk. Whoo-boy! The girl’s got it tough, doesn’t she?
Freeform’s Famous in Love stars Bella Thorne, perhaps best known as one of the pubescent stars (along with Zendaya) of Disney’s sitcom Shake It Up. Like many other Mouse House mini-mavens, Thorne seems to have taken great pains to distance herself from her squeaky-clean Disney image, talking openly about her bisexuality and posting risqué images of herself on Snapchat.
“Do you think that I wanted to be a Disney girl?” she recently said on MTV’s Happy Sad Confused podcast. “Did you think I wanted to do that? We [my family] were about to live physically on the street if I didn’t have that role.”
Seems Thorne did not relish her days as a Disney princess, which makes her current project a bit ironic. Her character essentially is a Disney sitcom heroine—only with more smooching and sexual intrigue in the mix.
Paige, like Hannah Montana and Shake It Up’s CeCe Jones and plenty of others, is just a normal girl with a normal life. But she wants to be famous, too, and she gets an unexpected shot at stardom. How does this grounded, sweet girl deal with the pressures of sudden celebrity?
Here, Disney and Freeform diverge a bit. While Disney’s characters persevered with the help of family, solid values and maybe a colored wig, Paige leans on a handful of friends with dubious morals, a few cutthroat associates and, of course, the beauteous beaus in the show’s requisite love triangle. Oh, and perhaps a secret crib sheet to keep everyone’s secrets and sexual affairs straight.
It’s not that Famous in Love is a completely moral-free environment. Thorne does her best to play Paige as an innocent, well-meaning ingénue who loves her parents and understands that fame can be fleeting. Jake, her best friend and sometime kiss-comrade, does his best to give Paige whatever support he can.
But the morals here are strictly secular and as uncertain as a summer breeze. Cassie, Paige’s other BFF, is a rock of a companion … but also works as a topless companion to well-heeled gentlemen. Jordan, one of Paige’s sympathetic co-stars on Locked, is having an affair with the film’s producer and the mother of Jordan’s best friend. Alexis, Paige’s catty foil, is a closeted lesbian, but one who’s clearly willing to spend an afternoon on the infamous “casting couch” if the part’s juicy enough.
Sure, lip service is paid to friendship and loyalty and more lasting values. But those lips are locked far more frequently on the face of the show’s latest pretty person.
Famous in Love feels a little like La La Land, only without much to sing and dance about. It’s a manipulative, salacious, badly written mess that made me feel a little pity for everyone involved in it. And while it’s early in the show’s run yet, I’m not sure if Famous in Love would know real love if it tripped over it.
After Paige’srelationship with Rainer hits the tabloids, Jake breaks up with her and tries to figure out who he really loves. Paige must choose between Hollywood and returning to school. Jordan gets out of some legal troubles and is nominated for an Oscar. Tangey and Pablo (her music producer and fling) fight about Tangey’s relationship with Jordan. Alexis has a mental breakdown and is sent to a psychiatric ward.
No one can seem to choose who to commit to. Characters kiss, make out and reference sex. Sexual photos and videos are leaked of two people in bed with one another (we see them kissing and a man is shirtless). Girls wear revealing outfits, sports bras and bikinis.. One guy gets physically aggressive with a woman and grabs her arms to keep her from leaving. Someone’s possessions are stolen. A woman prepares to snort drugs. People lie, cheat, steal and get into fist fights. Hard liquor, beer, wine and champagne are consumed. People dance at a party. A few inappropriate sexual phrases are used, as well as words like “slut,” “screwed,” “s—” and “h—.” God’s name is misused four times.
Paige is worried about telling her visiting parents—especially her education-minded father—about her big movie break. Cassie gives her some sage words of advice: “For now, just lie.”
Jordan’s one-night-stand with semi-famous singer Tangey (who was going out with Jordan’s best friend and America’s heartthrob, Rainer), hits the tabloid television shows. But Jordan’s actual paramour is Rainer’s mother, Nina: We see the two in bed twice, he always shirtless, as they kiss and make out. (Nina straddles him once.) Meanwhile, Cassie tries to keep her part-time job as an erotic cleaning lady a secret. We see her from behind, topless, vacuuming the rug of a rich Hollywood bigwig as he watches. (He asks her to come over more often, and she agrees to do so, for an extra $50 a week.)
Alexis, a famous-but-semi-fading starlet, tries to encourage one of Locked’s makers to give her a part through a “private audition.” She partly unzips her top to make her intentions clearly known. The man stops her before she can go too far, asking her to dinner instead. But Alexis is actually a lesbian, and when an old female flame shows up, she steals a kiss from her and asks that they start their relationship up again. (The other woman agrees.) Characters dress in cleavage-accentuating, leg revealing and midriff-baring garb. There’s a reference to 50 Shades of Grey and to someone sleeping with “a different girl every night,” despite ostensibly having a girlfriend.
In a follow-up to last episode’s kiss between Paige and Jake, Jake tells Paige that they should simply be friends for now, because that’s what Paige most needs. But both get jealous when other parties show interest: Paige even masquerades as Jake’s jealous, Spanish-speaking wife over the phone, answering a call and calling the person on the other end a “whore.”
We hear bad words, too, including several uses of “a–” and “b–ch,” and one use each of “d–n” and “h—.” “Slut” is used a couple of times. God’s name is misused about 10 times. Characters drink champagne. A tabloid show suggests, unfairly, that Jordan got drunk before his hookup with Tangey. Nina suggests that Paige begin taking a mood stabilizer.
Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.
Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).
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