Why is middle school such an under-used setting?

[themistermanguy]

Sex, puberty, and sex appeal. Somewhat related to 2, but high school is when hormones are raging, sex becomes a prominent part (or at least thought) of most people's lives, and most people are fully developed into their adult bodies.

Almost all of that is in middle school aside from actually having regular sex and developing an adult body. And that's why middle school as a setting is kind of disgusting and creepy. You couldn't realistically shy away from the most obvious middle school problem - and that is the increase in sexual drive. It's in middle school when boys start to fap uncontrollably several times a day and get boners all the time and talk about virtually nothing but sex. It's also a terrible time for girls as well because of all the hormonal changes that occur with them. Who would that kind of show be targeted to?

Well, they could make it an animated series for teens and young adults. Granted, most teens and adults probably don't want to be reminded of their middle school years in a non-idealized fashion, and the ones who are unfortunately still in middle school don't want to be reminded how much their life sucks.

 

[01189998819991197253]

Because middle-schoolers are hormonal, obnoxious, stupid, grub-stage humans.

 

[sageoftruth]

I like the idea, but the content would have to be pretty experimental. Middle school is when you first begin to discover some semblance of autonomy, but have no idea what to do with it, kind of like a slave being free for the first time in his life. It's the first time he or she decides to question a parent's house rules and tries to make decisions independent of an adult's orders. As a result, I imagine a movie or show taking place in such a setting would be somewhat similar to "Girl Interrupted" or some other setting full of people with kooky behavior. It could be a somewhat dark comedy, or it could even be a horror about how scary it is when someone so inexperienced with independent thought runs into it for the first time.
Depends on whether you want the audience to laugh as the characters stumble around, or recoil in horror as the audience sees the awful things done by the newly empowered.

 

[CaitSeith]

Easy answer honestly. Do you remember any shenanigans you got into in Middle School? Do you remember anything particularly traumatic? Do you remember much of anything that happened? I sure as hell don't, not really. Band geek, that's about it. I don't even really remember much of high school outside of a few specific instances. Middle School is sorta just there.

I'm pretty sure this is a reason why Doug was as divisive as it was...it took place in Middle School after all. Middle School felt like a pit-stop more than anything: a 3 year detour in between childhood and adulthood (well, high school). I met some cool people in middle school who stuck around through high school but there were no shenanigans to be had. I think As Told by Ginger made the middle school setting work but then I'm pretty sure it had an episode (or possibly just a passing reference in an episode) about the girl's side of puberty...which is another problem since while it's progressive to have a show aimed at kids that isn't afraid to talk about puberty it isn't exactly something you can build a series around. Not in the US anyway...

Are you talking about Doug before or after Disney butchered it and reassembled it as a bland version of itself?

 

[themistermanguy]

I like the idea, but the content would have to be pretty experimental. Middle school is when you first begin to discover some semblance of autonomy, but have no idea what to do with it, kind of like a slave being free for the first time in his life. It's the first time he or she decides to question a parent's house rules and tries to make decisions independent of an adult's orders. As a result, I imagine a movie or show taking place in such a setting would be somewhat similar to "Girl Interrupted" or some other setting full of people with kooky behavior. It could be a somewhat dark comedy, or it could even be a horror about how scary it is when someone so inexperienced with independent thought runs into it for the first time.
Depends on whether you want the audience to laugh as the characters stumble around, or recoil in horror as the audience sees the awful things done by the newly empowered.

It could definitely be a raunchy show if they didn't hold back. Plus there's a lot of story potential to explore with the growing pains of adolescence. If you seen the movie Thirteen, it's a rough idea of what could be done.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

Middle school was like the unexpected prequel to high school for me; you never really expect anything to happen and when you actually get to high school, you realize that some stuff has indeed gone down that helped you get a leg up in high school.

...But only 8th grade/junior high.

I only say this because it was middle school in which I started getting out of my shell as a shy, timid, and introverted individual. I made a lot of diverse friends and explored several hidden interests that I was unable to pursue until then. Music, movies, sports, social events, etc. were a complete mystery to me until I got my cool new friends. We also had a few misadventures that only got more zany and intense when we got to high school.

I was also class president, so that probably had something to do with it.