THIS MONTH Age-gap romances

Contributing editor LEILA LATIF has something to say…

Alot has changed since the 90s: our phones are much smaller, and the threat of them turning against us in an AI apocalypse is much greater. But while we can debate if that is technically progress, thankfully the current culture is unlikely to have reacted to the case of Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau, who inspired Todd Haynes’ masterful May December, in quite the same way. For those who haven’t heard of them… brace yourself.

Letourneau was a 34-year-old teacher who was charged with the second-degree rape of a 12-yearold student called Vili Fualaau. Their first child was born while she was awaiting sentencing in 1997. Released after just three months in prison, she violated her probation with 14-year-old Fualaau and subsequently had their second child in prison. When released, they were permitted to have contact and the pair sold their wedding footage to Entertainment Tonight for a reported half a million dollars and became quirky Z-listers, hired to do photo shoots and host ‘hot for teacher’ club nights, which may be the most depressing sentence I’ve ever written.

Looking back at the reporting and light sentencing, what’s so striking is how Fualaau, who is of Samoan heritage, wasn’t viewed as a child, but seen by many to be old enough to consent to theall-American blonde Mary Kay. In May December his equivalent character is played by Korean-American actor Charles Melton but many of the details remain the same, and now in his 30s, he is coming to terms with how his relationship with Julianne Moore’s Gracie began. Natalie Portman further stokes the fire as Elizabeth, an actor researching a film about the pair.

Todd Haynes is able to look at that age gap and abusive dynamic with clear-eyed perspective; that the 90s viewed young boys of colour as virile adults, while on screen it was the odious period of the teenage-girl seductresses with Drew Barrymore and Alyssa Milano manipulating unsuspecting middle-aged men into sex. Worst of all was The Crush, featuring Alicia Silverstone as a 14-year-old doggedly pursuing Cary Elwes in a story writer-director Alan Shapiro openly claimed was based on events from his own life.

While sexualising teen girls is an insidious practice that continues, the age gap between actors and actresses is also still stark. Denzel Washington, Jack Nicholson, Liam Neeson, et al. are all exemplary leading men but are frequently paired with romantic interests half their age and Maggie Gyllenhaal spoke out about being told she was ‘too old’ to play a 55-year-old actor’s love interest when she was 37. When it comes to mothers, Emmy Rossum, Amy Poehler and Angelina Jolie have all taken on playing mums to actors less than a decade younger.

As Matthew McConaughey’s character, Wooderson, said in 1993’s Dazed and Confused: ‘That’s what I love about these high-school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age.’ It’s a line that has aged like warm milk, but for many contemporary films, it’s accurate – the men getting older doesn’t mean the women ever have to. Showcasing young women as desirous creatures to be romanced, or maternal figures from their mid-30s, isn’t just a casting choice, it shapes how the wider culture sees and values women.

Todd Haynes has given us a striking melodrama with his look at a very 90s scandal, but perhaps the lesson here is not just to condemn the despicable way Vili was treated (though I hope Entertainment Tonight feels thoroughly ashamed of itself). With two stars over 40 like Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman giving performances of a lifetime, it’s a reminder of how age is more than just a number.

LEILA WILL BE BACK NEXT ISSUE. FOR FURTHER MUSINGS AND MISSIVES FOLLOW @LEILA_LATIF ON TWITTER.