Use of the "Pedophile" Word in Entertainment Media

[FairBlueLove]

I recently happened to watch 'Ted Lasso', and on two occasions the word 'pedophile/pedo' was used - surprise, surprise - in an inappropriate manner.

The first instance is when a girl uses it as a derogatory term, "you creepy old pedo" (episode 3, season 2).

The second instance is a more jokingly one. It is in episode 8 of season 2, when Rebecca says: "Oh my God, I'm a pedophile?", because she is in her 50s and discovers suddenly she fell in love with a 21-year-old boy.

As an exception, which pleasantly surprised me, I want to mention the movie "Vacation", where a boy ask the father "Hey dad, what's a pedophile?", and he starts replying: "Well, Kevin, when a man and a boy love each other very much...". Unfortunately he got interrupted by his wife, which I found quite, yeah, inappropriate.


I'd love to hear about any similar instances you've come across in other movies or shows.

[BLueRibbon]

Mainstream TV and cinema is much less guilty of this than social media, where pretty much any age-gap relationship now makes the older person a 'pedo'.

[Not Forever]

As an exception, which pleasantly surprised me, I want to mention the movie "Vacation", where a boy ask the father "Hey dad, what's a pedophile?", and he starts replying: "Well, Kevin, when a man and a boy love each other very much...". Unfortunately he got interrupted by his wife, which I found quite, yeah, inappropriate.

My addition may seem rather foolish, but I envisioned how the scene might unfold - where he questioned whether his father loved him, and consequently, whether his father was also a pedophile. To which the latter responded with "platonic pedophile".

[JGHeaven]

Using the term in humour, can that desensitise people to it and make it a less abrasive term for people?

[FairBlueLove]

Using the term in humour, can that desensitise people to it and make it a less abrasive term for people?

A good example in that regard is Louis C.K. Check out his shows "Sorry", "Sincerely" and "At the Dolby". Here is a citation taken from the signature of Fragment:

I'm not saying that all scoutmasters are pedophiles. I might be saying that the best ones are.
Louis C.K: Sorry

[TheOtherKindofPride]

Using the term in humour, can that desensitise people to it and make it a less abrasive term for people?

Yes. In the same sense that anime has desensitized people to lolicon, and lolicon has desensitized people to pedophilia. you can tell this has happened due to the recent skyrocketing of people raging against pedophilia, because it's started to become mainstream, and that sort of thing becoming more mainstream incites massive backlash. This is a society's way of coping with paradigm shifts. First it's joked about, then it's ridiculed, then it's demonized, then its made boring, finally it's gradually accepted. You can see this in short form through news cycles. what was news last week is forgotten this week. It just blends into the background of everything else. Something like Pedophilia just takes a long time to go through the cycle, and sometimes it goes through the cycle again. Something as significant as the sexual attraction to children isn't going to stay banal forever. It's just the nature of things.
Maybe a more trendy thing will take over the place of pedophilia in the spotlight, like AI robots once they start really becoming harder to ignore in everyday life.

[JGHeaven]

Using the term in humour, can that desensitise people to it and make it a less abrasive term for people?

Yes. In the same sense that anime has desensitized people to lolicon, and lolicon has desensitized people to pedophilia. you can tell this has happened due to the recent skyrocketing of people raging against pedophilia, because it's started to become mainstream, and that sort of thing becoming more mainstream incites massive backlash. This is a society's way of coping with paradigm shifts. First it's joked about, then it's ridiculed, then it's demonized, then its made boring, finally it's gradually accepted. You can see this in short form through news cycles. what was news last week is forgotten this week. It just blends into the background of everything else. Something like Pedophilia just takes a long time to go through the cycle, and sometimes it goes through the cycle again. Something as significant as the sexual attraction to children isn't going to stay banal forever. It's just the nature of things.
Maybe a more trendy thing will take over the place of pedophilia in the spotlight, like AI robots once they start really becoming harder to ignore in everyday life.

I hope you are right. With all the problems in the world today it seems insane that it's love, attraction and relationships that people are stewing over.
War, corruption, failing economies, people losing their homes and jobs and freedoms. These are real issues to grapple with rather than this ridiculous fantasy of pedophiles roaming the streets looking for kids. Love is love, no one should be judging other peoples relationships.