Is our TV daring enough to satisfy teenagers’ appetites? Not yet, say the authors of one of the most innovative children’s series of recent years, The little kings. “We are capable of making more daring television,” declares Justine Philie.
Broadcast in 2022 on ICI Télé, the miniseries The little kings broke the mold by reversing the roles usually reserved for high school student characters. Directed by Julien Hurteau (Alerts), this Zone 3 production (Like Me, After the flood) recounted the tribulations of a group of assertive, uninhibited and popular young Montrealers led by Adaboy (Alex Godbout), the flamboyant heterosexual figure skater, and Julep (Pier-Gabriel Lajoie), the openly homosexual captain of the hockey team .
The little kings emanated from producer Jeffrey Wraight’s desire to offer adventurous fiction aimed at 12-17 year olds. To achieve its objective, it brought together two authors with extensive experience in children’s content: Marie-Hélène Lapierre and Justine Philie. The first had co-created and co-scripted Jeremiahand floored on Subito text, Tacktic And MED. The second had worked on Code F And G-code, two shows in which female and male personalities spoke frankly about subjects that concern young people, such as sexuality, rumors, etc. She participates in MammothTélé-Québec’s annual event aimed at teenagers.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MARIE-HÉLÈNE LAPIERRE
The co-author of Little kings Marie-Hélène Lapierre
12-17 year olds form a passionate audience and to please them, we must offer content that meets their expectations.
Marie-Hélène Lapierre, co-author of Little kings
“The problem is that there are people who have forgotten what it’s like to be a teenager,” observes Justine Philie. Often, we want to protect them from certain matters while forgetting that they are there [déjà] confronted. We serve them self-righteous things, while they can watch much crunchier things coming from elsewhere. »
More “crunchy”
When Justine Philie talks about “crunchier” foreign content, she is talking, among other things, aboutElite (Netflix) andEuphoria (HBO), two foreign productions that constantly push the boundaries, in terms of sexuality and drug use. Next to them, the majority of series give the impression of emanating from the imagination of nuns in the convent.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CRAVE
Actress Zendaya in Euphoria
“Part of me understands broadcasters being hesitant about offering something crunchy, but on the other hand, teenagers are abandoning our TV,” emphasizes Justine Philie. And if they’re not interested in it today, they won’t be interested in it when they’re 20, 30, 40 years old. »
PHOTO PROVIDED BY NETFLIX
Elitea series by Carlos Montero and Darío Madrona
“When I was a teenager, I wasn’t connected to Watatatow ; I watched adult films, because I wanted to be an adult,” adds the author.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
The co-author of Little kings Justine Philie
I understand teenagers. Sometimes I say to myself: we have to stop thinking that they are babies! We need to stop thinking that they never talk about sex, that they are always polite and that they don’t swear. We must also stop thinking that because we show them this or that case, they will do the same. It’s reductive. They’re up-to-date. They are informed. They are intelligent. We need to trust them more.
Justine Philie, co-author of Little kings
In the current state of affairs, Quebec could never afford a Euphoria or any other equally risky series for teenagers, believes Justine Philie. “It would fly again. That would be extremely criticized,” she judges.
The author is thinking in particular of the comments that she and Marie-Hélène Lapierre received for having “dared” to produce dialogues sprinkled with French expressions, like those frequently used by 12-17 year olds. She laughingly mentions an article from Montreal Journalin which the columnist Guy Fournier described them as “gravediggers of French”.
“He was like, ‘My grandkids don’t talk like that. ”But of course your grandchildren don’t talk like that when they’re with you! When I was a teenager, I said “bitch” all the time. But when I went to see my grandmother, I wasn’t like, “Hey bitch, grandma! ” »
Hope despite everything
Although it still has some work to do in terms of audacity, youth television in Quebec has evolved a lot in recent years, according to Marie-Hélène Lapierre. To support her point, the author points out series like Six degrees And Lou and Sophiewhich we can catch up on HERE Tou.TV.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY RADIO-CANADA
Series Six degrees
Marie-Hélène Lapierre also mentions web series Detox (YouTube and UnisTV)Nomads (HERE Tou.TV)Second-hand loves (ICI Tou.TV), as well as the humorous show Soly Club (Noovo).
“I think we have good series in Quebec, but the fragmented distribution of content [sur différents services de vidéo sur demande par abonnement], that doesn’t help. Series have a lot of difficulty finding their audience. Today, adults are unsubscribing from cable to consume content from only a few paid platforms. And since the platforms that offer the greatest quantity and variety of content are American, young people are less exposed to Quebec content. The new way of consuming does not facilitate access to series from here. »
“We will have to move quickly,” warns Justine Philie. Teenagers don’t stay teenagers forever. It would be fun if we stopped escaping from it. »