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what's up wisecrack Helen here it's been
a minute but Jarrod's giving me the mic
today to get brainy with you about big
mouth the Netflix series that puts a
spotlight on everyone's most
discomforting season of life
a beauty a few of you have asked us to
cover big milk but coming up with a good
angle admittedly hasn't been easy on the
surface big mouth isn't the most
profound thing in the world I mean it's
basically what you'd get if the Simpsons
and the Grassi gave birth to a weird sex
ed class that's set to the tune of
catchy parody songs about menstrual
blood and doing sex on a woman hey Rick
it's not weird that I haven't you know
done sex yet right but we saw a couple
possible angles from a neuroscience and
psychology standpoint that may be sort
of kind of work which is why I'm here to
walk you through it so grab your bag of
dick then hold on tight for this
half-baked breakdown of big mouth and
guess spoilers day before we get to that
want to let you guys know that this
video is sponsored by better health the
online counseling service you might be
aware that there was some controversy
surrounding the company we're where to
and we've addressed these concerns in
our philosophy of true detective video
the links in the description if you want
to check it out long story short we all
believe in the value of speaking to
someone on a regular basis and we think
better help is a good option for people
who think online therapy is the right
fit for them so stick around to the end
of the video for more info and now back
to the show okay so for those of you who
haven't seen the show here's a quick
rundown big mouth covers all your
standard puberty plots in season one our
heroes have their first kisses wrangle
with their sexuality knockout the bean
filled pillow you know difficult
teenager stuff most of this is on
account of the hormone monsters big
hairy creatures who are constantly
telling our heroes how to live their
lives and more importantly where to put
their genitals
visualize focus interesting yes in
season two they're basically doing the
same things but with a new shoulder
devil thrown in the mix the shame wizard
all these youthful foibles gave us our
first pitch the crazy pubescent brain
scientists find human adolescents
fascinating for a reason their rapidly
changing brains make them like no other
creature on earth in the words of
neuroscientist Frances Jensen teenagers
are like Ferraris with weak brakes which
is why they're more prone than adults
are to doing eradication like giving in
to the thrill of shoplifting or running
away with you're not boyfriend and his
pillow slash baby mama pam scorpion j
who are these pillows we're his family
who the [ __ ] you [ __ ] that's because
the part of the brain that's responsible
for what we call executive functioning
which includes things like making
rational decisions isn't all the way
developed yet all of this madness kicks
off during puberty when the brain begins
to undergo a whole lot of changes that
will eventually turn you into a
grown-ass human being maybe oh hey coach
Steve I've had an awkward reaching face
bum my dude what are you doing here oh I
still go to the pediatrician what's not
in the medical community as a man baby
and you might be saying notion while
scientific explanations of something we
all mostly know is a worthwhile endeavor
it's not exactly a wisecrack video so
I'm gonna give that pitch like this
c-minus that leaves us with our second
almost angle shame there was a bit
buzzed around the shame wizard when
season two debuted last fall because a
David Thewlis aka Professor Lupin from
Harry Potter voices the shame wizard and
does a kick-ass job and be the character
is just so good and something all of us
have dealt with but apart from throwing
a wet blanket on the hormone monster
schemes does the shame wizard actually
reflect our lived experience of shame in
a unique and thought-provoking manner
well what is shame anyway it may be best
described by contrasting it with guilt
now the guilt is feeling bad about
something
that we've done while Shane is feeling
like we're fundamentally flawed as the
people we are or as the shame wizard
puts it during Andrews trial by the
state shall prove that Andrew globerman
didn't do a bad thing yeah so along with
all the warm fuzzy feelings of first
love or lust or whatever
puberty also brings an awful lot of
shameful self-loathing it's a common
refrain that the older you get the fewer
you give and in that vein big mouth asks
how does our shame change as we age
you're just a 13 year old man who took
what he wanted home like me I live and I
give zero the Shane wizard shows up as a
little voice in Andrews head after he
gets caught jerking off with overly a
swimsuit it's going to be fine he
proceeds to follow the kids around by
raiding them for the things they do much
to the chagrin of the hormone monsters
just give the kid a night off but as far
as the show tells us the Shane wizard
doesn't have any power over adults
despite the fact that their behavior is
way more messed up like Jesse's mom
cheating on her dad and then banishing
him to the basement and Jays parents
generally just being sleazy [ __ ] I
will happily abandon my family to get
you the divorce settlement you deserve
I mean the poor guys mom gets drunk and
forgets to pick him up from school on a
daily basis then sleeps with his teacher
all while his dad is out banging other
women and getting criminals off the hook
and these adults all seem to somehow
avoid shame court this gets really
interesting in the context of their
relationship between the Shane wizard
and clinically certified man-child coach
steve he's the only adult that we see
interacting with Shane and he's
apparently immune to it even though he
sleeps with the mother of his student
and so-called best friend and knocks out
a fellow feature with the bat you might
say the shame wizard can't get to coach
Steve because he's just plain dumb but
even if that's the case it still doesn't
change the fact that the teens are the
only ones who were visibly tormented by
the show
but for the sake of science was 13 year
old you just being melodramatic when you
felt like holding yourself up for the
rest of your life after you called your
English teacher mom or was your brain
actually conspiring against you well
admittedly there's not a ton of
clear-cut evidence that teenagers are
more shame ridden than adults there is
some susceptibility to shame decreased
as kids enter young adulthood in one
study something the researchers thought
might have to do with the fact that as
your brain matures it's better able to
regulate emotions and this makes sense
when you think about how teens process
emotions compared to adults teens are
known to pick up on social and emotional
cues that adults just filter out they
also spend more time thinking about the
way others see them traits that
psychologists think are from an
evolutionary standpoint supposed to help
them make friends this has the
unfortunate side effect of making them a
lot more easily embarrassed and maybe
even ashamed in a kind of creepy study
where people were told that they were
being monitored over video teens were
more likely to report feeling
embarrassed than either adults or
children and parts of the brain
associated with social emotions were a
lot more active in teens during the
scenario some scientists think this
might have to do with the influx of
hormones during puberty aka the hormone
monster showing up so theoretically
being rejected as a teenager is harder
to swallow than when you're an adult
because your brain is more sensitive to
social emotions making the whole
experience a lot more painful big mouth
also does a really great job of
highlighting the relationship between
shame and depression the shame wizard
antagonizes pretty much all the kids at
some point but none of them are hit
quite as hard as Jessi all she wants is
for her family to be together but she
winds up responsible for her dad getting
kicked out of the house after she steals
his weed gummies though Shane wizard
bears down on her hard was it worth it
Jessi just to get hella faded no only to
return in full force after she slit
Shane's Gina
Dina refuses to forgive her and calls
her a hypocrite ultimately leading to
Connie being replaced by the depression
kitty and Jessi being locked away in a
padded room in the Department of puberty
I should get up it's kind of weird to be
in bed in the middle of the day no it's
not
both guilt and shame
we're linked to depression but it's been
argued that shame might be more potent
in actually causing depression than
guilt that idea kind of offers an
explanation for why jesse is the only
major character who winds up depressed
despite the fact that shame impacts
everyone obviously her home life is
significantly more messed up than anyone
else's except maybe for Jay but I'd
argue that Jesse shame runs a lot deeper
than that of her friends because the
consequences of her actions reflect more
negatively on her character than her
friends do
even though Andrew feels shame for being
a quote pervert his masturbation habits
can easily be adjusted actually I don't
think I'm gonna jerk off inches from my
best friend's face tonight I am better
than that but Jesse can't go back and
fix the things that lead her to believe
she's a bad daughter and a hypocrite
that combined with the fact that her
family support is kind of lacking makes
her more prone to depression something
she can only get out of literally with
the help of her friends yeah the men
saved her in the end
big mouth tells us that the best way to
deal with shame is communication I do
need help I want to talk to that
therapist while having a free-for-all at
a middle-school sleepover isn't exactly
the most practical solution being
willing to talk about the way we feel
keeps us from feeling alone after all
whether you're an awkward middle
schooler in the throes of puberty or a
famously dead jazz phenomenon
life is a [ __ ] mess weed might as
well laugh about it so yeah I'm gonna
give that pitch a solid baby that's
partly because shame is admittedly the
low-hanging fruit here sure we can cite
studies that confirm our basic
understanding of shame all day but it's
kind of OneNote maybe the shame wizard
could have broached the idea that shame
has some benefits for your psyche and
society at large an idea that's been
argued by psychologists and philosophers
alike the kids sort of touch on that at
the close of season two I want to be a
good person too I do I know you do you
see we're not so different are we
they don't really explore it in any
meaningful way so we don't have enough
detail for a meaty discussion still big
mouth really kills its illustration of
the power of shame during puberty and
smart stuff aside if you're a homo
sapien who has or is currently
going through puberty big mouth is
really relatable but what do you think
wisecrack is a whole video on the Rock
of Gibraltar in order or is there some
other hot take you guys want to see drop
us a line in the comments
oh you think you're excited I just found
that dippin dots is in fluorescent
guinea pig duties and before you go this
episode is sponsored by better help the
online counseling service better help
operates worldwide to pair people with
licensed professionals who they can talk
to on their computer tablet phone
whatever as I said earlier you might be
aware that there was some controversy
surrounding the company last year we've
been following it closely and we're
still confident that better help is a
good option for people who think online
therapy is the right fit for them for a
full breakdown of the issues brought up
please reference the end of our true
detective video we've popped a link the
description I'm all about breaking down
the stigma of getting help from mental
health issues and something I really
like about better help is how it makes
it easy to get counseling for people who
might otherwise feel uncomfortable about
therapy everyone in the office has tried
their service they've liked it and some
are still using it regularly the
certified counselor I was paired with
was attentive professional and smart
definitely on par with any local
therapists I've seen having said that
even in real life you don't always click
with your therapist trust me I've been
there and then you have to schedule
another appointment in another office
which can be super discouraging not to
mention take forever but that's one of
the great things about better help if
for whatever reason you don't connect
with your therapist you can get paired
with another professional in under 24
hours and if you're at all dissatisfied
with your experience better help is
offering a full refund
so if online counseling sounds like a
good fit for you go to better help
dot-com slash wisecrack to get paired
with the certified professional within
24 hours and with that I'm out peace
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