We all like bad movies when we’re young and
sometimes we like good movies for the wrong
reasons. I can pretend my 11-year-old self loved
“Clueless” when it came out in 1995 for its smart
satire of teen movies in a modernized Jane
Austen framework. But if I’m being honest, it
definitely had more to do with that dreamy Los
Angeles high school lifestyle, a burgundy baby
doll dress, a fuzzy pink pen and a handsome
love interest. It just happens that “Clueless” was
also a good movie.
So I can’t fault any teen or pre-teen who has
found themselves swooning over “The Kissing
Booth” and its own fantasy of Los Angeles
high school life the way I swooned over Cher
and Josh’s first kiss a quarter century ago.
Unfortunately, “The Kissing Booth” is not a good
movie and neither is its sequel.