Licorice Pizza Age-Gap Controversy

• 56:51The movie features a 15-year-old (Philip Seymour Hoffman's son) and a 25-year-old (the lead singer of Haim) as love interests.
• 57:05Tim questions whether they actually have sex in the film, learning they don't but insisting the age gap itself is still problematic.
• 57:18Tim poses a direct question: if he as a 25-year-old made a movie about dating a 15-year-old, would people find that cute?
• 57:36Tim draws a hard line: romanticizing a relationship between a 25-year-old and a 15-year-old needs to stop.
• 58:05Given widespread child abuse, Tim argues it's time to stop romanticizing such an age chasm in media.
• 58:27An 18 or 19-year-old can pursue whoever they want and inherit their house, but 15 is different—that's still a child.
• 58:47Paul Thomas Anderson apparently frames the relationship as cute and hunky-dory in the film, like a schoolboy crush on a babysitter.
• 59:44Tim was originally cast in Call Me by Your Name as the 17-year-old Elio opposite Army Hammer, before it went to Timothy Chalamet and Armie Hammer.
• 1:00:20The movie apparently shows the 25-year-old character exposing her breasts to the 15-year-old, which crosses a clear line.
• 1:00:56The common argument that a young man is cool if he sleeps with his teacher misses the point—it fucks up men, though maybe not as much as it does women.
• 1:01:17Citing historical accuracy as justification doesn't excuse depicting predatory dynamics—making a film true to a slave-owning era wouldn't excuse romanticizing exploitation.
• 1:02:18Tim clarifies he's not arguing against telling stories set in problematic eras, only that he hasn't actually seen the Paul Thomas Anderson film yet.

Call Me by Your NameLicorice PizzaPaul Thomas AndersonWendy WilliamsArmie HammerTimothée ChalametPhilip Seymour HoffmanCharlotte ClymerHaim