I just watched Blue Lagoon for the first time. It's hard to believe that it was controversial when it came out--the thing could be broadcast on the Hallmark Channel without raising many eyebrows. A modern teenager would probably be more fascinated by the way Brooke Shields' hair stays firmly planted over her breasts whenever she goes topless than the nudity, which is more hinted at than actual.
The really fascinating thing about the film is that it basically has no plot. The elevator pitch for Blue Lagoon would be "You love the montage scene where the teenagers fall in love, right? What if that were an entire movie?" It's strangely compelling, but only if you watch it the way I did--with a book.
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Megan never fails to surprise. Were you expecting her first post today would be about the GDP numbers? Nope: The Blue Lagoon! Shows you.
The controversy wasn't that it was exceptionally risque. It is that she was something like fourteen when it was filmed.
It's not that different than the Miley Cyrus "controversy" regarding her Vanity Fair pics. They weren't risque by any adult standard, but for a 13(?) year old...
Congratulations! You found a way to stay awake long enough to enjoy Blue Lagoon. Of course, at the movies the light was pretty bad for reading.
Fascinating.
What did you think of Saint Elmo's Fire?
I think you're confused here. Blue Lagoon wasn't controversial, it was Pretty Baby that was controversial -- because BS played a 12-year old prostitute.
Imagine the firestorm in some quarters if this were made today. No way it'd be distributed.
I think many people have a romantic dream of being on a deserted tropical island (while recognizing it's hooey). Being trapped on a deserted tropical island with an attractive, age appropriate member of the sex you're attracted to....
By the way, Blue Lagoon isn't creepy; Pretty Baby? Creeeeeeeeeeeeeepyyyyyyyyyyy.
Florence King wrote one of her best essays on "The Blue Lagoon". It's easy enough to find on the Internets, so check it out.
Megan, did the book you were reading happen to have Fabio on the cover?
http://tinyurl.com/5u96go
I saw both those movies when they came out. Despite the nudity (which, I have to admit, was the attraction for me at the time) they were both horribly insipid and boring.
Susan Sarandon's photography scene in Pretty Baby was memorable, especially since those were pre-internet days. Nothing Brooke did was memorable or interesting In fact, Blue Lagoon kind of ruined the whole desert island fantasy genre for me.
It wasn't so much controversial as tittilating. These days, we're overwhelmed with similar stuff on a daily basis, so meh.
Today, any kid over the age of ten who isn't dumb as a rock has seen actual pornography online. At that age, I was completely clueless. My daughter, who is eleven, is subjected to Viagra ads explaining what to do if she has an erection lasting over four hours. She's also aware of the Monica Lewinski scandal and what our President was up to. Moreover, she's going to school in France next year, where the condom ads show the product in action. I predict that she would fall asleep in Blue Lagoon, probably also in Pretty Baby.
Ebert,
Nikki Reed was 14 when she made "Thirteen". There was a hubbub, but it was released. Then again, she wrote it, so you couldn't very well argue it was a bad influence on her.
Hmmm.
I think you're missing part of it. One major issue was that the young teenagers were *siblings*. Blue Lagoon isn't just about shipwrecked teenagers surviving on an isolated island. It's about incest.
And that rather irritated some people.
They weren't siblings. Do an internet search. They were apparently traveling with the boy's father, who had effectively adopted the girl because her parents had died.
Meg, don't worry about me- I just can't seem to get to sleep.
Quite the opposite, I'm quite surprised that possession of this movie hasn't resulted in some poor bastard being sent to prison for life, considering that possession of much less racy fare has.
I don't believe this movie could be made today, but it has been grandfathered in to the acceptable canon.
Personally, I've always preferred the scene where Chris Atkins asks why all those little hairs are growing out of his body. Quite a few people my age are asking the same question, although in this case we're referring to our noses.