A Few Thoughts on Matthew (Big Mouth)

I feel a little weird bringing this up, because 1) I think Big Mouth is a terrific show and 2) I get quite a kick out of Matthew as a character.  In fact, I prioritized checking out the show in the first place when I found out Andrew Rannells, who voices Matthew, was in it.  All that said, I don’t think the show is quite giving Matthew his fair share compared to the other characters.

I’ll start by repeating that I do pretty much love Matthew.  A catty gay middle schooler who provides an endless source of one-liners, he’s smug and bitchy, but he’s hilarious.  I like his commentary on all the drama happening around him, especially the following summation  at the school dance in the pilot:  “Nick and Andrew.  You’re friends again.  Nick’s pants are gone.  The teachers look poor.  What the fuck is going on?!”  After that line, I knew I was going to have a good time with this character.

I like that Matthew is self-assured and that his time onscreen isn’t punctuated by homophobic bullying or heartbreaking crushes on straight boys.  While that’s of course a part of many, many LGBTQ kids’ lives, it’s a nice to see this kid completely owning himself and not angsting over being gay.  That said, the show is entirely about the awkward tribulations of puberty, and to me, it feels like a copout to have the gay 13-year-old apparently be the one kid in the entire school to have it all together.

Again, I’m not asking for coming-out drama, bullying, or unrequitable crushes.  But the other kids all deal on the regular with self-esteem issues, their confusion about their changing bodies and the feelings that go along with that, and all sorts of other middle-school weirdness.  So where are Matthew’s ill-timed boners or social fails?  Barring that, even if he has a talent for constantly appearing bulletproof, where are his worries that he’s not?

In all fairness, Matthew is a recurring supporting character.  He’s in nearly every episode (and Rannells is the most-frequently occurring voice actor outside of the main cast,) but he’s mainly a punchline generator, popping up at opportune moments to give a withering zinger and then ducking out again.  When he’s around, he’s often commenting on the action rather than taking part in it.  However, there are other supporting characters with similar levels of importance to the narrative, like Devin and Lola, and despite being around less often than Matthew, they get their moments of vulnerability.  At Jessi’s sleepover, Devin and Lola both wind up crying over their assorted fears/pressures, and even DeVon, who’s more minor as a character, gets to be fed up with Devin changing the pronounciation of his name so they can match.  Devin and Lola in particular are just as cartoony as Matthew and don’t get the same deep explorations as the main characters, but the show does take time in small moments to show that they’re just as much a mess as everybody else.

Matthew doesn’t seem to be bothered by anything.  He rolls his eyes a lot and declares himself “over” pretty much everything, but he doesn’t get upset, or nervous, or unsure, or awkward, ever.  When there’s so much richness to mine in all the other characters’ insecurities and confusion, it feels like a disservice to make the one gay tween “above” all that.

Also, for a show that’s all about 7^th graders’ feelings about sex and relationships, one that’s never afraid to get down and dirty, the series definitely pulls its punches with Matthew.  Even though he’s instantly gay-coded (I think his first line is some catty remark about the eyebrow care of another kid’s dad,) there are only a few times that his sexuality has any bearing on the show.  The first is in an episode that features Andrew questioning his sexuality and consulting Matthew as his gay guru.  It’s there that we learn that Matthew is apparently casually out and that he also has a hormone monster, who we never see.  Additionally, we see him treating himself to a homoerotic action flick starring the Rock, the most the show ever gets into Matthew’s desires.  In another episode, he comments offhandedly to Jessi that Jay is cute and later has fun messing with Jay’s ignorance – when Jay admits that he’s not sure whether or not gay and trans are the same thing, Matthew, full-on straight-faced, tells Jay that they are and that Jay should definitely tell people that.

I know it’s not nothing, but it’s also not much.  And when you’re looking at a show that features so much masturbating, fantasizing, and mostly-ignorant sex talk from a bunch of middle schoolers, this relative tameness stands out.  Here’s hoping that, in season 2, Matthew gets a little more of the same puberty treatment that the other characters get.