The Kissing Booth
2018 · Directed by Vince Marcello
Woke Score
CriticCritic Score
Audience
Ultra Based
Critics rated this 34 points above its woke score. Among Ultra Based films, this critic score ranks #1371 of 1469.
Representation Casting
Score: 15/100
The cast is predominantly white with no significant effort toward racial or ethnic diversity. While Molly Ringwald provides some cultural resonance, the supporting cast lacks meaningful representation of marginalized communities.
LGBTQ+ Themes
Score: 0/100
No LGBTQ+ characters, themes, or representation are present in the film. The narrative is entirely heteronormative.
Feminist Agenda
Score: 10/100
While the protagonist is female and makes her own romantic choices, the narrative ultimately centers male desire and treats her agency as a plot device rather than a thematic concern.
Racial Consciousness
Score: 0/100
The film contains no engagement with racial themes, dynamics, or consciousness. Race is simply not a consideration in the narrative.
Climate Crusade
Score: 0/100
No climate-related themes or environmental consciousness appears in the film.
Eat the Rich
Score: 5/100
The film is set in a affluent suburban context but contains no critique of wealth, capitalism, or economic inequality. The setting simply exists without commentary.
Body Positivity
Score: 0/100
The film features conventionally attractive actors and presents no exploration of body diversity or body positivity themes.
Neurodivergence
Score: 0/100
No characters with neurodivergence or disability representation appear in the film.
Revisionist History
Score: 0/100
The film contains no historical elements or revisionist historical content.
Lecture Energy
Score: 5/100
While the film is primarily entertainment-focused, occasional dialogue touches on friendship values and loyalty, though these remain thematic rather than preachy.
Synopsis
When teenager Elle's first kiss leads to a forbidden romance with the hottest boy in high school, she risks her relationship with her best friend.
Consciousness Assessment
The Kissing Booth is a straightforward teen romance that operates entirely within conventional Hollywood frameworks, offering neither critique nor complication of its own narrative assumptions. The film concerns itself with the mechanics of attraction and the drama of competing loyalties between a best friend and a romantic interest, treating these matters with the earnestness of a Valentine's Day card. Its cast is predominantly white and conventionally attractive, its romantic lead female but ultimately subordinate to the desires and needs of the male characters around her, and its worldview remains firmly rooted in heteronormative, capitalist teen fantasy. The film does not attempt to interrogate these choices or acknowledge their implications. What emerges is entertainment designed to appeal to a specific demographic without any apparent interest in expanding its moral or social horizons. For a 2018 release, this represents a notable absence of the progressive sensibilities that had by then become standard in mainstream film discourse.
Analysis generated by our Consciousness Algorithm
Critic Reviews
“If you're looking for a teen comedy that isn't a grow-up-too-fast exposure to your tweens, Kissing Booth isn't it. But the arc of the story packs a lot of lust and relationship lessons that anybody older than 15 can relate to, and learn from.”
“As cinema either theatrical or televisual is concerned, The Kissing Booth is negligible. It is fascinating, though, as a study in the semiotics of the high school movie, especially in the ways it's been recodified since "young adult" became a real genre.”
“The high school-set rom-com is a sexist and regressive look at relationships that highlights the worst impulses of the genre.”
Consciousness Markers
The cast is predominantly white with no significant effort toward racial or ethnic diversity. While Molly Ringwald provides some cultural resonance, the supporting cast lacks meaningful representation of marginalized communities.
No LGBTQ+ characters, themes, or representation are present in the film. The narrative is entirely heteronormative.
While the protagonist is female and makes her own romantic choices, the narrative ultimately centers male desire and treats her agency as a plot device rather than a thematic concern.
The film contains no engagement with racial themes, dynamics, or consciousness. Race is simply not a consideration in the narrative.
No climate-related themes or environmental consciousness appears in the film.
The film is set in a affluent suburban context but contains no critique of wealth, capitalism, or economic inequality. The setting simply exists without commentary.
The film features conventionally attractive actors and presents no exploration of body diversity or body positivity themes.
No characters with neurodivergence or disability representation appear in the film.
The film contains no historical elements or revisionist historical content.
While the film is primarily entertainment-focused, occasional dialogue touches on friendship values and loyalty, though these remain thematic rather than preachy.