Exploits of a Young Don Juan (1986)

Based on Guillaume Apollinaire's erotic novel, this French film presents the sexual awakening of a sixteen-year-old adolescent through explicit encounters with women from his family environment. The problem is not that it depicts the confusion or awakening inherent to adolescence, but rather that it celebrates it as a desirable and consequence-free rite of passage. The camera neither suggests nor elides: it shows complete sexual acts and frequent frontal nudity with European naturalness, but this apparent lightness conceals a specific ideological thesis: namely, that adolescent promiscuity is a natural part of growth, devoid of moral weight or responsibility. There is no learning arc nor consequences: the protagonist transitions from one encounter to another as one might discover a landscape. The work instrumentalizes the aesthetic of art-house cinema to normalize the sexualization of minors under the premise of exploration and discovery. The carefree tone does not negate the underlying problem: it presents as healthy and formative that which is profoundly disordered. Not recommended under any circumstances for minors, and problematic even for adults without a well-formed discernment.