Whether this is “abuse” is debatable – there are those who think that any sex between an adult and a minor is abuse, whether consensual or not, and regardless of who was the pursuer. There are those who think it is a grey area (probably most think that, including me). And, there are those who think the law should be a lot more permissive.
However, I found the movie’s dealing with this issue to be manipulative (to the viewer). By making the characters seem SO different in age, and by making the parents SO approving and hands off - while being portrayed as highly educated and enlightened, it made me wonder exactly what the movie’s message was supposed to be. The guy was a guest in the parents’ home, and was pretty rude and aggressive. And he was doing their son. It is very, very strange that they didn’t even question whether it was “ok”, or whether their son was even ok with it. Is the message that this is how parents should be? Is that really good?
Other similarly-themed stories include the parents being livid - or at the very least worrying, regardless of whether or not the story sympathizes with the protagonists.
If he was 18 would we even be having this conversation? Genuinely curious.
That is so easy to say. So, we move the age back to 17… then a case comes up with a 16-year-old and we say “if it were a 17-year-old would we be having this conversation” etc. So, are you saying there shouldn’t be a line drawn anywhere?
I’m not saying that I think we should change the age of consent (though I should point out again that in most places it is younger than 18, which isn’t to say I agree with that). I’m not really talking about our current society at all. I’m just talking about the movie and how that isn’t really the point at all.