On the show, Veronica is now dating (or at least mutually flirting) with Leo the deputy police officer. But Veronica’s character is supposed to be a 17 year old high school junior (although Kristen Bell is actually 24 and only a year younger than Max Greenfield). Isn’t it kind of creepy to have a character in his early twenties hitting on her? Especially in a recent episode about a teacher who got one of Veronica’s classmates pregnant?
Yes. Yes, it is. To be fair, the guy does seem to be kind of dumb, so maybe they’re setting him up…
In that teen pregnancy episode, I especially liked how they had to make the actor playing the teacher grow a scraggly beard so he’d look at least a couple years older than the mid-twenties actresses who played the high school girls…
Well, in most states it’s perfectly legal. She’s above the age of consent in most of them, and they’ve not even intimated that they’re doing the horizontal investigatin’ yet. I don’t think it’s that big a deal, frankly. We’re talking a very capable, smart, obviously more mature than her peers young woman. I mean, who would you have her date? Logan? I don’t think she’s going to go near high school stupidy again after what happened to her at that party.
… except for the ones where it isn’t, such as California…
It doesn’t bother me that Veronica is flirting around with an older guy. I don’t see much potential for her to be exploited. Veronica is not exactly the typical teen. She’s 17 going on 40. It’s him I’d worry about. He seems to be a sweet, clueless dweeb who might be easily hurt.
He’s only a little bit older than she. Besides, they’ve only been on one date so far.
What really torks me off is that they preempted this for an hour of hype leading up to America’s Next Top Model last week. Yeesh.
I guess what got me was the teacher episode. We’re supposed to be disgusted by the 25 year old teacher who was sleeping with a high school student. But at the same time we’re supposed to think it’s romantic when a 25 year old cop is dating a high school student.
I think the show implied that he was into his early 30’s, if not more (remember, he had a daughter). And he wasn’t just making out, he made her pregnant and dumped her. The cop is a rookie, maybe 20 or 21 and VM can handle herself, so no, I don’t think it’s strange.
Did you have a problem with 200+ year old Angel and 17 year old Buffy doing the naughty no-no?
I don’t think so. Nothing illegal about dating a minor and nothing squicky about an early 20’s guy being attracted to a 17-year-old female.
I was asked if I found it creepy, not if I found it to be a good career move by a police officer.
I think having the age of consent at 18, as California and a few other states do, is silly. I think the majority of states, at 16 or 17, make more sense and such relationships are not creepy.
You have to admit Keith Mars is being surprisingly mellow about this. Remember the grilling he gave Veronica’s previous boyfriend (who was a fellow student)? He doesn’t seem to be the sort who’d be okay with his underage daughter dating a man who is eight years older than her.
But remember that Leo has saved Keith’s life a couple of times. I imagine that would tend to chill one’s attitude vis-a-vis dating one’s daughter. Add to that the fact that as a former sheriff Keith’s probably aready favorably disposed toward (honorable) law enforcement types and I don’t see him having a deal with it.
Now if he came in and found them boinking on his desk that might be a different story…
Where do you get the information that the character is 8 years older?
Veronica’s age has been stated on the show as being 17. I don’t think they’ve mentioned Leo’s age but Max Greenfield is 25 which is about right for the character. As I recall, he mentioned he’d gone off to college before coming back to join the police dept.
IOW, you have no basis for the assertion. As you yourself said, IRL they’re actually thesame age. And having left for college doesn’t mean he completed it. He might have dropped out, went back home a got a job with the Neptune police force.
I don’t have a problem with it. Veronica is mature. Leo is kind. So far, she’s used him, not vice versa. He’s more forgiving than I would be, though.
I have all the episodes on TiVo. Recently we’ve been indoctrinating some friends into the Cult of Mars, so now I’ve seen them all twice. Leo said he was 20 on the episode where he’s first introduced.
Oh. Sorry. Should have clarified.
I find it creepy when professionals who, in theory, have sworn to protect the public trust, engage in behavior which could well lead to breaking said trust and getting him shot in the butt as he tries to jump out a 2nd story window.
But maybe that’s just me. If you’re okay with cops putting the moves on teenagers, hey. Everybody’s entitled to an opinion.
Hijack: When oh when will there be NEW episodes??
Regarding the age difference between Veronica and Leo, in a recent episode Veronica said that Leo is 29 months older. That doesn’t seem like a big deal to me, but maybe it would if I had a 17-year-old daughter. 