You are here:

The First Time

Name: The First Time
Director: James Neilson
Released: 1969
Duration: 90 min

Representation Score

1.4/10

Minimal

1969

PG-13

Director

James Neilson

Runtime

90 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

The First Time is a period-specific coming-of-age comedy that prioritizes traditional masculine development. The story revolves around three high school friends and their pursuit of sexual initiation, reinforcing mid-century social norms. The film lacks intentionality regarding diverse representation. It functions within a narrow framework of boyhood and friendship, offering little disruption to established social hierarchies. Ultimately, the production reflects the homogeneous social structures of its era, focusing on conventional domestic life and adolescent rebellion through a limited lens.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does The First Time have LGBTQ+ representation?

Limited

The film does not include any LGBTQ+ characters or those with non-cisgender identities. The story focuses entirely on traditional themes of adolescent manhood.

How does The First Time portray gender?

Limited

The narrative centers on male-driven plots and adolescent boys. Female characters, such as the father’s fiancée, appear only as minor plot devices.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The First Time?

Minimal

The setting suggests a homogeneous social environment typical of 1960s comedies. There is no evidence of a diverse or non-Anglo-Saxon cast.

How does The First Time represent religion and culture?

Limited

The plot adheres to traditional Western social structures and nuclear family dynamics. It relies on standard comedic clichés rather than cultural deconstruction.

Does The First Time include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no mention of characters with visible or invisible disabilities within the narrative.

Present on Screen

Offers a clear window into the comedic clichés and social expectations of 1960s American domestic life.

Limited or Absent

Lacks meaningful representation of LGBTQ+ identities or non-cisgender experiences.
Features a homogeneous cast that lacks racial and ethnic diversity.
Female characters are relegated to the periphery rather than serving as central figures.

Official Synopsis

With the coming of summer, three high school buddies--Kenny Leeds, Mike Decker, and Tommy Kingsley--anticipate their initiation into the pleasures of manhood. But Kenny is separated from his friends and sent to stay with his grandparents in Buffalo while his father, a widowed salesman, leaves on a business trip with his secretary-fiancée. Bored and alone in a strange city, Kenny writes his two friends letters about his adventures at "Rosie's," a fictitious brothel across the Canadian border in Niagara Falls. His lie quickly backfires.

How are these scores produced? →