Mom-daughter drama tackles mental health, has sex, drugs.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Drinking, Drugs & Smoking
a lot
Adults drink lots of wine. Teens get drunk at parties, swigging out of liquor bottles and taking shots. Teens often use alcohol to cope with depression, but it's portrayed as concerning behavior. Teens and adults smoke marijuana, mostly via joints and, in rare scenes, a bong.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.
Teens date, kiss, make out, and talk a lot about sex. Ginny loses her virginity at 15 in the first episode (panting and moaning audible; nothing is shown). Characters undress to their underwear and have sex (and oral sex); sensitive body parts are never shown. Georgia is sex-positive, has a drawer of vibrators, and gives advice to her daughter like: "Under no circumstances have sex; however, if you end up giving him a blow job, there's this trick with the balls ... " In one scene, teens watch pornography for entertainment (sounds are heard but nothing shown).
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.
Frequent use of words including "s--t," "bulls--t," "a--hole," etc. Someone is referred to as a "p---y"; girls are referred to as "bitches" (often affectionately). A teen remarks of the mayor, "All the thirsty moms throw their twats at him." Regarding a kid who's bullying him, Georgia tells her 9-year-old son, "Screw that a--hole." Teens refer to their teacher's "small d--k."
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.
Flashbacks show men abusing women. Main character fights back by cutting the men with a glass shard and shooting them in the hand. Women discuss past trauma, including sexual abuse by a family member. An adult punches a child in the nose and tells him he'll never be believed if he tries to tell. A main character self-harms by burning and cutting. Another owns guns, even when loved ones beg her not to keep them in the house; when she uses them, it's always framed as self-defense, and only "bad people" are seen getting shot. Despite the series' many fights and arguments, there's very little on-screen blood.
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Glimpses of Breyer's ice cream, Cape Cod chips, Apple laptops, and iPhone mentioned by name. Teens regularly use and talk about Instagram. Prominent mentions of Harry Potter, and Austin wears round, black-rimmed glasses to match the wizard. Other pop culture references include Veronica Mars, Survivor, Euphoria, The Sopranos, etc.
Diverse Representations
a lot
The cast is majority White, but main characters include Ginny, who's biracial Black and White, and her father, Zion, who's Black. Supporting characters are biracial (Taiwanese and White), Indian, Latino, Filipino, Jewish, etc., and topics of race come up, especially as Ginny faces discrimination at school from her oblivious English teacher and her well-meaning non-Black friends are unable to relate. Series centers around a nontraditional family unit: A loving single mother and her two children, with multiple biological and step-fathers (some supportive, some abusive). Minor character Norah is an adoptee. Queer characters are normalized, especially lesbian best friend Maxine, who has multiple same-sex romances. Main characters are extremely thin, but supporting characters have a bit more body diversity. A family has a deaf father (played by deaf actor Chris Kenopic); they use American Sign Language to communicate in multiple scenes. Mental health is a major recurring theme, with characters who struggle with anxiety, self-harm, depression, panic attacks, bulimia, alcohol abuse, and other issues.
Friendships and support systems are central for maintaining mental health. Therapy can help people process things and become better people. A mother's love is fierce and unwavering. But these positive messages get muddled with themes that require more maturity to understand: Murder is shown as OK, even necessary, when done in the name of survival. And toxic behavior, such as shunning friends in their times of need, is glossed over by the script.
Positive Role Models
very little
Main characters show incredible strength in different ways: Georgia had a tough childhood and has made her own way through razor-sharp cunning. Ginny is a self-possessed young woman who's having a difficult time in high school, but she never stops trying to support her loved ones and is always there for her younger brother. But the characters are complicated and have deep flaws, too: A main character kills multiple people, and it's justified as survival or kindness by the show. Friends also lie to or shun each other at various points, and the toxic behavior is never fully resolved.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Ginny & Georgia is a show about a mother and daughter. That -- plus a bookish teen girl, an outgoing young mom, an adorable Northeastern town, pop culture chatter, and lots of junk food -- might make it seem similar to the beloved Gilmore Girls (complete with the initials!). But the resemblance ends there: This series is significantly more mature and faster paced. Within a short time after arriving in the fictional Wellsbury, Massachusetts, 15-year-old Ginny (Antonia Gentry) loses her virginity, smokes pot for the first time, and shoplifts with new friends. She also intentionally burns herself and has scars from cutting. All of the teens in the show seem to smoke pot (it's legal in Massachusetts, they point out) and talk about sex frequently. Words like "p---y," "bitches," "twats," "a--hole," "d--k," and "s--t" are used often. Mom Georgia (Brianne Howey) drinks wine, smokes pot, uses a vibrator, steals when her credit card is declined, and charms her way into a job in the single mayor's office. And in flashbacks, viewers see the physical and sexual abuse that Georgia (then called Mary) escaped as a teen. Despite these complex characters, many of whom live in moral gray zones and hurt others, the series is a positive example of inclusive casting and storytelling, spotlighting issues of mental health, past trauma, and teen anxiety.
sex: discussed frequently, including the loss of virginity. shows teenage girl's face as she's receiving both oral and vaginal sex (on two separate occasions with two separate guys). the mom georgia is shown using a vibrator. teen girl shown using toothbrush as makeshift vibrator as another teen boy texts her explaining how to have an orgasm. teenage girl loses her virginity to someone who is basically a stranger; very sudden, quick, not emotionally meaningful, and no birth control used until a pill the next morning. teenage girl cheats on her boyfriend.
violence: it is discovered that someone killed her husband. a boy stabs another boy with a pencil hard enough for him to get stitches (not shown, just the pencil as it starts to go down before the scene ends). a mom encourages her son to punch another boy.
substances: teens smoke pot and are shown using a bong. they also drink alcohol and get drunk and sick from it. moms smoke pot together and get high. moms frequently drink wine.
other: a mother lies frequently and steals money from her company. teenage girls steal from a store and lie to their parents. self harm is discussed and scars are seen on a teenage girl. discussion of concerns of racism.
HOWEVER the show was interesting and entertaining and accurately depicts certain adolescent activities and attitudes.
Another teen show trying to normalize sex at younger and younger ages.
Are you kidding?? Is this show marketed to younger teens? As most teen stuff at this time in our society, it is extremely sex focused. Of particular concern is that these are younger teens...15 and 16. Not 18 or 19. Like other movies and shows in this genre, it is trying to normalize teen sex at younger and younger ages. Sex toys. Oral sex. Anal sex. You name it, this show has it. Its too bad all of my daughters friend have watched it (or said they've watched it). I'd rather my 14 year old daughter learn about sex from her mother and I than from TikTok, YouTube, PornHub or this show.
What's the Story?
GINNY & GEORGIA begins after the sudden death of 30-year-old Georgia's (Brianne Howey) wealthy short-term husband. She proceeds to leave Houston with her 15-year-old daughter, Ginny (Antonia Gentry), and 9-year-old son, Austin (Diesel La Torraca), relocating to a charming, upscale, fictional Massachusetts town. The family arrives like a storm: Georgia scams her way into a job with the attractive town mayor (Scott Portman from Friday Night Lights), Ginny finds a group of friends who lead her into a rapid series of sex- and drug-related firsts, and young Austin punches a kid who's bullying him, with his mother's help. How exactly did Georgia's husband die, what other secrets is Georgia hiding, and how will biracial Ginny thrive in their very White town?
This mystery-fueled mother-daughter drama reels viewers in with more sex, drugs, and violence in the first episode than there was in seven seasons of the Gilmore Girls. It's clear that we're not in Stars Hollow anymore. "Over the top" is an understated way to describe Ginny & Georgia: Before viewers are an hour into the series, the family meets Georgia's new neighbor/instant BFF Ellen (Jennifer Robertson); her hunky stoner son, Marcus (Felix Mallard); and his twin (and Ginny's new BFF), Maxine (Sara Waisglass). There's also an instant crew of partying high school friends; the handsome mayor and his staff; Joe (Raymond Ablack), who runs the local restaurant/hangout; the gossipy PTA moms ... and we haven't even touched on the flashbacks to Georgia's violent past or Ginny's self-harm.
When the show allows for a little breathing room, viewers are likeliest to focus on Ginny, who's the most compelling character. Newcomer Gentry is reminiscent of Linda Cardellini's Lindsay inFreaks and Geeks: She's smart, she knows it, and she's yearning to be less of a "good girl." Ginny is also half-Black in a very White high school and town, and the writers follow through as she wrestles with identity, along with several other issues -- depression, anxiety, body image, and so forth -- that affect today's teens.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Ginny and Georgia's decisions throughout the show. Is Ginny self-aware, or does she make choices based on others' influence? How does Georgia's behavior affect Ginny's choices?
What positive aspects are there to the show's central mother-daughter relationship? What are the negative aspects?
Teens: Do you think this series paints an accurate portrait of teen life? Are the characters' troubles relatable to you? Why, or why not? Parents: Talk to teens about the role models and messages in shows like this.
What kinds of stereotypes does this show reinforce or challenge? How does what you see of teen life on TV or in movies influence your own life?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
suggesting a diversity update.
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Marina Gordon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
