#sorry this isnt phrased the best im going on tje assumption tjat ppl know what these movies r abt n i didnt wanna reexplain the plots

[americanphysco]

Plz I wanna hear your kissing booth rant

ty for the reminder meer <3 this is kind of long and mildly incoherent so here's a readmore for yall

so the first kissing booth is okay. it's a pretty solid romcom, although there are some elements that make it boring to me, so this rant isn't about that one. it's about the second and third movies, which I think are very compelling stories that center around elle as a character rather than just her relationship with noah.

in the second movie we see noah and elle struggling to do long distance, but after some communication in the form of a phonecall, and noah reassuring elle that he loves her/misses her, they seem to be doing a great job managing things. they feel very happy together, and like the two of them are a good fit. things only become complicated when chloe is introduced. the chloe plot is well done to me, because we see elle struggling with accepting the knowledge that noah might've cheated (he didn't!). she trusts him a lot, and feels guilty over even suspecting as much. noah isn't even pursuing chloe. the two of them are just friends, but chloe oversteps a lot of boundaries (crashing at his place without telling him, behaving in an overly familiar way around him, playfully fake flirting with him), a trait that she unlearns and grows beyond in the third movie. and we also see elle and noah discuss this issue a lot, and they always end up resolving it through communication. I also liked how the rachel arc was handled. it makes sense why she'd be upset with elle, but as soon as she realizes it's a misunderstanding and that lee is the one at fault she apologize to elle and the two of them make up, becoming friends again. it's sweet, and it's nice seeing elle have somebody in her life who isn't a flynn. I also liked marco a lot as a character! he's fun, and even outside of a romantic sense, he cares a lot elle. it's nice seeing the two of them hang out, and they work very well as friends. but! I'm glad that they did kiss, and that elle admitted to having feelings for him. I feel like in most romance movies, that kiss would be dismissed as a spur of the moment thing with no meaning, but it was refreshing to see elle admit that there was something behind it, but that she doesn't want to pursue it because she loves noah and needs to make things right with him. it's a moment that speaks wonders to elle's character, and it makes me like her relationship with noah even more.

the third movie is even better for elle's characterization, and joey king's acting is incredible. she really captures that exhausted, constantly stressed and on the verge of a breakdown feeling elle is experiencing for most of the movie. but with elle in this movie, we see her making most of not all of her decisions for the benefit of others, jumping between whatever lee wants or her dad wants or whatever noah wants (he's not at fault here. lee and her dad are assholes. noah just keeps trying to do nice things for her, but she's too busy and too guilty to accept them!!). she even chooses what school to go to based on the other people in her life, getting a job and, in the last movie, stressing over a dance competition to earn enough money so that she can even afford to attend the same school as noah or lee. she's such a selfless character and she wants nothing more than to be a good friend to everyone, even trying to platonically reconnect with marco over the course of the film. she forgives chloe for any misunderstandings and the two of them become close as well, something I really appreciated seeing. I especially loved the way elle's arc finished, with her confronting lee and choosing to go to an entirely separate college than him or noah, and pursuing gaming as a career, something weve seen her be interested in ever since the first movie. (side note here but personally I wish she would've gone into dance instead, since it would be symbolic of her holding onto the past while still stepping into the future, remembering what she had with lee and marco but changing it into something she can finally do alone. plus, dance is often regarded as an extremely expressive art form, and it could be a metaphor for elle learning to open up and express what she wants, rather than just going with whatever anybody else wants for her). I wish she and noah had stayed together, but I get why they didn't, and leaving the ending ambiguous about whether they become just friends or rekindle their romance was a very good decision on the writers parts. there are some other very sweet moments in this movie, like elle's apology to linda, all of her conversations with molly ringwald's character, them retaking the beach house photo, the scene of elle saying goodbye to the beach house with all of the flashbacks to them as children, etc etc etc. my only gripe is that rachel and lee should've broken up, but that's just a personal thing.

overall these two movies are genuinely well done films, and all of the actors involved seemed to have fun working on them, if the bloopers are anything to go by. the third one in particular is a very emotional piece, and I honestly was really moved by it during both my first watch through AND my recent rewatch. I feel like a lot of people hate these movies because they go into them with the expectation of them being bad, so they focus solely on the movies' flaws rather than their strengths, but noah and elle are a great fit for one another and I'd honestly love to see them fic things in a fourth movie, even though I know that isn't a possibility.