Gary Valentine is a 15-year-old child actor living in the San Fernando Valley in 1973. He meets Alana Kane, a 25-year-old who feels stuck and restless. They hang out, start odd small businesses, and dance around a strange almost-romance. The movie is funny, free-flowing, and warm about youth, crushes, and figuring life out.
Most of the story is about first love, side hustles, and growing up in 1970s Los Angeles. Late in the film, Alana works for a city councilman who is secretly gay and asks her to help hide his boyfriend so his political life stays safe. That queer plotline is clear on screen and helps push Alana’s final choices, but the main focus stays on Gary and Alana’s odd bond. The loud public fights were not about the film being “too woke.” People argued about the age gap and about a white restaurant owner using a fake Japanese accent. Marketing and creator talk sold nostalgia and free spirit, not activist messaging.
Community feedback
Was our 25% Woke rating accurate?
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Licorice Pizza.
Woke representation / casting
Leads and most big roles fit a 1970s Valley story world. Diversity is light and not sold as the point. Asian wives appear in supporting beats tied to the accent controversy, not as hero “representation first” casting.
8%
Woke political dialogue
Some period campaign talk and a closet-reveal conversation. No long modern activist speeches about race, gender theory, or DEI. Politics stay in 1970s local-election texture.
14%
Identity-driven story themes
Core story is first love, hustling, and growing up. A clear late queer subplot (closeted gay politician and boyfriend) matters to Alana’s arc and raises the score under LGBTQ weighting, but it is not the whole movie’s main message.
30%
Western institutional / cultural critique
Side characters include pushy Hollywood types and entitled rich men. That reads as period satire of sleazy adults, not a modern lecture on patriarchy, whiteness, or Western culture as the enemy.
18%
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. Original screenplay built from Valley memories and real-life figures; no identity-driven rewrite of a known fictional canon.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Almost no serious right-leaning campaign that the film is “too woke.” Fringe “gay propaganda” takes exist. Big public anger was progressive criticism of age gap and racist-accent scenes.
5%
Creator track record context
Key creative force PTA is cached at 0. Most other listed crew are low. One producer (Gilbert) is higher; overall team profile stays mild.
10%
Production
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