Popular media does not exist in a vacuum; it reflects and magnifies societal structures. Historically, Western media utilized the "half his age" dynamic to communicate specific traits about the male protagonist.
The half-his-age man has forgotten how to watch a slow film. He has lost the patience for a novel. He scrolls past documentaries because they are "too heavy." He has swapped the difficult joy of growth for the easy dopamine of familiarity. half his age a teenage tragedy pure taboo xxx patched