I've been rewatching TOS recently, and I noticed that Chekov's hair had a mind of its own for a while. I took a few screenshots, looked up the story behind it, and made this really quick for anyone like me who wasn't aware.
Roddenberry wanted Chekov to bring in the youth audience, so they gave him a wig to try to make him look like he's from the Monkees or the Beatles... absolutely hilarious.
It was considered counter-culture at the time to have "long" scruffy hair like that as a guy. It was a little bit of youthful rebellion when the Beatles or The Monkees did it, so kids loved it.
Teens I get, but preteens?
12 year olds? why is that unbelievable?
Guess I'm really disconnected from the interests of children. I can't fathom a 12 year old caring about some dude's hairstyle.
Boy bands throughout history have made careers based on the fact that 12 year olds care about their haircut.
Meaning middle-schoolers