Things Only Adults Notice In Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

The very first line of the movie informs us 22-year-old Scott Pilgrim is dating a high-schooler, the 17-year-old Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). Even though the audience subsequently learns that they haven't even kissed yet (and technically, from a legal standpoint, the age of consent in Canada is 16), it's still icky, and only gets worse as you get further and further from high school yourself. 

Some of Scott's friends, to their credit, point out that Scott is hiding in a safe, pressure-free non-relationship in the wake of a breakup the previous year. Others, however, are completely fine with the idea, as Knives begins to attend Scott's band practice and shows. His roommate Wallace (Keiran Culkin) for some reason agrees to wait outside Knives' school with Scott until the final bell rings — just two grown adult men, lingering outside a high school, totally inconspicuous behavior. At the film's end, Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) even hints that Scott and Knives should get back together when she tells them they "make a good combo." What?

In fact, the ending originally shot for the film had Scott and Knives getting back together. When that divided test audiences, it was revised to Scott and Ramona starting over instead. But speaking with Collider in 2021, Wright explained that even in making that adjustment, "The key to it was that Knives lets him go." So even now, the one-sided relationship that many would say has all the hallmarks of an adult man "grooming" a teenager is considered a legitimate side of a love triangle? As the years go by, that part of the movie gets harder and harder to defend.