an evening with the girls

this past wednesday i spent an evening with some of my girls participating in what has become a ritual gathering for them. last year they got together in mondays, this year it's wednesday, where they descend upon one of my dad's man-room (over developed tv room with leather couches, you get the idea) to watch laguna beach.

apparently this is quite the phenomenon of a show. cynic would say that this is a teenage reality show with little teenage reality. the teens are real, the relationships are real if you are okay with producers saying "go call this person" "invite these people to this party" "go ask so-and-so about their relationship." oh, and it's in laguna beach orange county which is like no other persons reality in the world. this all frames some odd scenes of conversation & physical encounters that create uncomfortable moments that wouldn't necessarily happen in real life.

to my girls credit, they were very aware and emphasized their disgust with certain personalities that were mean spirited. a gasp for a scene where some of the girls used some mean passive aggressiveness to show they didn't accept other girls. a few laughs at some "bushism" type grammar, in the effort to sound smarter. the guys, other than being the next top model are pretty regular teenage guys. you can tell some of them don't care to get caught in some of these conversations where the girls ask pointed questions, that stuff only gets them in trouble or shows true intent.

why this is such a phenomenon of a show? i have no idea. surely youth cannot relate to these people. the drama possibly, every teen has their own drama that is the end of the world for them, but not the surrounding set. i say the surrounding set is important because at the end of the show they did a cribs type tour around all the teens homes.

my fear is that this becomes a reality that our teenagers will continue to perpetuate false pretenses on life, body image (fear this more as these are teenagers, not adult supermodels), status of success, and healthy conflict resolution. my hope is that this is a transparent reality show that youth see as being far from real.

otherwise, it was nice to hang out with some of the girls

Comments

[Mary Beth]

I have to admit to occasionally watching this show, despite the fact that I'm over 30. I find it fascinating because I can't believe some people actually live this way. It's so foreign to me to see teenagers in super-expensive cars, with attitudes that scream, "The world revolves around me!"

On a side note, one of the most interesting episodes of a few years ago was the one that featured the daughter of Robert Schuller. She sang one Sunday morning at the Crystal Catheral. Schuller put on his best "worship face" and was (genuinely or not, who knows) moved to tears. His daughter? Left right after she sang to go do something else.

It is quite the intersting phenomenon. It's good to know your girls can see right through some of it, although I think too much can definitely skew a healthy view of reality.