Media gaLORE
This is a long ramble but I've tried to present my thoughts as coherently as possible. I hope I can get some feedback.
One of these things is NOT like the other:
Friends, How I Met Your Mother, Gossip Girl, Scrubs, The Office.
oh and ill go ahead and put this up also, TWO of these things are not like the others
The Twilight Series, The Harry Potter Series, Nicolas Sparks books, The Series of Unfortunate Series, The Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings
Well four of those shows and series arguably have dynamic, quirky and interesting characters, a coherent and logical(well for TV anyways) PLOT, and development.
Tons of people argue that TV, movies and literature are forms of escapism. And I could not agree more. I won't even go into how much Harry Potter has managed to help me deal with daily crap or how much Friends makes me laugh when life just sucks.
But these escapist things don't need to be degrading, nonsensical, cliched, annoying, stereotypical, illogical, annoying CRAP.
The big reveal (drum roll please): the first set winner is Gossip Girl and the second set winners are The Twilight Series and the Nicolas Sparks novels (notice I did not italicize these because I do not respect them enough to).
I bit the bullet (ha ha, HA HA HA HA HA) and watched the season finale of Gossip Girl. First of all, from the looks of things, I was surprised that it wasn't a SERIES FINALE, although I was surprised in this same situation at the end of season 1.
And wow. Who the hell comes up with this crap? Way to promote the good image for teenagers! I got into Brown too you know. But of course that's not really an accomplishment because I studied my ass off, probably volunteered for everything known to man and spent well over half my day with my nose glued in an AP or SAT review book. Obviously when the Gossip Girl characters of Serena, Nate, Blair and Dan and the Skins characters of Pandora and Thomas weren't out doing drugs, getting shit drunk, having sex surrounded by video cameras, having father issues or planning out the next evil act with their convenient minions they were also doing what I was at the library.
Are the kids who watch this show seriously supposed to believe that these pathetic teenagers who spend half their time doing something illegal and the other half brooding about their parent's divorce, parent's death, confused personality, their purpose in life or some other crap (don't worry though, the very rare divorces that happen in the world today usually either produce outgoing wild childs who have some sort of poetic soul and fear of commitment or perfect, prissy little machines who do all their work perfectly only to fall in love with a wild child - see description above - who shows them what they've been missing in their live all along) would really even stay in high school, much less not get permanently arrested? And then how the hell does it make ANY logical sense that these kids would get into not only any college but Brown? Harvard? Yale? Columbia? Dartmouth? ha. ha. ha.
They get in either because they are rich or because the writers don't know any other colleges other than the ivy leagues and would love to live their live through the characters they create.
I am not some stupid mother person who thinks violence in video games promotes violence. Although it probably does a little, its not going to make a 10-year-old pick up a gun and start shooting cars. It is not the violence in video games that makes kids want to kill people, its freaking morons that spend all their time defending this statement. Morons who by the way should probably pay more attention to their kids. Oh irony.
But my point is, why does TV produce so much crap? Do we as the consumers that watch it actually thrive on these random plot lines as some sort of guilty pleasure? Do we as a society lack basic values? TV treats sex as some bad, mysterious, fun and cool-guy thing. On Gossip Girl here's the breakdown (and it is so so so sad that I actually know this):
Dan sleeps with Georgina, Vanessa and Serena who later becomes his step sister and his teacher.
Chuck sleeps with Vanessa, Blair, 739489238493 random girls, and Jenny (yes, Jenny). I am thinking that they are saving the Chuck and Serena scandalous sleep over for the season 4 finale.
Blair sleeps with Chuck and Nate and some random other boy(s) who hurt her (no wonder she is so cold-hearted! wow I have SO much pity for her right now)
Serena sleeps with Nate, Dan and some other random dudes that were only there to fill in episodes
Vanessa sleeps with Chuck, Dan and Nate (I am guessing because they were deff. giggly for like 20 episodes and Nate is a manwhore)
AND THE WINNNERRRR
Nate sleeps with random old woman, random young woman, Serena, Vanessa, Blair, and he makes out with Jenny.
Do you see the sadistic and gross web of incest that this show has spread? ew. ew.
"Hi, I'm Blair. I slept with my boyfriend's best friend, who is now my best friend's boyfriend. And by the way, here's a cool tidbit, my ex-bf also slept with my best friend's ex-bf's ex-gf, who slept with my boyfriend and my best friend's ex-bf, who made out with my boyfriend who slept with my best friend's ex-bf's sister!"
I'm not saying that womanizers aren't fun to watch. Joey from Friends, Barney from How I Met Your Mother and Todd from Scrubs are all hilarious to watch. But they are portrayed with a combination of humor and realism. They respect their friends well enough to not sleep with all of them, their mothers, sisters, and grandmothers.
Another key point, friendship. Apparently Gossip Girl has a non-judging breakfast club. First of all that is an oxymoron. It's like saying nondriving cars, or uneatable food or nonH20water. Its not a breakfast club if it is nonjudging, But I let that slide. This breakfast club seems to get together every few seasons to profess their friendship to each other whilst sabotaging every other ordeal they are involved in between these quaint meetings.
Well I can't speak for everyone but generally, I don't consider the people who sleep with my boyfriend, kill my reputation and do everything in their power to make me miserable as FRIENDS. I have a better name for them ...the nonevil-enemies (haha you see what I did there? I am SO SO clever... lame lol).
Friends, The Office, HIMYM and Scrubs have something in common. actually they have a LOT in common. They all involve real people, friends that are there for each other no matter what, people that struggle with daily problems, people that must work for a living, people with goals, people with depth, and development. They are not stock characters. They are funny, goofy and interesting. These shows are QUALITY shows. None of that brooding, emo crap for 10 episodes in a row. Because often in life, we have to suck it up and face consequences that our rich daddy can't fix and let terrible problems take a backseat against mundane issues. These shows are original, hilarious, and engaging. Viewers can relate to them, laugh with them, get that relaxing break from their daily life AND best of all, they don't have to eradicate their morals to do any of this.
Another point, cliched and stereotypical characters and relationships. I am sick of seeing these types of people
1) The tortured artist that had a traumatic past
2) The basketball or football or soccer or lacrosse or kayaking athlete that hates the sport, or is forced to play by his ununderstanding parent(s) and has a hidden talent of poetry, art, music or some other delicate art.
3) The outgoing party chick who only acts out because she gets no attention at home and thus sleeps with every guy in school (until of course she meets some dorky guy that actually respects her)
4) The nice guy that is all nice and made of sugar
5) The shy new girl or guy with a mysterious past or the shy new girl or guy who meets a girl with a mysterious past
no, I don't want to see these people. I am SICK of seeing these people
The relationships
1) The girl makes an aggressive, pugnacious jerk-whore into the sweet, kind and sensitive man he was all along. oh she does this by tutoring him in some cases (I think that there is a separate genre just for this type of relationships)
2) The girl is with a jerk who is just a plain jerk. He drinks beer, cheats on her and makes jokes that make her feel uncomfortable. She listens whilst eying the sensitive stud who really understands her and while sending the feminist movement back 20 years.
and these are the things that just plain PISS ME OFF
1) The serious, hardcore workaholic who usually wears pant suits or skirt, walks in a fast space while she yells instructions to her assistant, and holds a coffee in her hand because she is just SO busy and must take care of everything. Well what's wrong with that? Nothing until some hippie-loving free spirit comes along and makes her heart melt. Awww, and he's cute too! Who cares about a career when you can have a guy? I mean we can balance both but work is BADDDD...hardcore career women are BADDD, they are just insecure little angels waiting for the right guy. We should pity this woman who has goals, who is driven and hardworking and making good progress in this world.
2)Oh the waitress and the businessman, the dowalker and the CEO, the teacher and the president, the maid and auto repair worker and the pampered little woman, the weak human and the supernatural and (lol sparkly) vampire or robot or something. I don't think I need to say anymore.
3) I think I already mentioned this but...the indie girl that manages to make the depressed man understand what love is really about. She usually has a flair for adventure and makes the guy do out-of-character things. Because changing the guy/girl is the main point of a relationship, NOT accepting them for what they are.
4) I am sick of seeing the Journalist on a secret mission. Please stop with this cliche. Usually the person with the assignment is looking for a promotion and the boss just walks around with importance and denies the misunderstood journalist with a wicked assignment. And usually these stories end with the journalist falling in love with some person in said assignment, the article that he/she publishes to break this cute relationship and then a great little ending where they still together.
5) Don't stop your best friend's or your sister's or your boss's wedding. Just don't.
6) The guy and girl who hate each other, until the guy interrupts one of her angry rants with a kiss (preferably in some sort of thunderstorm) of course, and then she will forget everything and then fall hopelessly in love with him.
7) They are stuck in a storm. Or the car breaks down. In a world with a digital revolution, both characters decide to either argue, or walk to a nearby bar or cute little shop with either friendly small-town owners or a roguish gang with a fat, mustache-attached, motorcycle-clad man. Oh no, that means the characters MUST fall in love with each other. Why can't they just get to know each other? Why???
8) The makeover. Well now, just because the girl takes off her glasses, straightens her hair and slips into skimpy dress doesn't mean she is a different person...haha just kidding! She's completely different.
9) Why are the lovers always so far away? Why does the hero have to chase the heroine in the last second in the midst of a traffic jam with a unicycle? Can't he call her using *67 and then explain the situation? Or maybe wait 2 days to calmly drive over?
and the WINNER
10) The girl or guy who doesn't believe in love but by the end of the movie or tv show or book, he/she changes his/her mind after falling despite their BEST efforts for the guy/girl who really understands them. Ok so I don't really buy into this love stuff (see divorce rate in America for ONE example) so does this mean that I will meet some stammering and so-geeky-that-he-is-cute stud that will sweep me off my feet and change my mind? Wow, this sounds like a Nicolas Sparks plot. I don't understand...why must the person who doesn't believe in love be proved false? Why? And why is this person always proven to be cold, and busy at first but warm and emotional at the end?
I think that's enough for now.
My point: The creators of these crappy shows, movies and books are quite intelligent because they know exactly how to hit the nail with the brainwashed consumers who eagerly await the next blockbuster. This Nicolas Sparks has a formula but who cares!!?!? The guy is telling the girl that her eyes are like the moon, silver and lonely. Oh how poetic! He understands her!
Meanwhile the creators are laughing all the way to the bank and grabbing the money they get for simply changing the setting and names of the characters for the same old formulaic, illogical, unoriginal and sappy garbage.