(no subject)
CHALLENGE 17 FIVES
five reasons "The OC" is still culturally relevant today.
spoiler: all seasons of "the OC".
Okay, I am not a big fan of The O.C. I didn't watch the show during its first run, and in fact I've only seen most of the episodes once, when I shotgunned the first two seasons on dvd during exams week. I have no agenda here, saying everyone should bow down to the Orange County surfboard throne of melodrama. I was thinking the other day about this, and I wanted to get it out on the page. Frankly, I don't really know anyone else who would care to hear a diatribe about a show that was cancelled after four seasons of ridiculous drama, except ~picspammy, where I can show you in pictures.
So, what follows may either make complete sense, or ... it won't. Anyway:
Top Five Reasons "The O.C." is still Culturally Relevant (even five years later)
5. Chrismakkuh.
Seriously, people actually celebrate this. I guess enough people come from both Jewish and Christian households to need a holiday that merges the two of them together?
4. The re-glamming of California.
For a while, especially in "Sex and the City"'s heyday, New York was the place to be. New York was happening! Even the Olsen twins had their film, New York Minute. California needed a revamp. Enter "The OC". Making California chic and in the eye of teenagers again. The boom of the Cali girl style immediately followed, with their Uggs and their long hippie hair and .. surprisingly, the Olsen twins style followed pretty quickly. Cali was cool again.
Leading, unfortunately, to "Laguna Beach" and "The Hills", and more directly, the return of "90210".
3. The new Geek Chic.
Hello, Seth Cohen. The geek who loves comic books and doesn't conform to the high school jock stereotype, who listens to indie music, and fumbles all of his lines and seems so accessible, that every girl wanted a Seth Cohen. Not much before "The OC" glorified the geek in such a streamline, marketable way. Revenge of the Geeks? Not so much. And now that geeks/nerds/whatever were cool, it opened the door for popular alternative ideas of "cool". Look at Urban Outfitters -- what used to be (and still sort of is) neon short skirts and a slightly varied version of Charlotte Russe now caters to the ultimate in portable, marketable nerd gear. They sell nerd glasses and tight pants and old man sweaters. And pocket protectors. Really.
Besides, this new Geek love isn't just fashion. Who is Chuck Bartowski, but a grown up version of Seth Cohen? Working at the BuyMore for the Nerd Herd (a knockoff Best Buy's Geek Squad), listening to hip indie music, and being charmingly unskilled with women. What about "Ugly Betty"? The resurgance of the Superman series had a lot to do with the superhero film trends, but also, who is Clark Kent, the opposite of Superman? A nerd for journalism. Shortly after "The OC", BBC decided to revive the old nerd standard, "Doctor Who". On "Heroes", everyone loves nerd extraordinaire, Hiro Nakamura. Geek is cool. Thanks, Seth.
2. The Importance of Good Music
Josh Schwartz said that he "always intended that music be a character on the show", and I don't know if I've seen it done as well, or as characteristically as in "The O.C." From the opening credits, the mantra of Phantom Planet's "California" to background characters, the music always has a thing to say about a scene. When Marissa died at the end of season three, Scwartz pulled out an a capella Imogen Heap cover of "Hallelujah", known by most to be the most sappy depressing song ever. Most notably, and most parodied, is the choice of music at the end of season two, when Marissa shoots Trey. Imogen Heap, again, comes in with her "mmm whatcha say" chorus of "Hide and Seek", cue slo-mo death, dramatic shot of blood dripping, end season.
Now, however, music always plays an integral role in high drama television. See Grey's Anatomy. They're well known for their use of indie music to highlight the most dramatic of scenes. Someone's crying? Someone's dying? Cut to a montage of character reactions, with some high female voice with muted instrumentation. See "Chuck"'s incredibly pop-geek soundtrack, complete with Cake's "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" as a theme song. A mix of Spoon and Dust Brothers and Franz Ferdinand completes the set. It's no surprise that Josh Schwartz is a co-creator.
further examples : two death scenes, defined by indie music
1. The re-invention of the teen drama wheel.
A quote, from Wikipedia, "Teenagers were now watching shows that featured adults in their twenty- and thirty-somethings like Friends, as well as reality shows like American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, America's Next Top Model and cartoons such as Family Guy and The Simpsons." Enter "The O.C." in 2003. A scripted drama with good looking rich kids, being dangerous with their smoking and drinking and high school tragedies. In the pilot alone, we meet a troubled kid, his romantic interest and her white-collar criminal father, the troubled kid's foster family complete with wise-cracking subculture-reference-dropping nerd.
More importantly, when The O.C. first aired, Thursday nights were populated by reality tv (Survivor, Extreme Makover). The O.C. re-invigorated the scripted dramas. You're welcome, "Grey's Anatomy" fans. You're welcome, "Gossip Girl" fans. Hell, even "Twilight" is a direct result of the new emphasis on teenagers and their insufferable egos.
five reasons "The OC" is still culturally relevant today.
spoiler: all seasons of "the OC".
Okay, I am not a big fan of The O.C. I didn't watch the show during its first run, and in fact I've only seen most of the episodes once, when I shotgunned the first two seasons on dvd during exams week. I have no agenda here, saying everyone should bow down to the Orange County surfboard throne of melodrama. I was thinking the other day about this, and I wanted to get it out on the page. Frankly, I don't really know anyone else who would care to hear a diatribe about a show that was cancelled after four seasons of ridiculous drama, except ~picspammy, where I can show you in pictures.
So, what follows may either make complete sense, or ... it won't. Anyway:
Top Five Reasons "The O.C." is still Culturally Relevant (even five years later)
5. Chrismakkuh.
Seriously, people actually celebrate this. I guess enough people come from both Jewish and Christian households to need a holiday that merges the two of them together?
4. The re-glamming of California.
For a while, especially in "Sex and the City"'s heyday, New York was the place to be. New York was happening! Even the Olsen twins had their film, New York Minute. California needed a revamp. Enter "The OC". Making California chic and in the eye of teenagers again. The boom of the Cali girl style immediately followed, with their Uggs and their long hippie hair and .. surprisingly, the Olsen twins style followed pretty quickly. Cali was cool again.
Leading, unfortunately, to "Laguna Beach" and "The Hills", and more directly, the return of "90210".
3. The new Geek Chic.
Hello, Seth Cohen. The geek who loves comic books and doesn't conform to the high school jock stereotype, who listens to indie music, and fumbles all of his lines and seems so accessible, that every girl wanted a Seth Cohen. Not much before "The OC" glorified the geek in such a streamline, marketable way. Revenge of the Geeks? Not so much. And now that geeks/nerds/whatever were cool, it opened the door for popular alternative ideas of "cool". Look at Urban Outfitters -- what used to be (and still sort of is) neon short skirts and a slightly varied version of Charlotte Russe now caters to the ultimate in portable, marketable nerd gear. They sell nerd glasses and tight pants and old man sweaters. And pocket protectors. Really.
Besides, this new Geek love isn't just fashion. Who is Chuck Bartowski, but a grown up version of Seth Cohen? Working at the BuyMore for the Nerd Herd (a knockoff Best Buy's Geek Squad), listening to hip indie music, and being charmingly unskilled with women. What about "Ugly Betty"? The resurgance of the Superman series had a lot to do with the superhero film trends, but also, who is Clark Kent, the opposite of Superman? A nerd for journalism. Shortly after "The OC", BBC decided to revive the old nerd standard, "Doctor Who". On "Heroes", everyone loves nerd extraordinaire, Hiro Nakamura. Geek is cool. Thanks, Seth.
2. The Importance of Good Music
Josh Schwartz said that he "always intended that music be a character on the show", and I don't know if I've seen it done as well, or as characteristically as in "The O.C." From the opening credits, the mantra of Phantom Planet's "California" to background characters, the music always has a thing to say about a scene. When Marissa died at the end of season three, Scwartz pulled out an a capella Imogen Heap cover of "Hallelujah", known by most to be the most sappy depressing song ever. Most notably, and most parodied, is the choice of music at the end of season two, when Marissa shoots Trey. Imogen Heap, again, comes in with her "mmm whatcha say" chorus of "Hide and Seek", cue slo-mo death, dramatic shot of blood dripping, end season.
Now, however, music always plays an integral role in high drama television. See Grey's Anatomy. They're well known for their use of indie music to highlight the most dramatic of scenes. Someone's crying? Someone's dying? Cut to a montage of character reactions, with some high female voice with muted instrumentation. See "Chuck"'s incredibly pop-geek soundtrack, complete with Cake's "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" as a theme song. A mix of Spoon and Dust Brothers and Franz Ferdinand completes the set. It's no surprise that Josh Schwartz is a co-creator.
further examples : two death scenes, defined by indie music
1. The re-invention of the teen drama wheel.
A quote, from Wikipedia, "Teenagers were now watching shows that featured adults in their twenty- and thirty-somethings like Friends, as well as reality shows like American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, America's Next Top Model and cartoons such as Family Guy and The Simpsons." Enter "The O.C." in 2003. A scripted drama with good looking rich kids, being dangerous with their smoking and drinking and high school tragedies. In the pilot alone, we meet a troubled kid, his romantic interest and her white-collar criminal father, the troubled kid's foster family complete with wise-cracking subculture-reference-dropping nerd.
More importantly, when The O.C. first aired, Thursday nights were populated by reality tv (Survivor, Extreme Makover). The O.C. re-invigorated the scripted dramas. You're welcome, "Grey's Anatomy" fans. You're welcome, "Gossip Girl" fans. Hell, even "Twilight" is a direct result of the new emphasis on teenagers and their insufferable egos.