Once Upon a Time Dating

I was re-watching episodes of Laguna Beach the other day, and a lot of thoughts were going through my mind. First of all, I can’t believe that as a tween I was team LC. She is so whiny and annoying, not to mention delusional that she thought she had a chance with Stephen when he was so clearly in love with Kristen. Also, thank god I wasn’t a teenager in the early 2000’s… jean skirts and Abercrombie t-shirts? So not my style. But I also started feeling nostalgic about “the old MTV”. I know that all of the older people reading this are thinking that I am talking about the MTV that actually played music videos, but I’m not. Let’s be honest, I’m way too young to even know what that was like. I’m talking about the MTV that featured grounded, (kind of) classy young adults expressing themselves. I know that Laguna Beach was hardly an intellectual and introspective TV show, but in the first season it showed LC pursuing her fashion career, Christina pursuing her music, and Trey hosting open-mic events where teens could feel they have a voice. Another older MTV show that came to mind is the show Made, where teens were given a chance to either change something negative about themselves, or pursue a dream they never thought would become reality. These shows were entertaining, but also had at least a little bit of depth.

When I look at the reality shows on MTV today, they make me cringe. When I think about the fact that tweens are watching Jersey Shore, 16 & Pregnant, and Teen Mom, I imagine that they can’t help but imitate the behavior they are watching. I remember in middle school when my friends and I would watch Laguna Beach together and try to straighten our hair and do our makeup like the girls of the OC did on the show. Are middle school girls today aspiring to be like Snooki and Deena? When did trashy behavior become the only form of entertainment on reality TV? Isn’t it telling that the theme song for Laguna Beach was “Come Clean”, and the theme song for Jersey Shore is some weird chant about doing something crazy? Maybe Laguna Beach featured spoiled young adults, but I’d take that over trashy young adults any day. This is coming from someone who watches Jersey Shore, but I am old enough to laugh at the show rather than emulate it.

What do you think?