When Laguna Beach broke on the scene teenage girls everywhere flocked to their TV sets on a weekly basis to see the life of teenagers, just like them, and how being “privileged” doesn’t mean your excused from having real-world problems. We fell in love with LC, and Heidi and Lo and when the show moved them all out to L.A. for the ‘˜The Hills’, then it was game on.
It is my judgment that Laguna Beach was more real than the remainder of the series, obviously. As time went on the producers saw the potential of this show and it’s following and went for it, full steam ahead. Myself, having studied film realized quickly HOW the show was turning fake. You can’t have multiple camera angles on a ‘˜scene’ when you are just capturing life as it happens. While the same “spontaneous” conversation is happening. Get real.
But we got sucked in anyways, I don’t know why though. Either because we didn’t care and liked the drama, or wanted to see just how bad it could actually be. Eh…whichever works…
So I started watching ‘˜The Hills’ more and more because I was living my life vicariously through these people, living their dreams in Los Angeles, doing way cool stuff, and anybody else’s drama besides my own is always entertaining to watch. I didn’t obsess, but did watch. Yes I will admit it!
The longer this show went on the more and more it became even MORE apparent that these conversations and situations were set up. No way these kids could be with a mic at all times, and followed around that much to catch a continuing storyline. That’s some serious business.
So when the season finale aired to reveal Brody Jenner and Kristin Cavallari standing on a sound stage instead of an L.A. street corner all of our tears quickly turned to wide open mouths.
“They just admitted everything was fake?!!”
Yes, yes they did.
It had been speculated and made fun of but people still wanted to believe that at least a good chunk of it was real. To find out from various articles that are plaguing the internet right now, that MTV told certain people to say and do certain things, or to “play a dumb character” just makes it all so clear that the percentage of “real” was slim to none. Obviously some things had to happen — like Spencer and Heidi’s marriage, but as far as people’s relationships and fights and plotlines, most if not all was fabricated or arranged by producers.
It’s still just all so funny…I think what makes the audience mad is they watched these people and thought everything was real and saw how “real privileged 20-somethings” had the same “real” problems they did at home. Then to find out that this comfort blanket they had created turned out to be just more “privileged 20-somethings” getting paid large chunks of cash to pretend to have real problems…their whole world just imploded in on itself.
It kind of makes me angry still that these people are not actors, they were not hired (maybe some — but who knows) and it really appeared like they were just hang’n out with their friends. Then they got PAID to “act” like they were just hang’n out with their friends. When did I miss this casting call?
It all started with Laguna Beach, watching teenagers surf and have relationship problems. With bad hair and skin and we related and tuned in. Then Hollywood entered the picture and it all turned to this fabrication and façade. But somehow held a semblance of reality to it. I guess that is what good editing and crappy storylines will get you. So I’m glad the show’s over but it leads me to ask more questions. What about ‘˜The City’?! Is Olivia really that awful of a person?!
We will just have to find out now won’t we!
