Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County...?

The "reality index" of television shows has been a topic of concern lately as shows on network television become increasingly over the top. Shows like Fox's The O.C. and The CW's Gossip Girl may portray extravagant lifestyles that are far from reality-a "hyperreality" as many cast members have been quoted in interviews- but at the end of the day that is not what these shows are trying to accomplish. These shows are created to shock, to entertain, but not to serve as an example of the real lives of real people. That is however, the goal of reality television.

Reality TV shows like MTV's Laguna Beach, which advertised itself as "the real Orange County", and its spin offs The Hills and The City portray themselves as unscripted looks into the real lives of real groups of friends. But the reality of these so called reality TV shows is that they are far from true life. These shows depict teenagers and young adults in extravagant situations with more romance, changing partners, and drama than Days of Our Lives, wearing designer clothing, perfect makeup and getting perks like internships from a-list fashion designers.

It is shows like these that we should be focussing on as conveying the wrong messages to American teenagers. Teens buy into these fantastical situations and think that this is the way real teenagers in the Orange County behave, and therefore its ok for them to behave in that manner too, regardless if its immoral or not. These shows make false claims, that their creators and "stars" have long denied to discuss, namely, how these privileged groups of friends were chosen to have their own reality show in the first place. The truth is that these are not real groups of friends at all, nor were the lives of these teens interesting and exciting enough for cameras to follow them around and depict their every move for a viewing audience. Rather, these were simply attractive men and women who were essentially told by producers that they were good looking enough to appear in a television show that would give the illusion of reality. Cast members have long denied discussing this system of casting on when coaxed on various talk shows. But recently The Hills’ Audrina Patridge gave viewers some insight into how "real" these shows are. Partridge commented on an episode of E!’s late night talk show Chelsea Lately that she was “discovered” while lounging poolside in L.A. and was asked by a producer to be one of the “friends” on the show:

So the next time we sit down in front of an episode of The Hills and find ourselves jealous of Lauren Conrad's fabulous lifestyle, we need to remind ourselves that what we are watching is not her real life. We are watching semi-scripted, created and stylized situations that are being passed off as real life.