Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars

Although I had already seen the first episode of Pretty Little Liars, watching it through a more critical lens, I definitely found myself recognizing things about the show that had not quite crossed my mind the first time watching it.

The shows undeniable obsession with technology is something that has come to be fairly common among shows feared towards millennials. The emphasis placed on the texts from “A” become a central component of the show. This emphasis is extremely similar to Gossip girl. Stein even notes that “Indeed, if A/Alison has a counterpart in currently airing teen TV programming, it would be the anonymous and all-seeing Gossip Girl.” What does this use of technology imply?

The articles we read for the week were intriguing, however, upon watching both shows something occurred to me and rather than really directly relate the reading the screening, this week I’m using the readings as a starting point but taking my post in my own direction. Gossip Girl’s storyline revolves around the power of technology, specifically the website posts and text alerts that come from a mysterious person. Pretty Little Liars uses a similar mechanism, except her name is “A.” What I think is fascinating to think about is the role technology has been given. While the teens in the show text each other, the primary use of technology in these two shows is to expose secrets for the most part. In both shows, characters are caught off guard by text messages about things they thought no one else would find out about. In a sense, technology is used to hold these teens accountable. It is sort of like a conscience of sorts. It implies they need to be careful, because someone is always watching and technology never allows things to remain a secret.

The spin that has been put on technology makes me think about the generation gap. Indeed it is our parents’ generation who is creating shows like this. Teens have become comfortable with technology and see it as a positive. While I certainly am not going to make the claim that the generation above us fears technology, I do think that there are some hints of that in these shows. My mom is always shocked at finding out about how much people reveal on the internet etc. How many times on the news have you seen a story where technology incriminates someone? I think that our generation realizes that but adults feel we may be too naïve and fail to understand the consequences and I think shows like Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars address that.

USA

I know I usually write about television shows, but I couldn’t help myself from posting about the killing of Osama Bin Laden. I just feel like I need to express my reaction and say something. Maybe this whole blogging experience really has grown on me more than I thought.

God Bless America. Justice has been served. While I know that he’s not the only bad guy out there, he certainly was the face of Al Qaeda and I’m thrilled after just about 10 years, we finally got him.

Its one of those things where I think for the rest of my life I will remember where I was when I found out this information. Interestingly enough, it relates to Millennial Media because it was social media that first allowed me to hear the information: Facebook to be specific. I think the sense of American pride that many others and I feel tonight is evident through numerous Facebook status updates and I just thought I’d share a few:

The hide and go seek champion of a generation is now dead...here we go America

Team America does it again! Nighty night Osama

USA.

God bless America

God Bless the U.S.A....justice has been served

WE KILLED BIN LADEN!!

we got him!!!

You get the idea. Clearly everyone is excited. People are arguing that it may end up being Obama’s biggest accomplishment in his presidency. It certainly was great hearing the news and while watching the Obama’s Press Conference with a few of my friends, I got Goosebumps thinking that we finally got him after all these years. While it seems weird to be so happy about someone’s death, I think its justified given the situation. Seeing all the random celebrations that seem to be popping up around the country and world for that matter, it really just makes you want to be with friends and family and for a minute appreciate this widespread feeling of national pride.

YES WE DID.

Here's a video of people celebrating outside of the White House:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2011/05/01/bin.laden.vo.washington.crowd.cnn?hpt=T1

The Voice

Last week I went home for Easter and it was so nice to just be able to turn on the TV and watch random television shows because we don’t really have that opportunity at school. While watching a devastating Sabres game where they gave up a 3-1 lead in game 6 allowing the Flyers to tie the series 3-3, advertisements for the show ‘The Voice” were everywhere. My mom informed me that the commercials have been playing on NBC non-stop. Clearly NBC was trying to push this show.

When deciding what to watch, their persistent advertising method clearly worked because that is immediately what came to mind. Interestingly enough, I could not watch the whole episode on iTunes, but I could watch it on their website. Only allowing me to watch on their website forced me to actually visit the site where I could explore more about the show itself.

At first when I started watching I was skeptical of the show because I thought it was just NBC’s desperate attempt at getting their own American Idol singing-style television show. When I began watching, however, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it had its own unique twist.

While watching those opening auditions on American Idol with horribly bad singers among the good ones can be entertaining, I always thought they went on too long. The Voice gets rid of this audition round and only puts people with genuinely decent voices on the show, which I liked.

Here’s how the show works. 4 successful singers (Cee Lo Green, Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton) act as coaches/ judges. In the first round these four sit in chairs facing the opposite direction of the singer, so that they are judging purely on talent not appearance. If they like what they hear they hit a button and their chair spins around allowing them to see the performer. If only one spins around that performer is automatically placed on that specific coaches team. If, however, more than one coach spins around, the performer then is allowed to choose which coaches team they would like to join. At the end of these blind auditions, each coach has a team. In the next round a battle round takes place where the singers are given advice from the coaches and then they two team members compete against each other and the coach decides who will move on. Then, in the last round there is a live performance where the public will help decide who moves on and eventually who wins a recording contract.

This is similar to American Idol because it still incorporates that interactive TV idea where viewers are active participants in helping decide the course of the show. One thing I found fascinating was that throughout the show, twitter posts were displayed on a banner across the screen and the proper hash tag was even posted for viewers. This new aspect highlights that social media is constantly evolving and shaping the way we watch/participate in television.

GLEE!

On the surface level, Glee looks like it is a very diverse show that pushes typical boundaries and stereotypes. With such a diverse cast, this appears to be the truth, however, after watching the pilot, the show seems to revert to typical stereotypes that are often played out in television shows.

In his engaging article “Stage Left: Glee and the textual politics of difference,” Lucas Hilderbrand discusses the pilot episode of Glee. In the first episode, while all of the characters are given face time, the audience is given extensive background information about Rachel and Finn, the two white lead characters. All of the other characters, which include Artie, a paraplegic, Mercedes, an overweight black girl and Kurt, a homosexual white boy, receive very little attention. Hilderbrand goes so far as to say “The rest of the cast seemed like set dressing.”

I really think that Hilderbrand is on to something, however, when he says “I have no actual access to network scheming, but this seemed to reek of the logic that the show had to be palatable enough for mainstream ratings before the minorities would incrementally get their own numbers and subplots.” Lets face it, America is pretty critical and still by some terms very conservative. I’m sure network executives were fearful of producing a show that pushed the limits too much early on in a new series. They probably thought that they needed to maintain a steady, consistent viewership before delving into more controversial topics; after all, they are all about the ratings.

Hilderbrand argues that Glee, in its second season, is now starting to create actual storylines that are somewhat ground breaking for television in their controversiality. In its diversity, however surface level it may have initially been, Glee allowed itself the room to create such controversial storylines, and for that I commend it and hope that it continues to further develop characters other than the main white characters.

Lastly, as I side note I have to ask: did anyone else find it odd that Quinn, the cheerleader, was the head of the celibacy club when thinking back to The Secret Life of the American Teenager where Grace was also very religious and committed to abstinence? I, personally found it to be an odd coincidence and wonder what it suggests about millennial religiosity especially when (SPOILER ALERT) both girls end up ignoring their pledges.

Survivor

The show I ended up watching for the first time was just one that I stumbled upon on TV. Many years ago, when the first season came out I admittedly watched the show, but I have not seen it since and I have heard that there are many differences now compared to back then. Survivor is on its unprecedented 22nd season. Arguably, Survivor was the first reality TV game show to take off and has continued to succeed for the past 11 years.

The specific name of the show this year is Survivor: Redemption Island. Redemption Island is the twist of the season. When a member is voted out during tribal council, instead of immediately being sent home, they are sent to Redemption Island where they are secluded from everyone else. The next time someone is voted out they, too, go to Redemption Island and those two members compete in a duel. The winner gets to remain on the show at Redemption Island and the loser goes home. In the episode I watched, which was not the pilot or even the first episode of the 22^nd season, the duel taking place at Redemption Island was crucial. You see, every once in a while on the show, the winner of the battle at Redemption Island is allowed to leave Redemption Island and get back into the game: its their second life.

In this episode, Matt, who had won 5 consecutive battles at Redemption Island to remain in the game, faced Sarita. The challenge was one that tested physical and mental strength. They needed to “use [their] arms to brace [themselves] against two walls while [their] bare feet are perched on very narrow footholds. Every 15 minutes [they’d] move [their] feet to smaller footholds.” There were only three levels of footholds so when they got to the last row, there was no time limit. These footholds were about a half inch, quarter inch, and eighth of an inch thick.

Matt ended up winning the challenge and the two tribes were forced to merge into one tribe. Back at the camp, Matt was conflicted with whom to side with: his old tribe that voted him out, or the other tribe that was trying to persuade him to jump ship. He ended up staying with his old tribe and voting the way that they told him to. Unfortunately for him, he was “played” and instead of voting for Steve, they all voted for Matt, and he was once again sent back to Redemption Island. Matt seemed to be a threat to many people because he is such a competitor and I wouldn’t want to be the next one sent to Redemption Island to face him. Overall it was pretty intriguing and I can see how it has remained so successful. 

Gossip Girl

I’m an avid Gossip Girl watcher, but never, would I have characterized it as noir prior to this week. Admittedly, however, I can’t say that I have put too much time into thinking what the show could be marked as. I accepted it pretty much at face value, as a teen, girl soap opera/ drama that many girls (including myself) enjoyed.

After reading Stein’s article this week on Millennial Noir, I have reconsidered the genre of Gossip Girl. At first I was skeptical of how Gossip Girl could be characterized as noir. Stein’s article, in conjunction with the episode from the screening, however, were fairly convincing of the “noirness” of the show.

Certainly the type of noir that Stein is referring to is not the typical kind of noir that most people would think of; instead it is a reworking of traditional noir. Stein suggests that through a combination of millennial and noir aspects, this series (along with Veronica Mars and Supernatural) has reworked the idea of typical noir into a more millennial noir. Braithwaite even uses the term “double architecture” to describe the joining of teen and noir.

Gossip Girl serves as a good example of this double architecture and reworking of traditional noir into a sort of millennial noir. Rather than having a femme fatale, as is typically the case in traditional noir, Gossip girl reworks this idea of noir “inverting and exposing noir gender/ power expectations” by using home fatales (Stein 9). Along those gender power inversion lines, the female characters are the ones who have the power. And not just the female characters, Stein is careful to note that it is the teenage female characters that hold the power, exposing generational differences.

In this particular episode, Blair (most prominently) and Serena hold the power. They are the ones whose actions and evidence eventually led to firing of the new teacher. It is interesting to me the role that technology has taken in this show. While the female characters are the ones who hold the power in this show, it is the technology of cellphones and the Internet that allow this to be possible. Without Blair’s original post on Gossip Girl that circulated a rumor about inappropriate relations between Dan and the teacher, she would have been limited in her power. Without cellphone picture taking capabilities, Serena would have never been able to provide evidence for Blair’s claim. Thus, I think it is safe to say that in these reworkings of traditional noir films and television shows like Gossip Girl and Veronica Mars, females certainly have been given more power, but it is also imperative to note the presence and power of technology that gives them such power. 

Bethenny

This week I decided to watch Bethenny Ever After, which is a spin off of the Real Housewives of NYC, but much better. The Bravo! show follows the life of Bethenny Frankel (the creator of skinny girl margarita), her husband Jason Hoppy and their daughter Bryn.

Bethenny was always one of my favorite personalities on RHONYC so I was excited to hear that she got her own show. She is extremely witty and sarcastic and her commentary is always hilarious. Also, after watching one episode the viewer can tell that she definitely wears the pants in the relationship.

In this episode, Bethenny, Jason, Bryn and their dog, Cookie, take a trip to visit Jason’s parents in a small town in Pennsylvania. The trip to get there proves to be a nightmare and it takes them forever to just get out of the city. Once they finally arrive, it is clear how excited the grandparents are to see Bryn. They hint at wanting to see her more often. Jason loves his family dearly and would seemingly be happy to visit them every weekend, but Bethenny feels very differently. She expresses her strong feelings that they do not visit more than once a month. I couldn’t believe how open she was about this topic in front of Jason’s parents. To me, it seemed fairly rude and somewhat thoughtless (Plus the fact that I could never imagine being so blunt in front of my mother and father in law). Jason becomes visibly upset by Bethenny’s lack of regard for his parents feelings. Things end up getting settled but there certainly was some tension.

The episode also features Bethenny going out to get drinks with Jason’s friends from his past. She thinks that they’re a group of characters, but thinks they’re great, nonetheless. They are extremely welcoming with Bethenny and offer to include her in their “family.” Bethenny is touched by this outreach especially because of her own family life, or lack there of.

Overall, I enjoyed the show. Bethenny is hilarious and I’m happy that she was given her own spinoff. I think it could be interesting to see how this show does ratings wise compared to a Real Housewives series, specifically, RHONYC.

Twilight Moms

Cathy Leogrande’s article on mother daughter bonding proved to be the most interesting article for me this week. I like twilight, but by no means am I a die-hard fan. I usually associate teenage girls with this series. I envision girls screaming over Edward Cullen. Leogrande’s article made me question these stereotypes. Leogrande suggested that young teenagers weren’t the only ones who were enjoying the books and the movies. Mothers, she argues, are also active fans. She makes a convincing argument that mothers and daughters shared enjoyment of the twilight series allowed for them to engage in conversation that without such common ground, they likely would not have.

In her study of the connections made between mothers and daughters through the series, Leogrande spoke with numerous mothers and daughters. The interviewees seemed to mimic her belief that mothers and daughters forged closer bonds because of the series. One daughter reiterates Leogrande’s point of the great conversations sparked by Twilight saying, “Sometimes we’d talk for hours about all sorts of things, and I’d think, ‘How did we get to this from talking about Edward and Bella?’” I think that this quote highlights the relatability of the movie because it allows for mothers and daughters to relate events in the series to events in their lives and allows for an open dialogue between the two family members. At first glance, most people may think that they have little in common with a series that revolves around werewolves and vampires, but there are clearly a lot of ways for people to relate.

Thinking about this older generation appreciating the movies, I wanted to accept her suggestion of googiling twilight and finding twilight moms as a popular query. I came across a website entitled twilightmoms.com that had a discussion forum filled with various threads. Clearly, Leogrande was right, based on the sheer size of this website, there is definitely an interest in twilight that ranges beyond the millennial generation. Something that I found interesting was that on a thread called “How many times have you seen it & who you went with,” it appeared that many moms weren’t just going to see the movies with their daughters, they were going with other women their age from book clubs, husbands and even sons. While there was a presence of mothers going with daughters, I found it interesting to note how many mothers were even going without their daughters. 

If you look at the two texts (movie vs. book), I definitely think that there is a greater possibility for discussion after the book, but the movies nonetheless are interesting to compare to the movies. In my opinion, the writing is definitely better than the visual representation, but seeing how the writing was interpreted and presented was definitely interesting. This series is captivating for many people and its applicable and somewhat significant themes allow for mothers and daughters to discuss beyond just the text.

Lie To Me

I hope that everyone is enjoying the end of their spring breaks. I went to Punta Cana for 6 days with some of my friends and had a great time. Trying to avoid a lot of phone charges for using my phone in another country, I turned off my data package, which left me Internet and email free for the whole time. When we finally landed at Newark on a rainy Thursday afternoon, I turned my Internet back on and was hit with a flood of emails. One of them was an invite from Professor Jason Mittell to an advanced screening of an upcoming episode of The Chicago Code, which was produced by a Middlebury Alum. When I read the email, I saw that Shawn Ryan ’88 had also produced Lie To Me (among many other noteworthy shows). Lie to Me was a show that I have been meaning to watch for a while because of the high reviews my friends have given it. This email was just what I needed to spark my interest in the show.

The pilot opens with Dr. Cal Lightman questioning a supposed criminal. Cal questions the suspect, but instead of trying to solve the crime by listening to the suspect’s answers, he reads the suspects facial expressions and involuntary body language. You see, no words are necessary for Cal to solve the crime; he is a prominent deception expert that helps law enforcement solve crimes using this technique.

In the first minute, Cal drops a shocking statistic: an average person lies 3 times in every ten minutes. That boggled my mind. Being called a liar is probably one of the worst things I think someone could be called, but this statistic suggests that not only is everyone lying, they’re doing it a lot.

One of my favorite parts of the episode came when Cal seemed to be giving a lecture on reading body language and facial expressions to an auditorium full of people. He broke down the interview that the show opened up with and paused the interview at certain parts to show certain facial expressions and body movements that the suspect made and explained what each of them meant. Each reflected a different emotion that gave Cal information related to the crime. To the average eye, many people would not pick up on these, but in freeze frame, these emotions become clear. Cal then went on to show the audience pictures of many recognizable people from well-known public criminal cases. He placed images on the screen of some of these people making the same body movements or facial expressions that signify a certain emotion. For example, he put a picture of Hugh Grant, Marilyn Monroe, and Bill Clinton sided by side, showing them making the same facial expressions and hand gestures. Cal suggested that this particular look signifies shame. After going through a few examples like these, he says “Emotion looks the same whether you’re a suburban housewife or a suicide bomber. The truth is written on all of our faces.” This quote is backed up by the pictures he shows and really makes the viewer rethink how we question people to get to the truth.

Writing this blog post the day after I saw the episode, I can honestly say that I have found myself on numerous occasions thinking about my own facial expressions and what they suggest. Having Cals’s ability to read body language and facial expressions to get to the truth would certainly be cool, but I don’t know if I necessarily would want to be able to do this all the time—I think I might go crazy if people are actually telling lies 3 times every ten minutes on average.

Secret Life of the American Teenager

This week we watched Supernatural and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Both had visible elements related to religiosity. For me, personally, I hated Supernatural. I’m not really into the whole millennial sci-fi television. The Secret Life of the American Teenager, while corny during parts, was still a show that I could see myself watching either when I was younger or when there might be nothing on TV. When I was thinking about my belief that I would watch it when I was younger, it made me think about whom this show was geared towards. Interestingly enough, it is on the ABC family, so it fits into their “whole new type of family” scheme.

From looking up information online about the show, I learned that the show certainly did not have an easy time hitting the market. The creator of the show, who was also, interestingly enough, the creator of 7^th heaven, tried to sell it to numerous stations before ABC Family picked it up. Despite the initial lack of confidence in the storyline, the show has enjoyed huge success.  One of its season two episodes became ABC family’s most watched telecast ever in the 12-34 age range. This fact blew my mind and shows the appeal of such a controversial show.

While the show is seen as a catalyst of ABC Family’s “New type of family” motto, I want to call that into question. Certainly, teenage pregnancy is not the norm, but in the episode we watched, besides the teenage pregnancy, there are a lot of traditional familial aspects. A striking aspect for me, was the not one, but two, 4 person families who sat down for dinner together. This is one of the most standard symbols of a traditional family and in this sense, ABC family is doing nothing to change viewers perspective of that familial symbol.

The Pew Forum article gives many examples of how millennials seem to be much more open in their views and even suggests that them seem to be, in general, less tied to religion. Strauss and Howe had a completely opposite interpretation of the millennial generation, believing that they were “increasingly returning toward/ identifying with religion” (Stein 1.12). Stein bridges the gap between these conflicting views by arguing that “according to the many varying analyses, blog posts, books, and newspaper articles, millennials seek a return to tradition and organization, yet want less dogma and more acceptance of diversity” (Stein 1.13). This interpretation would certainly help explain the popularity of The Secret Life of the American Teenager which exposes many aspect of the Christian religion, yet at the same time, has its own unique, modern and millennial spin that seems to be resonating with millennial viewers.  

Scrubs

So this weekend I find myself sitting in a hotel room in Rochester NY. I’m here with my team for the frozen four. Our first game is at 7 and its only 1230 and I feel like I’ve been waiting forever for the game to start. Time is certainly not flying in my anticipation. I decided that this would be the perfect time to watch a new show and blog about it. Not really knowing what I wanted to watch this week, I asked one of my roommates if they could suggest any TV shows that they like. Modern Family was suggested first but since I have already watched that I had to use her second choice: Scrubs.

Scrubs was always a show that I’ve seen previews for but it never really grabbed my attention. However, I wanted to take her advice and decided to give it a shot. The show follows JD, who is an intern at Sacred Heart Hospital. What’s with the television formula of following interns through hospitals? To me, the show seemed like a shorter Grey’s Anatomy with a more comedic influence. Grey’s Anatomy is more of a drama and characters seem to take situations at the hospital more seriously than the characters on Scrubs, but the premise is similar. I’m sure if I continued to watch through the current ninth season, I would find JD becoming a skilled doctor, as we are beginning to see in Greys Anatomy.

One of the most unique parts of the show involves the daydreams of JD. They seem to show just how nervous he is about his new position. The daydreams are always really exaggerated and would never happen in real life but I think that they really give a unique flair to the show and give JD some depth as a character.

Something else that I noticed was that, in my opinion, the interns seem to be the more normal ones, whereas, the doctors seem to be somewhat neurotic and crazy. At one point JD says who’s the good guy in this experience? Well, in this episode, I would argue that JD and his fellow interns are the good guys and the doctors and people who are in positions of power are the villains. It’s an interesting way to frame the show, but I think that many people can probably relate to being low on the totem pole at their jobs, just like JD, and it probably is refreshing and comforting to watch everything play out.

Overall, the show was good, but not my favorite. If I had to rate it I would probably give it a 7 or so. That being said, it was a nice way to kill time and my game is now an hour closer.

Magic & Technology in Harry Potter

In his article entitled, “Harry Potter’s World as a Morality Tale of Technology and Media,” Nicholas Sheltrown encourages the reader and viewer of Harry Potter to consider the aspect of technology and media in the Harry Potter series. Sheltrown argues that “Technology is not simply a popular fixture in these stories, reduced to the description of silly but fantastic gadgets; rather, technology is deeply embedded in the Character of Harry Potter” (48). He goes on to suggest that Rowling creates magical technologies that are everywhere in the series. Technology and magic have an interesting relationship in the series, he suggests; they often seem difficult to even distinguish. Sheltrown breaks down the relationship between magic and technology in the series, categorizing it into two parts: magic-tech and tech-magic. Magic-tech can be described as “ordinary items from our muggle world that have been magically modified, such as flying cars” and Tech-magic is described as objects that have no similar object in the world, instead, they exist only in the world of Harry Potter (Sheltrown 48). An example would be wand.

On of the most intriguing parts of the article was the ultimate belief of Sheltrown that “Rowling’s segregation of the wizarding world from regular technologies is critical in that it throws our dependency on these technologies into sharp relied” (58). Not being an avid Harry Potter fan, I think that I incorrectly judged Harry Potter because on the surface level, with the concept of magic that the school is based upon it is hard not to associate that with technology. My previous opinions may be the reason why I was initially skeptical of the argument Sheltrown was making. While I was watching the movie, I slowly adopted Sheltrown's belief. I as the viewer, was confronted with countless examples of magic, but rarely were there any technologies present that millennials use in every day life. In fact, if anything, Hogwarts seems to be technologically behind if you hold the magic constant: “Students at Hogwarts write with quills, parchment and ink. Their photographs, though moving, are in black-and-white. They lack electricity, phones, and other regular fixtures of the muggle world” (Sheltrown 57). When I was watching this movie, I was struck by how on target this statement was. In a world where technology has come to be so entrenched in our everyday lives, viewers would be hard-pressed to find many examples of these common technologies.

Millennials have been cast as a technologically savvy generation, yet here we are, relating to story that involves hardly any technology. What does the lack of technology in this series, in combination with the millennial obsession with Harry Potter suggest about our generation? Does it make sense that the millennials are turning to a fantasy world lacking technology? These questions are much more than yes or no questions, but they are certainly ones that I was thinking about during the screening and hope to discuss in class.

Real Housewives

Before you read this post, I need to admit something. I am a closet Real Housewives fan. I have watched countless episodes and seasons. The Real Housewives of New York City, DC, Orange County and Beverly Hills are my favorite. I am not really a fan of the other two, which are Atlanta and New Jersey. That being said, I was thrilled when I learned that there was going to be a new season in a new location: Miami.

Judging by the first episode, this season will fall into the category that includes Real Housewives of New Jersey and Atlanta. Seeing as I couldn’t even get through the whole episode, I wont be downloading another. While these shows always tend to elicit drama between the housewives, this season it seems like the cast was picked solely for the purpose of creating drama. While I know that a lot of the drama is staged and exaggerated, from what I have seen, it seems over the top. Also, judging by the previews of the season, the arguments that they have, seem to stem from petty little issues and the drama that ensues seems completely forced and embellished (probably for ratings). Sure, I’ll be the first one to admit that the drama is often the best part of the show, but when it seems to happen too regularly, I get tired of it, and decreases the excitement.

Additionally, as in every series, most of the women seem to be pretty fake. It’s ironic seeing as the show is called the Real Housewives of blah ba di blah, that most of the women aren’t very “real.” Maybe its because my definition of real does not allow for fame and money obsessive women, who often appear to be two-faced, overdramatic gold diggers, but that’s just my opinion.

One of the most hilarious parts of the show is the intro to the show where each woman has a line that they say that applies to their life. Typically their sayings are extremely egotistical and I, personally, can’t take them seriously—so instead, I laugh. Here are the sayings from this series:

Larsa: My husbands got moves, but I run the game

Christy: In my world, attitude is everything. I’m keeping it real.

Adriana: I speak five languages, but I can get a man with no words

Marysol: I put others in the spotlight, but somehow it keeps finding me.

Alexia: Beauty is power, if you know how to use it

Lea: I care about a lot of things. What others think of me isn’t one of them.

The cast is comprised of a conglomeration of single and married housewives, working women and mothers. Each woman seems to bring her own uniqueness to the table, but for me this season, I’m not intrigued. Luckily for me, the Real Housewives of Orange County is back on TV as well, so I can watch that instead. 

Dont take my word for it though. Watch the trailer and judge for yourself.

Roswell

Roswell is a science fiction teen television show that centers on teens in the small town of Roswell New Mexico, where there was an alleged UFO crash. The show follows teen humans and teen aliens, showing how they cope with everyday teen issues in a town where they have to keep a huge secret.

There is a huge stigma against aliens and the UFO crash in the town. In a scene during the pilot, a teacher poses the question “does anyone actually believe in aliens?” All I could think about was if I were the alien, how a comment like that would make me feel. Their whole life is spent trying to keep this secret from getting out, Max even says, “Sometimes I wish I didn’t have to be so invisible.” It seems like such a burden to keep this secret.

While some people didn’t enjoy the show, I sort of liked it. I think that the second episode was necessary to get a better feel for the show. While watching it, I could not help but think of the similarities between Roswell and Twilight. In twilight ware wolves and vampires try to mesh into teen everyday life, whereas in Roswell, aliens try this out.

I can definitely understand how teens really enjoyed the show and how people connected with it. It makes sense that people turned to online communities to discuss Roswell. While Roswell has no direct connection to 9/11, it was argued that 9/11 was a large topic between Roswell fan community members immediately after the attacks. At first I was quick to judge, thinking that it was weird (even inconsiderate) for a TV show based community to be engaged in conversation related to such a serious event as 9/11, but the more I read Professor Steins article, the more I agreed with her. The Roswell fans all have common ground in their appreciation of the show and seemingly the values it projects. Making sense of such a tragedy in such a community makes sense. Internet communities allow people to forge friendships and debate and engage in conversations with others without judging them based on their appearance or background. The Internet allows for a certain anonymity that fosters a sense of comfort. In a community of people who you share common ground with, it makes sense that Roswell fans turned to their Roswell community to discuss 9/11, something that is never even addressed in the show.

30 Rock

So I just watched the pilot of 30 Rock, after being advised to for the longest time, and I am so mad at myself for not watching the show earlier. I think through this experience thus far, I have learned that I am a picky TV show picker. By that I mean that I am picky about what TV shows I choose to pick up. I think I often have misconceptions about the premises of certain shows, incorrectly judge them, and thus lack the motivation to ever watch them. That being said, I don’t think that I am a particularly picky TV show watcher because once I eventually watch the show, I have found that more often than not, I enjoy it.

30 Rock was surprisingly entertaining for me. I don’t even know why it was surprising to me given the all-star cast, but I unexpectedly really liked it. Liz Lemon, played by Tina Fey seems to be the character that the show revolves around. Tracy Jordan was probably my favorite character followed closely by Liz Lemon, however, the funny parts of the show were certainly not limited to scenes with just those character.

I think that part of the reason why the show is so successful is that not only is it funny, but it seems to attack common stereotypes. In this episode alone, it could be argued that race gender, class, and disability stereotypes were all addressed. Additionally, these stereotypes are addressed using humor as a means to expose them. Being able to laugh at stereotypes suggests a certain sense of cultural awareness and this show certainly encourages that.

Overall I loved 30 Rock and could definitely see myself watching it again. Two thumbs up!

As an extra for this week, here's the preview of an episode that contains a scene that is a favorite of many of my friends which they incessantly quote: 

http://www.hulu.com/watch/43183/30-rock-believe-in-the-stars

Harry Potter

I have never quite understood the obsession with Harry Potter. I have only seen the first Harry Potter movie and that was when it first came out years ago, so needless to say, I was a little confused last night because I had no context of what was going on. That being said, I probably find myself within the minority of the millennial generation in my stance towards Harry Potter. So many of my friends like Harry Potter—in fact some of them are obsessed. The Harry Potter books proved to be my first experience with utter fandom related to books. Never before in my young educational career, had so many of my peers been obsessed with a book. Harry Potter was changing the way that kids read. Bond and Michelson argue “The popularity of the Harry Potter series has shifted reading for many young readers from the encapsulated textual experiences of their classrooms to the more personally connected reading experience of and envisionment” (311).

Its no shock that most kids find popular culture much more intriguing than history textbooks. One student makes a case that, it is one thing to learn about something you know nothing about and could care less about, and it is another to read one of your classmate’s piece of fandom. Schools are extremely reluctant to turn towards media outlets and fandom to cultivate learning, however, because there has always been such a stigma against them. Children, though, are probably learning much more in their online fandom experiences, than they are in the classroom. One of the most common aspects of online fandom for Harry Potter enthusiasts is writing new chapters that may delve more deeply into a characters life. Often they will submit this piece of work and it will be critiqued allowing them to not only perfect their piece of fandom but also their writing skills. Henry Jenkins argues, “they use analytic concepts they probably wouldn’t encounter until they reached the advanced undergraduate classroom” (3).

In my opinion, schools are silly to ignore the student’s passions. Often times, reading and writing is a dreaded task for kids because they don’t care about what they are reading and writing. However, think about if students were writing about something that they truly had interest in—I would have to believe that they would put a lot more time and effort into this writing. It wouldn’t be seen as a tedious task, instead they would see it as fun. Think about Hogwarts: it is a highly esteemed school, yet they are always participating in interactive tasks and fun competitions. With the prospect of this fantasy school, why would any student be intrigued by the mundane type of schooling that often takes place across the US. Whether students are reading Harry Potter, or a typical school short story, they are perfecting their literacy skills, why not let them enjoy their reading?

The Office

So this week I decided to watch The Office. I know most people are going to think I’m crazy; maybe it was because it was the pilot, but I just didn’t think it was as funny as it is claimed to be. Were there some funny parts that made me laugh? Absolutely. But I just didn’t think the particular episode that I watched was that great. I think that my experience with the show may prove to be better if I did watch more episodes than just one 22 minute episode. It also could be an acquired taste for me, where once I get a better feel for the show and the characters, I would like it more. The interaction between Dwight and Jim definitely seem to have potential to be very entertaining. In this episode, the viewer got a feel for their relationship, where Dwight seems to take everything very seriously, whereas Jim seems to be an instigator and tries to bug Dwight. Steve Carrell is always hilarious in anything I have ever seen him in, so I cant really fault that aspect of the show. I really cant seem to put my finger on why I didn’t really like the show, but I definitely don’t think that I’ll be running to buy more episodes on iTunes. 

As a bonus this week, I was reminded of the following song because it incorporates the theme song from the office. Many of you have probably already heard it, but if you havent, give it a listen. Its a mashup called Office Muzik by Lil Wayne.

Gilmore Girl(ism)

Having read the article on Gilmore Girls by Francesca Gamber before watching the screening, I could not help but pick up on the feminist model that is played out on Gilmore Girls. Having said that, however, I don’t think that the model was overtly feminist where it is clear what the writer is trying to do. I honestly think that if I had watched it prior to this class, I probably would not have even picked up on the feminism. To me it just seemed like a your typical “girly show” that is catered to women more than men; a “chick flick” for TV, if you will.

Gamber positions Lorelei and Rory against the second wave feminist models and suggests that they do not fit the stereotype of the harsh feminist that comes from second wave feminism. Instead, she argues that Lorelei and Rory are examples of third wave feminism. Second wave feminism was characterized by a strong, career driven woman who does not have time for a romantic life. Gamber argues that “Lorelei and Rory clearly owe much to second wave feminism  […]. Yet Gilmore Girls does not simply engage in facile celebration of the strong woman. Much of the tension in the series comes from Lorelei’s and Rory’s efforts to balance their work and their romantic and familial relationships” (128). Watching the show reinforced Gamber’s points for me.  Yes, Lorelei was the boss and she seemed to be a workaholic, but she also always found time to talk with her daughter and made time for men in her life, which seemed to make her very happy. The third wave feminism model presented by Gilmore Girls provides a good example to girls, in my opinion, because it suggests that its not “one or the other”; you can be successful while maintaining a relationship with your family.

One thing I would feel remiss if I didn’t comment on was the dynamic of the single mother household. Most teen television shows have a familial structure of a mother, a father and children. I think that is why this change was so noticeable to me because it is not common for that dynamic to be played out on television. I really think that the single mother family model makes this show work. If the traditional family model was used in the show and there was a father, the dynamic would change dramatically. Family meals wouldn’t be the same, the relationship between Rory and Lorelei would be different, among many other things that make this show resonate.

Gilmore Girls presents many feminist aspects and models, which Gamber argues, serves the purpose of “presenting a vital feminism whose only requirement of young women in order to remain vital is not that they parrot a single feminist model but rather they make a feminism of their own” (129). Its their very own "Gilmore Girlism."

Pretty Little Liars

So my test show of the week was…. Pretty Little Liars. Encouraged my many of my friends, I decided to take the plunge. I have to say that it was not quite what I was expecting. I, for whatever reason, always thought that it involved older characters. I didn’t even realize that it was an ABC family show until I looked it up. Once I learned that, I couldn’t help but draw connections to our readings that discuss ABC Family’s “new family.”

In the pilot, there is an unsolved murder, underage drinking, use of pot, shoplifting, single parent households, affairs, and teacher-student relationships, among many other things. In my opinion, all of theses things are certainly controversial. In addition, they display that ABC Family recognizes that everything is not as perfect in real life and they try to bring up real issues. This “new family” motto provides an interesting storyline and definitely gives a much realer portrayal of real family issues than shows like the Lizzie McGuire and Even Stevens used to.

The topics of the show definitely are much more mature than I am used to for a teen show. To me, it was surprising to hear that this show was on ABC Family because it doesn’t seem appropriate for some viewers who may watch other shows on ABC Family. I pictured it more as a CW show, which seems more explicitly geared towards teens.

All in all, I really enjoyed the show. I thought that the pilot was great as far as pilots go. It left me with more questions than answers, which is a good thing, in my opinion because it left me wondering and wanting to watch more to figure out how “A” was sending all these messages when she was supposedly dead. A definite thumbs up. I have already downloaded the second episode.

Veronica Mars, Degrassi & Kyle XY

Let me start out by saying that I have really begun to enjoy Veronica Mars. I wish that I hadn’t been so quick to judge the name of the show before, because I think that I would have most likely watched it on a weekly basis. It’s niche that it seems to have is as an average teen show with a not so average teen plot. I love how it manages to mix everyday high school life with a crime detective twist.

My feelings on Degrassi are not so similar. While this was the only episode out of the 3 this week that was a half hour show, this one was the hardest to watch. I STRUGGLED to watch the whole thing. Maybe it was because the acting was bad or maybe it was not a great pilot, but regardless, I would definitely never find myself watching it again unless I was forced to. I think that the show, however, is quintessentially millennial. The pilot is littered with images of technology such as cell phones and computers with the Internet. In fact the school seems extremely proud of its new computer lab. The young characters, especially, Emma, seem to support Watkins claim that “young people enthusiastically embraced the technology” (6). Her willingness to break the rules and go on a computer in the computer lab, just to read a message from her crush, Jordan, demonstrate the addictiveness of the internet that Watkins discusses. The ability of the internet to facilitate relationships and connections between people who are not face to face is evident in the budding teen relationship between Emma and Jordan: “time spent in front of a computer screen is rarely, if ever, considered time spent alone” (Watkins xix). I think it could be interesting to follow this series from its start in 2001 to present day to see just how new technology has evolved over the past decade and how it has effected the lives of teens.

Kyle XY is another show that I judged incorrectly based on the previews. When the show was assigned, I wasn’t very excited to watch it, but I ended up liking it a lot. It was actually pretty interesting watching Kyle learn about the world and language as a teen. The idea was very unique and I even found myself laughing at the “Juice me!” scene. Stein makes a solid argument when she explains how ABC family has turned Kyle XY into “more than an aired half-hour or hour text” (131). In fact, ABC family recognized the potentiality of new media to expand the viewer experience to help build brand loyalty and exploited it using the internet. Millennial fans could now discuss their thoughts on online discussion boards, play games to discover clues about the context of the show etc. Paul Lee “presents viewer social networking as key to establishing a dependable viewer base. He describes the website as a “full scale online community that will allow our viewers to not only constantly connect with our shows and games but also with each other [and suggests that] such community building [is] a route to brand loyalty” (Stein 133). More and more, television shows seem to be going beyond just being a one-hour part of their viewers’ week. One would be hard-pressed to find a show that did not have a website. This expansion displays how the Internet has changed how Americans choose to spend their leisure time. The interactive nature of the internet that allows people to contribute and produce, rather than the television experience where the viewer can only consume, is more entertaining and appealing for many which somewhat explains why networks such as ABC Family are turning to the internet to build brand loyalty. 

Modern Family

So today was my first venture in my plan of watching a new TV show every week for the rest of the semester. My friends are always recommending certain shows, or talking about them and it always makes me curious. Until now, though, most of the time I never got around to watching them and just watched "my own shows" which (somewhat embarrassingly) include the likes of: The Bachelor, Gossip Girl, Law and Order SVU and The Jersey Shore, to name a few. Now, however, I plan to start watching new TV shows that haven't been in my repertoire. Im going to watch the pilots, and discuss a little about the show premise and give my take on it. While this is certainly going to be a fun experience, it also proves to be quite dangerous, because with the semester just beginning and the amount of work beginning to pile up already, I cant afford to get addicted to too many new shows, which I know will undoubtedly happen throughout this process.

Some shows that I already know will be apart of this experiment will be, Modern Family (which my mom has desperately been trying to get me to watch), The Office, Pretty Little Liars, 30 Rock, Vampire Diaries, Mad Men and Parks and Recreation.

This week I decided to start out with Modern Family.  The show is based 3 different immediate families that make up one large family. Jay, and older, conservative, close minded man is currently married a vibrant native columbian who has a son named Manny from a previous marriage. In Jays first marriage he fathered 2 children, Mitchell and Claire. Mitchell and his partner Cameron have adopted a Vietnamese daughter name Lily. Claire has married Phil with whom she has three children, Haley, Alex and Luke. The show follows these three families and highlights funny interactions between them.

The pilot episode did a great job of introducing the characters and letting the viewer get a feel for them. Here's my quick take on the families:

Claire and Phil:
Claire definitely wears the pants in the family, while Phil is concerned with acting like a "cool dad" and "being hip" (which he thinks means knowing how to use the internet and text, especially using sayings like lol, talking like he would imagine people talk in the ghetto, and dancing and singing to high school musical). Haley, the oldest daughter is mortified of her parents, especially when she invites a boy over. The younger two siblings didn't really get much face time but the younger daughter seems more like an enforcer of rules, who acts much more mature than her age and the younger brother seems to get in all sorts a trouble.

Gloria and Jay:
Gloria is a loving colombian woman who is passionate about everything. Her husband, Jay is much older than she and he is nowhere near as expressive. The difference in their personalities and ages is highlighted throughout the episode. Manny, Gloria's son, seems to exude the same love and passion that his mother has and Jay outwardly disapproves.

Mitchell and Cameron:
Mitchell is fairly sensitive to the way that others view his relationship with his partner Cameron, especially his father, Jay. He recognizes how gays are often viewed in society and resents it. At one point he even suggests getting something "a little less gay." He is not embarrassed about his sexuality, he just doesn't seem as comfortable and flamboyant as his partner Cameron, who makes everything a dramatic spectacle. Lily, an adopted Vietnamese baby is their new daughter and they seem extremely excited.

Overall, I loved this show. I found myself laughing at several points and even had a hard time picking a favorite part because there were so many, which is always a good sign. I think this show addresses real issues, while at the same time makes light of many of them by joking and I found it hilarious. I can definitely see myself trying to catch up to the most recent season. Luckily the episodes are only about 22 minutes which makes it the perfect study break that will put me in a good mood.

Veronica Mars & Freaks and Geeks

It is interesting to think about teen TV after reading Eric Hoover's article, "The Millennial Muddle." Hoover lays out different viewpoints relating to the millennial generation. Neil Howe and William Strauss characterized the millennial generation very generally and assigned them traits, which included "special, sheltered, confident, team-oriented, conventional, pressured, and achieving" (Hoover 2). Later in the article, however, Arthur Levine rejects the labeling of a generation, saying, "Generational images are stereotypes" (Hoover 3) Palmer Muntz takes it a step further when he argues that Howe and Strauss have neglected to view all teens when they constructed their millennial label; instead mainly adapting it from white suburban good kid stereotype. Teen TV, I'm sure takes these generalizations into account because they are trying to get the biggest fan base, but I think its important to remember that Teen TV is not always directed solely at teens: "While Teen TV may be associated popularly with teen audience, and while networks and advertisers certainly desire teen viewers as a market, this does not exclude the possibility that Teen TV programs may also address, court, and successfully draw in both pre-teen and older viewers" (Ross & Stein 5). In fact, this verifies Palmer Muntz's problem with accepting generational thinking because he suggests that there are 2 large assumptions that often are made: 1) That people of different generations are fundamentally different than each other and 2) that people in each generation are similar to each other in meaningful ways. 

When we watched Freaks and Geeks, I could not help but notice that Howe and Stein's core traits were fairly present in many of the main characters depictions. When the moms wrote notes to their children in their lunches telling them they were special and that they love them, the special quality was highlighted. The young boys also appeared very sheltered, fairly conventional and felt pressured. In addition, I think that this show is a great example of teen television that probably strived to attain a larger audience than just teens.

Similarly, Veronica Mars appears to have been a show that may have drawn a more varied audience. Veronica Mars, however, does not really seem to fit in the millennial label that Howe and Strauss assigned. Instead, she and her family have been seemingly shunned from their town and are complete outsiders. Veronica is definitely not your typical teenage girl; in fact, Andrea Braithwaite has described her as a “chick dick”. She "argues that Veronica's dual position as a teenage girl and private eye--combined with the program's double architecture as detective genre and teen genre--enables a critique of the social viability post-feminism” (Ross & Stein 21).

My take so far on this is that Teen TV is certainly catered to a teen market, but it also may find appeal in other age groups. Also, as evidenced by our screening, there is no mold for teen television; some shows simply follow teens through day-to-day high school, while others, like Veronica Mars have a more intricate plotline. Whatever the case, Teen TV is definitely an area that has taken the millennial generation by storm and I can certainly say that I am captivated by it.