Televisual Societal Reflection

I love television.  I don't mean the usual following of one cult TV show that everybody whose anybody follows.  At this present time I'm following around 30 different television shows from a broad range; reality, game shows, prime time dramas targeted to both teens and older adults, cartoons and comedy's (I'll include a list in the sidebar for anyone who happens to be interested in my epic television agenda).

But my television line-up isn't completely the point of this post.  The point is how society is reflected within television shows...or how it is portrayed completely unrealistic and just picking up on certain social situations and placing them in an idealistic setting that only a lucky few of the population actually get to achieve (For this purpose, I'm excluding reality TV shows, the main focus of this post will be about teen shows).

Let's take a look at some of the most popular sitcom shows today targeted to teens girls:

90210
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Glee
Gossip Girl
Greek
Hellcats
Make it or Break it
One Tree Hill
Pretty Little Liars
The Secret Life of the American Teenager
The Vampire Diaries

Gossip Girl - one of the most popular TV shows of 2010. 

 

 

 

 

Glee - Ryan Murphy's wonderous creation

Now, lets look at the basic plots and settings of these shows, in 90210, Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars, all include a cast of wealthy girls dealing with basic everyday drama, just styled perfectly at all times and having an unlimited trust fund available to them.  While I appreciate the fashion of these shows, it's a little too unrealistic for my blood.  Include the conniving plot lines of Gossip Girl and the murder-mystery aspect of Pretty Little Liars, and they become the complete opposite of relatable to your average North American teen girl.  (That is, unless, your best friend was also mysteriously murdered and you are covering up a secret and trying to figure out who her killer is, and who your stalker is?)

One Tree Hill used to be incredibly relatable, but after they all moved on from high school and Peyton left, the show turned into a miserable sap story with some relatable aspects, but sorry, I'm not buying that a movie director moves to a small town for fun and gives up his life's work for one girl, that a girl with a child from her teenage pregnancy becomes a famous music star then goes back to her small town with her superstar basketball player husband so she can be a teacher...and then she stops doing that (What the hell does Haley even do anymore?), and that the CEO of an incredibly rich and successful fashion label would give it all away and liquidate her company's, and her personal assets, to pay back an array of faceless investors when hitting a financial crisis.  It's just too much fluff and slow music and people kissing each other now...whatever happened to the relatable drama of Brooke joining the purity club to get a boy and the Scott brothers duking it out on the river court?

And then you have The Vampire Diaries, which don't get me wrong, I love the fantastical series...but a town full of witches, werewolves and vampires doesn't exactly scream "I'm just like you!" to the average teenager.  Even the everyday story lines aren't relatable, there's no drama about which guy you should go to the dance with, what pink skirt really makes you look the best, which nail colour is in style, and all that other crap that means so much to you when you're 16.

Despite the singing, Glee pretty much hits the nail of the head, and I believe that's why it has such a cult following, it shows teens how they are...which is nothing less to expect from Ryan Murphy.  He knows teenage life, and damn does he portray it well.  Add in the music that they sing which for the most part reflects the most popular pop and rock sensations, and you've got yourself a winner folks.  I don't have much to say about Make it or Break it...it isn't so bad in terms of actual story line, but the setting of pro-gymnasts isn't too relatable to anyone...but pro-gymnasts.

Hellcats and Greek are set in college, and having gone to college (and being in a sorority) they are definitely top contenders in realistic story lines and situations that mimic factual life happenings.  (The mystery aspect of Hellcats is a little far-fetched, but I've never been to law-school...maybe that happens?)

That being said, the top prize goes to Degrassi: The Next Generation for realistic story lines that teenagers can actually affiliate themselves with, but a little more drama is desired in the entertainment aspect.  Second place goes to The Secret Life of the American Teenager, because a show all about teenage pregnancy is definitely a reflection of whats going on in North America.  Though I have to admit, with the last season ending with Adrian being pregnant and considering keeping the baby, it's a little ridiculous.  Why is it on all of these shows with teenage pregnancies there are no girls deciding on adoption, or I don't know...abortion?  (Just a thought, take note TV producers).

Now these are the shows teen girls today are left to deal with to help them through the rocky road that is high school.

Growing up as a preteen in the new millennium with an older teenage sister, I'm one of those lucky few that got to catch the best of the 90's, and still watch the swag of new shows that came with the new millennium.

I find television shows in the 90's and early millennium managed to actually catch the teenage essence, what actually mattered to them, and managed to make it entertaining to boot, often using satire to poke-fun at the every day teenager and help them not take things to seriously.  I often find myself re-watching the series and enjoying them signifcantly more than many of the shows that are presently on TV.  I think YTV (did American's have YTV?) was probably one of the best channels back then, it had all of the teen shows, especially on TGIF, that everyone wanted to watch...and now its just kid - cartoons and crap like Victoria Justice and Wizards of Waverly Place...preteen stuff, not teenager stuff (Even the cartoons were better back then...anyone remember Doug, Pepperann, Hey Arnold, original Pokemon and Sailor Moon?)

Now comes my list for best of the late 90's and early Millennium.


Boy Meets World
Breaker High
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Daria
My So-Called Life
Popular
Radio Active 
Student Bodies
Sweet Valley High
System Crash 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Funny and fantastical, take the Vampire Diaries.

Popular - Ryan Murhpy's best show ever. 

You'll find I left off Dawson's Creek and Party of Five...but that's because I never actually watched them, but I'm sure they were awesome.  The ones I did list all happened to have comedy, drama, relatable issues, and have entertainment value.  Even Buffy, which is set with vampires was more relatable then than 90210 is today.  Daria, although being a cartoon, is the perfect satirical comedy series evaluating teenage life.  Some of the shows some people might not have seen, as they might have been only shown in Canada, but if you can, youtube them, cos they were epic.  My favourite of all (aside from Buffy of course) is Popular.  Popular, a Ryan Murphy creation, was the essence of 90's teenager, not too mention incredibly funny and the writing was amazing.  I don't think there was a person out there that was unable to relate with either Brooke McQueen and her clique or Sam Macpherson and her group (I'm a Brooke girl myself).  This show began my love for Ryan Murphy's work, and so when Glee came out, I knew it was going to be good.

For those of you wondering why you just spent 20 minutes reading my ramblings on television shows and how relevant they are to teens today (when you yourself aren't even a teenager...it's okay, neither am I (barely) and I still watch them.), the point is that television shows were better in the 90's when the cast actually looked like real people and not made-up barbie dolls, and actually reflected the social times of the day (ex: teens wore clothes they could actually afford, not everyone was wearing Dolce and Gabbana.)  It also gives you a list of television shows you may not have watched before, and should definitely watch now because they are all pretty damn awesome.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got season four of Daria to get back to.

The Conspirist Paradigm

Also known as "Conspiracy Theories 101"

There appears to be a pattern with a conspiracy theories, many of them all center focus on one person, or a group of people, setting out for world domination and using people as their mindless drones in order to achieve those means.  Some are totally plausible, while others are as far-fetched as they come (and manage to be the inspiration for many a television show or blockbuster movie hit.)  I've compiled a list of my most favourite conspiracy theories ranging from the wow-i-never-thought-of-it-that-way-that-makes-so-much-sense, to the totally kookoobananas ones.  I have referenced some in my two previous posts (ten points to the first person that points them out!)

That being said, here comes the list in no particular order (in reality, I'm posting them as they sporadically come to my mind).


1) The Illuminati, dead-set on world domination are controlling people through their media outlets, using monarch programming on popstars, actors and supporting Illuminati mind control through entertainment movies and music videos.
This one has become one of my more favourites recently much in a large part because of The Vigilante Citizen, who posts examples of music videos and movies depicting Illuminati mind control victims and symbols, as well as movies showcasing aspects of monarch programming and mind control.

This video with information from Vigilante Citizen explains far more than I could with words!

2) The world leaders are all actually reptiles from outer space trying to take over the world.
Yes, this is a legitimate conspiracy theory, and not just a plot outline for the series "V".  This is one of those kookoobananas theories.  The videos shown to "prove" that these world leaders (Bush, Queen Beatrice of the Netherlands, among many others) are actually reptiles show many pixelated and most probably photoshopped images of dark eyes and tongues that looked forked.  Guess what?  You can make your own conspiracy theory up and strike fear into naive individuals too if you own a camera, photoshop and a youtube account. Here some atheists make fun of this theory. I enjoy their sarcasm.

3) FDA regulating food in a harmful way and adding fat-additives to consumer packaged goods to make America fatter.
Now this is one I can actually get behind, because, let's face it, the FDA is one of the least regulated administrations and has some of the loosest guidelines than any other country when controlling their food.  Not to mention, America itself is one of the fattest countries in the world.  And while I would like to say maybe the entire nation is just lazy, I can bring myself to believe that with a sane mind,  I can be pretty fucking lazy, but I'm sure not 2000 lbs. (But, I'm also from Canada, maybe shivering in my igloos burns off all the fat?).  The following video has a fun little youtuber explaining the food additive conspiracy theory.

4)  The Bilderburg Group is controlling the world and set on putting the New World Order in place for a one-world government system.
While this could be totally plausible, its also very probable that these bankers, CEO's, and politicans are coming together to fix things the way the U.N. can't (oh my bad, I'm not supposed to insult the U.N., am I?  ...Suck it U.N.)  I'm not entirely well-versed on this theory, the most I've heard about it is from Zeitgeist (the movie...if you are reading this post, dear god I hope you've watched this movie.) and my boyfriends rants.  Here is a video that will explain it to you (and hopefully to me too.)

5)  September 11 and the collapse of the twin towers was actually an inside job.
This is another completely probable theory,  certain videos can clearly outline as to why it would be incredibly difficult for a plane to knock down these incredibly sturdy buildings and how only bombs placed on the inside could get the buildings to collapse on the way in.  Also, if you look at the socio-political time-frame of when this tragedy took place, America needed an excuse to go into the middle-east and get them some oil (Sorry southern friends, guess Alberta's prices are too expensive for you?  Hey, everybody's got to make a living.)  Now what confuses me about this whole shebangalang is the fact that people only ever mention the twin towers...what about the pentagon?  Pretty sure a plane crashed there too.  For further info, check out any of the vast array of youtube videos and documentaries made on the subject.  Anyways, here is a clip describing this particular theory. 

6)  The version of the Bible we have today is inaccurate and missing some integral information - that our homeboy Jesus had a little woman.  
 Made popular by The Da Vinci Code,  many believe that Jesus had a wife, Mary Magdalene, and children, and that the "Priory of Sion" is a group dedicated to protecting the truth of Jesus' lineage., while the Opus Dei of the Catholic Church are trying to suppress this truth.  The conspiracy theory is also called "The Bloodline Conspiracy".  I can't say I'm a huge bible conspiracy theory follower, but I can say that I own "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels & Demons" on dvd and they are awesome.  If you've got nothing better to do, then rent the movie or read the book and you're in for a load of fun on a Saturday night.  If you want a more "factual" video, check out this: (note: I have not watched this, the trailer on youtube just looked pretty cool).

7)  Global warming is a myth.
Now, I may have many people that disagree with my on this one, but I'm totally behind this theory 100%.  I've seen several reports that suggest that the earth is actually in a cooling phase.  And trust me, if you lived in Canada, and noticed how bloody cold its gotten over the past few years, you'd probably agree. (Fun fact: In December 2009, Edmonton, Alberta was the coldest city on earth *only other colder region was Siberia* at -46 degrees Celsius...I have no idea what that is in Fahrenheit.)  Not to mention the Earth goes through periods of warming and cooling throughout its natural history, and over 31,000 scientists disagree with Al Gore and his global warming theorems.  Video following, and many more are available on youtube!

8) The Jews are trying to land world domination, and the Holocaust is all a lie.
This particular theory really pisses me off, taking the Holocaust and saying it didn't happen and that really all the Jewish people want is to rule the world (C'mon now, they only want to run Hollywood!)  is just ridiculous. Jewish people weren't the only ones massacred in the Holocaust - homosexuals and other deemed misfits of society were taken into concentration camps as well.  It just spreads more anti-Semitic hate crimes on people who don't deserve it.  Next thing you know, the genocide in Darfur didn't happen, and really, they are trying to take over the world too.  I don't have any videos for this one because I don't believe in spreading this, if you've read a history book then you know the truth.

9) The Roswell UFO.
Another classic in the conspiracy theorist handbook,  The Roswell UFO is all about a supposed UFO crash in New Mexico in 1947.  The government is said to have had covered up the UFO crash and taken it all to "Area 51".  This is an oldy but a goody.  Video outlining The Roswell UFO cover-up following.

10) The Mayans predicted the world will end in 2012.
Conspiracy Theories 101 wouldn't be complete without a dip into 2012.  You know, when Hollywood makes a blockbuster movie about a conspiracy theory, pretty sure that shit ain't true.  This theory has been proven false on many occasions  and despite all of the debunking, this theory keeps on popping up with people believing it.  I'm not going to lie, of course I believed in it at first...and then I went to my handy dandy laptop, hooked myself up to the internet and the power of google, and soon realized how silly the whole thing was.  This theory is perpetuated because the Mayan's didn't continue their calendar past 2012, and Nostradamus predicted it as well.  Now I'm not to sure about Nostradamus, but the Mayan's might have been a little to busy fighting off the Spanish to continue there long-term calendar that they  weren't going to use for a couple of thousand of years.

So that rounds up Conspiracy Theories 101, there are many many many I left off, this is just a nice little introduction to get you all interested in the wonderful world of conspiracy theories.  For further information on any of the above theories, see GOOGLE or WIKIPEDIA or YOUTUBE, or run on down to your local video rental store and see what they have kicking around in the documentary section.

The Social Agenda

(also known as - Shit that pisses me off.) 

Anyone else think of your friends as per their profile photos? I know I do.

 

Now, I'm a fan of social networks, I used to have a Nexopia account (if you aren't from western Canada or USA you probably have no idea wtf I'm talking about, but that's okay, I'm sure its still kicking around if you want to google that shit).  And I had a myspace when it was still in vogue.  But now I've moved on to greener pastures, using the giant phenomenons LinkedIn, Youtube, Twitter and Facebook (oh, and let's not forget about blogger).

You'd be hard pressed to find someone in the developed worlds in the 16-30 age range that doesn't have a facebook (maybe Avril and her h-core middle fingers don't cos she doesn't believe in "The man") and it's hard to find a celebrity who isn't addicted to tweeting every 5 seconds of their day.

Social networks are the coolest way to interact with people without actually interacting with people.  As per the social networks agenda, it's supposed to be all about you you you, and interacting with others that are similar to you you you.  Look at youtube, it's a channel where YOU get to post about YOU, and others get to feed into your burgeoning narcissistic personality and comment about YOU.

The downside to having so many websites focused all about you, is that everyone is able to know EVERYTHING about you.  Even things you don't want them to.  I have my privacy settings on facebook set to the most it can get, sharing things only with my friends so I can be free to comment on whatever my little heart desires.  A dirty FML joke? Oh yeah, I can share that cos no one else can see it.  A picture of me dancing on the bar with a tequila bottle in my hand? Yeah that's okay too cos only my closest 600 friends can see that.

Apparently not so much.

The other day the head of my department (I'm a college girl ya'll) came in to address our students and said something that disturbed me, even with our extra careful privacy settings, companies are still getting out information, adding us as friends to get a peek into "who we really are".  Now this becomes a predicament when going into the job hunt.

It's my final year of school, I graduate soon and am about to head out into the real world, and you're telling me some no-named corporate slag is assigned to cracking into all of my facebook, twitter, myspace, blogger and youtube accounts to get a peek into "who I really am?" 

Really. Really? REALLY?

I can honestly say that a video of me singing "cold hard bitch" on rockband during a NYE party with my drunk sorority sisters isn't a clear example of how I will behave in the workplace.

Turns out social networks don't exist for us expressing ourselves, it's for corporations planning on hiring us to weed out the drunks, the sluts, the misfits, the conspiracy theorists and all the rest of us colourful archetypes of internet users and only to hire the socially acceptable.

Have you ever tried "cleaning" your facebook page? That shit is hard.  6 years of status updates, pictures being posted and wall posts is nearly impossible to filter.  Especially if you're in college or university...it's just a blur of keg stands, inappropriate pictures, and a multitude of swears slamming your professors and classes.

I, for one, think this is big bag of bullshit.  I started cleaning my page to get rid of my sailor-esque form of language used in my status updates and screen out the more embarrassing of drunk pictures, but is a picture of me and my friends at a club, smiling, holding a martini all that bad?  I don't think it says much on my work ethic, more of that I can have a good time post work and not look terribly sloppy.  But maybe that's just me?

The fact that companies can go to facebook and buy our information is just sad.  Way to go with your privacy settings facebook.  I have many friends that try to get around this by changing their name on facebook (you know all those people with their first and middle names instead of their last names on there? Yeah, those are my people.)  But I'm not entirely sure how effective that is, assuming a company has your email address and your information, I'm sure they can figure out "John Brad" is "John Brad Adams"  especially if you have a unique name - nice try though.

Can you believe there are entire departments in some companies focused on social networks and sleuthing around to find your deep dark secrets?  That companies can fire you about things you post on your social networking sites, and that companies may not hire you cos of one status update or one photograph?

Orson Welles may have got the year and the medium wrong, but he got the underlying concept.  Big brother? Oh it's happening alright, it's so under the radar that it's right in our faces.

I feel like I've seen a face like this before...hmm...wonder where?

The social agenda? Social networking sites to monitor our behaviour and weed out the less desirable.

It's anarchy out there.

En-masse Consumerism

Lately I have been watching a lot of music videos to gather some new sweet beats for my rather extensive collection, and even if the tunes are great (or not-so much), I'm starting to notice a new trend...

...and it's not a good one.

I recognize that most videos are sponsored and have product placements in them to promote the sponsors, especially with clothing, but really, it's gone to quite the extreme.  Or maybe the entertainment industry has just gotten lazy about hiding the fact that every time we watch a music video twelve thousand brands are being shoved down our throats.  Or maybe they've realized we caught on to their little game of "betcha can't spot the product placement!" and have decided to just blatantly put the product placements out there so as to tell us "we realize you aren't as stupid as we thought" (maybe they need to put more dumb-inducing additives in our pre-packaged sodium enraged foods?)


But I digress, watching these videos is just...odd. Weird. I can't even enjoy them as much as I would like because every ten seconds my mind is thinking "wtf?".

(That's right, I think in computer slang, you try to be so cool and so nerdy all once. I dare you.)


At least some pop stars are noticing the trend and calling the industry out on it, posting their own satirical and ironic versions of music videos infused with way-to-obvious and down-right funny product placements.


Lady Gaga's Telephone, for example is one of my favourites.

Satire at it's best.

As much as I'd like to think the following two videos are trying to be ironic...I'm pretty sure they're serious...and all I have to say is ...really? REALLY? Do you honestly think I'm gonna run out to by
a camera, britney or avril perfume, makeup forever, a SONY flatscreen, or a SONY laptop (never mind the fact that I'm typing up this blog post on one right now..) just because Avril and Britney are sporting them in their mashed up excuse-for-music vids?

Hey, my nails shoot out rainbow paint, do yours? Oh, that sucks...I'm sure you and your boring fingernails can find a man on Plenty of Fish.

Even though Avril is about as punk as my pet cat fluffy, she could at least try...or maybe "What the hell?" is referring to her giving up with her "down with the man" stance....or not, there she goes flashing those h-core middle fingers again.  Oh Avril, you're so 200-late.

Even my new crush, Esmee Denters has some product placements in her otherwise cookie-cutter video.

When good singers make bad videos

Of course these product placements aren't limited to music videos, television and movies have been doing it for ages!  And some shows just aren't as subtle as the others (Biggest Loser I'm looking at you...if you've ever watched an episode, you know it's all about the Brita filter, Trident gum and Subway as your building blocks for losing weight; forget exercise, balanced diet and rest.)


If you didn't catch the product placements, my advice to you is to go back to school, or look up the term "product placement" on wikipedia, and re-watch.  If you still don't get it...maybe you should cut back of pre-packaged and processed foods - just a thought.


For those of you that do (and have caught on to my insurmountable wit and sarcasm), welcome to my existentialist manifesto.