Rumor has it that John Gotti and his buddies used to watch the Godfather movies and model their behavior on the mobsters portrayed – who were, of course, supposedly modeled on real-life mobsters. Whatever was once a true portrayal was rendered irrelevant by the funhouse mirror of images endlessly distorted, growing more exaggerated with each reflection.
Which brings me (go with me here) to the NYC Prep, the new (supposed) reality TV show. The performers (for I cannot help but believe they are playing to the camera, acting in ways they think will live up to type, or at least the type they have seen in Gossip Girl) drink, hop into bed and spend, spend, spend in the most gratuitous and, let’s face it, obscene manner. It is a world of rich sixteen year olds swilling martinis and backstabbing with manicured nails.) But who are they reflecting, really? The image they have seen of themselves portrayed in that fine example of cinema verité, Gossip Girl? And where does that leave real teens, feeling that they have to live up to these caricatures that are supposedly modeled on them?
I happen to have a 15-year-old daughter who attends an Upper East Side private school (though not, thank God, one represented in this particular artistic outing). Whenever I watch Gossip Girl with her, I repeatedly offer up an unwanted Greek chorus along the lines of, You know you can’t really walk into a bar and order a cocktail, right? You know oral sex is sex, right? (Okay, yeah, I’m sounding old and cranky. But shouldn’t teens at least have to hide their drinking and carousing?) My daughter, of course, rolls her eyes and tells me to please be quiet while Serena is talking. Which I do, secretly hooked as much as I am repulsed.
In more serious moments, my daughter insists that she knows the show is fiction, and that she and her friends obviously don’t act this way. (What, no limo with a wet bar?)
And yet. Her most recent letter from camp included the plea, “Will you please record NYC Prep? Everyone is very excited about it.” My reply, You know you can’t walk into a bar and order a cocktail, right? You know oral sex is sex, right?
3 responses so far ↓
thebookresort // July 5, 2009 at 10:21 pm
LOL, Emily. You know it isn’t real, it’s all wicked entertainment. lol. You know some peple take it seriously & that’s where the problems start.
Nancy // September 5, 2009 at 3:30 am
Emily I have a nine year old girl and feel your pain. It begins with the Bratz dolls and continues on thru these crazy “reality” shows. We can only instill values and cross our fingers. Also, just finished Waiting to Surface and very much enjoyed it. I hope that you and your daughter continue to find happiness in each other and in your lives.
Apolo // October 9, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Hi I would like familiar to u