I've heard the term "MTV Generation" several times when adults look at my age group, but I never really thought about it. I made the connection that MTV plays music videos (or at least, they used to. Not sure what's happened lately). I thought the comment was directed at a new generation liking different music. There's nothing wrong with that. Every generation gets a new music style it seems, so it's pretty normal for the teens now to have different music preferences.
But, now that I live in a dorm with two roommates who watch MTV, I see the insult in the comment "We are the MTV Generation".
After watching this channel (mostly unwillingly, I will add) for some time now, I'm just disgusted. For those of you who were just as clueless about MTV as I was, I'll give you a taste of it's show lineup. I'll be looking at the shows "Sweet 16" and "A Shot at Love".
Sweet 16:
"Sweet 16" is a show that revolves around one concept: Showing the glamorous Sweet 16 parties of the rich girls (and guys, I guess. Haven't seen many of them). The episode on last night really annoyed me. This girl had a pre-party that resembled the concert to a popular band. A huge stage, over a hundred people, lights, and entertainment. This was a PRE-PARTY! She just wanted to get her friends excited about the real party that was coming up. The girl also went with her mom to a car dealership to scope out the new cars and determine what she wanted for her birthday present. She asked the price of a car and the salesman responded "Ah, that 150,000." The girls' answer: "That's not so bad!"
Ugh. Maybe it's just jealousy that makes me annoyed with this girl and this show. My family is not well-enough-off to afford such a bash. My Sweet 16....was not a Sweet 16 by any proportion. I took a couple friends to the now-closed Hamlin Fun Center where we played in the arcade and laser tag. I didn't have a graduation party because we couldn't afford one. I had two friends over and we watched some fireworks. When I turned 16 two years ago, I did not have any selfish desire for a new car. All I wanted to get--eventually--was a used car. I just got a car two weeks ago. Yeah, maybe it's jealousy, but I doubt I could ever see eye-to-eye with that girl in "Sweet 16"
A Shot at Love:
When the commercial teaser for this show aired, I laughed out loud and said "They're serious?!" I got some weird looks from the roommates, but oh well. I feel my reaction was justified. "A Shot at Love" is about a woman name Tila. She's bisexual and she's lookin' for love. A group of guys and a group of girls are competing for her affection with odd games/contests and private moments with Tila. Not that I'm bashing anyone of another sexual orientation, but I see this show as leeching off of the social nonadhering concept of being gay. [I've sat here for 10 minutes to think of the correct wording, and it didn't come to me] What I'm trying to say is that people enjoy seeing things that are socially unacceptable. Since society STILL is being medieval about the whole "Gay" idea, people find the subject more interesting than it should be.
MTV is proving itself to pander to a specific audience, and as a TV channel you can expect nothing else. What I'm concerned with is the genre of people they are focused on. Who enjoys watching shows with selfish and ignorant people? Who enjoys these half-baked reality shows? I know I don't, so that makes me biased on the subject.
When "The Simple Life" (the show with Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie on a farm or something) came out, I tried watching an episode. I don't know why. After that I couldn't bear to watch anymore. Paris and Nicole were horrible people. They used a farmer to buy them stupid stuff (even though they're rich and he's poor) and they seem to cause destruction whereever they go. One time when Nicole got drunk at a bar, she caused hundreds of dollars in damage to a pool table and other parts of the bar.
I still can't see the good points of these shows, so someone will have to enlighten me. What's the point of watching this garbage? Is it because it's funny to see people make fools of themselves?
Or is it that teenagers today are lower on the food chain and enjoy brainless entertainment?
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I am so grateful someone else agrees with me. I am also embarassed for our generation, and the self-indulgence we have come to be associated with.
TV isn't the truth; it's an exaggeration of the culture that it attempts to recreate. Narcissism is what caused reality TV, in that people desire to relate to the show by seeing their "own lives" in the characters or people they are watching. It's pathetic and funny at the same time.
These shows, however, are just the entertainment reflection of what people want, and you can't really blame MTV for giving people what they want. It's merely a sign of the times, and taking them seriously is like saying that because I heard Ann Coulter say all Muslims are evil it must be true, because I saw it on TV.
I didn't mean to say that everything you see on TV is true, because clearly things are embellished and swayed by opinion. I believe I mentioned that MTV is focused on a specific audience. It isn't ALL teens, but a certain percentage.
Oh no, I never meant to imply that you believed this. But many people from our generation do, and try to emulate what they see on TV as "reality" or the way their lives should be lived. And I'm not just referring to teens; this extends into the mid-20's as well. It's extremely depressing.
It sure is. Maybe that's why I despise the unreality of reality shows and these popular teen shows. Have you seen The Hills? Ugh. I have.
You know how anthropology and archaeology are just studies of "garbage" from past civilizations?
It's scary to think that one day our "garbage" that people will be digging up will be dildos, teen magazines, and maybe even photos and shows like "The Simple Life" and "The Hills."
I wonder what they will infer about us?
It makes me think of an article I read in high school: http://www.msu.edu/~jdowell/miner.html#anchor878559 called The Nacirema.
Read that, and PM me if you get it. Or even if you don't, and I'll explain. If you don't care, ignore it. Most of you have probably already read it anyway.
It's kind of weird to think that someone will be assuming how we lived based on the "artifacts" they find from us. I wonder what they'll think?
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this is war. every line is about who i don't wanna write about anymore. [Brand New]
http://progressiveu.org/143541-how-to-survive-the-2008-elections
I agree that so much of what`s on is very low brow. The only redeeming aspect I can see on Tila`s show is that it kinds of exemplifies the world as it should be in the sense that race and sex don`t matter and people can date and fall in love with someone based on something more deep and meaningful. But then it throws that all out the window by being extremely superficial in terms of how they act and what seems to matter to them.
I`ve watched some of Tila. The `Southern gentleman` went totally nuts when she sent him out, yelling and threatening other contestants and even assaulting one, and the black girl she sent away was sobbing inconsolably that ``Tila was my first love.``
But you know, they seem to be basing this `love` on things like whose tongue tastes best and who looks good in a bikini.
My Sweet 16 is just annoying, spoiled princesses.
I read today that Tila`s little Italian guy Dominico (who rubbed his balls on a girl`s face during Truth or Dare} is going to be the next to be the center of a new show with competing bachelorettes, but his show will be called That`s Amore. I think it might be like the sequel to Tila, but he`s straight so it ill be all girls.
I do worry a little bit about the influence of the level of discussion that happens on these shows. I`d like to think that kids who watch them will recognize that screaming demands like a spoiled princess isn`t the way to get want you want in life, and that finding lasting love is more involved than comparing different girls` breasts and flavors of lip gloss.
I think Maury and Springer are far worse though. I don`t watch them, but any time I`m channel surfing, there`s someone screaming something like, ``I had sex with your grandma and all four of her sisters while you were at work!``
I would just like to think that little kids realize that these people are not sane!
All you literate people aren't watching enough TV to be a factor in ratings.
Get a TiVo, and only watch what's worth your time.
I've watched the "Simple Life" and I thought it was funny how Paris and Nicole made fools of themselves.
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