From the Hills to our Humps

While it is finals time, it is also time for me to procrastinate in a HUGE way. I painted my nails last night. they're hot pink and awesome! And while I wrote my paper, I had the TV turned on to MTV (I couldn't find the remote- per usual- and it was the last channel the TV had been on when it was last on). The new season of "The Hills" just started. In the several hours that I sat at my desk writing my paper/watching tv/painting my nails, I watched enough vitriol, fake tans, bleached hair, and plastic surgery to make me so grateful for not being a UT (texas, thank you very much) sorority bitch. (thank heaven- and mom and dad- for that one.)

I don't watch MTV normally- the thought of Snooky makes me cringe, and music videos put me to sleep. It was quite an education in the state of interpersonal relationships in the US among young people. Really. Law and Order doesn't accomplish the same thing. I'd like to rant a little bit about it now:

1. HEIDI IS PLASTIC. Her mother CRIED. I was looking at Barbie. She said she WANTED TO BE BARBIE. She tried to verbalize how much pressure she was under by society and the media to look "perfect." She couldn't cry when her mother told her she'd gone too far. In a nutshell- what bothers me most about this moment that has been encapsulated on MTV is that our perfection-obsessed, porn-based, media-obsessed, photoshopping, OMG-SHE-ISN'T-WEARING-DOLCE-AND-MAKEUP-TO-GET-A-CUP-OF-COFFEE-AFTER-YOGA, society pushed this vulnerable woman into thinking she has to be BARBIE to have a career and to be a functioning member of society. This moment is a HUGE reality-check. Do we need to remove ourselves from what humans are supposed to look like genetically in order to be beautiful?

2. If our ideal of beauty remains the bust of Nefertiti- we need to remember that it's a statue, calculated to be geometrically perfect, NOT a person. The cast of the Hills NEVER ate. Over the course of three episodes, food never went in their mouths. They drank bottles of booze and wore their string bikinis, but never put some form of nutrition in their mouths. Way to promote healthy lifestyles. The preteen and teenage girls who watch this show- with an obsession almost as intense as their ridiculous love for vampires- are taking what they see to heart.

3. There was one part of an episode when Spencer was talking to one of the guys about how if he dates a girl for a certain amount of time, the engagement ring is expected, then the wedding happens, then he's whipped, then after a year and a half, there's an expectation of having babies. REALLY? This is how you view long-term relationships? This is how you think women think? This is the message you're sending to men? That we all want the same thing and you shouldn't think that a woman might just want to be in a relationship with you while the going's good? So let's just put this in context with current events: we have Tiger Woods, the Palin fiasco, hiking in Appalachia=fucking a stripper in Argentina, Sandra Bullock/Jesse James blow-up, and Twilight. NONE of these promotes a solid, mature male presence in a relationship. Men are being told left and right that being a womanizing, adulterous, controlling, abusive asshole is expected of them in our society. So, when Spencer tells his bros that being married is a giant hellhole, he's reinforcing this image.

4. Bitchy gossip. I admit, I sit and obnoxiously observe people all day long. It's fun. But when you are pissed that a girlfriend doesn't party with you for a night on a trip and then sleeps late and your response is to whisper to each other and come up with the fact that said girlfriend MUST be on drugs, that's crossing a line. I have no idea who these people are, but they are rounding out my Hills rant nicely. The amount of energy spent accusing this poor girl of being a druggie just because she has a life really took me over the edge- we've moved past the witch trials... really. The gossip they spread caused friction with her family, friends, and job. To damage someone that much because you're upset that she didn't choose to party with you is way out of line.

Massachusetts just passed an anti-bullying bill. Contrasting this measure with the actions taken by an insecure group of girls on the Hills places into focus how extensive and out-of-hand bullying has become. The schoolyard bully has become the college bully and the workplace bully and the boss who's a bully. It has pervaded every area of our lives and everyone has been damaged by it at some point in their life. We can't all be queen bees all the time- we need to learn to have a little Aretha-style respect and know that we can be kind and still get where we want to be in life. (Women in the workforce is a WHOLE other can of worms...)

So, in summation- The Hills was a little microcosm of contemporary culture of the United States. It simultaneously freaked me out and made me realize how pervasive negative visions of beauty, health, relationships, and friendship have become in the US and how much has to be done to restore a sense of balance in our society. We can celebrate our humps but we need to remember that people have the right to celebrate theirs- from AA to DD and size 0 to whatever.

OOOOOHHHHH FUNNY and so relevant: http://perezhilton.com/2010-04-28-the-little-hills

Love,

texas