Ryan ChartrandWhy You Should Watch
by Rachelle Santucci
MTV reality shows: while they’re a guilty pleasure for many, I am a proud fan.
“The Hills” is one of my favorites and I honestly think that anyone who begins watching will agree that you get caught up in the lives of Lauren, Heidi, Spencer and the rest of the gang.
This show is on the same level as “The O.C.” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” No one watches them because of the amazing acting or artistic direction. They are just plain addicting.
When an episode ends with Spencer telling Heidi to get out of his car because she refuses to move in with him (you all know which one I’m talking about), you just have to watch next week to find out what happens.
Sadly, he surprised her by buying an apartment and then she decided to move in, but I don’t have time to get into what a terrible decision that was.
The thing that separates “The Hills” from all the other drama-filled shows out there is that these are real people.
They are playing themselves. They are going to real schools and working real jobs, just like us.
Who doesn’t want to live in Los Angeles, get into all the best clubs, drink before you’re 21 and intern at Teen Vogue?
In all honesty, “The Hills” is a fantasy for me. All my friends make fun of me because during one of the first episodes of season two, I sighed and said, “This is so life.”
OK, so maybe being a Cal Poly student who lives in a house that was probably built before my grandparents were born isn’t all that similar to living in the Hillside Villas and partying at Les Deux, but bear with me.
The drama they have, while very exaggerated, is stuff we’ve all gone through. Girls who ditch their friends for a new boyfriend, cheating, pregnancy scares, roommates, back-stabbing – we’ve seen it all.
When I sit down on Monday nights to see what Lauren is wearing and if Heidi did anything devastating, I am actually relating to them and wishing my life was a bit more exciting.
Is it really so bad to want to know about other people’s lives? If they’re willing to be followed around by cameras all day, then I’m willing to watch. No, there isn’t any educational value and there isn’t a moral you learn at the end of every episode, but it’s entertainment.
One problem I do have is that the characters are famous for absolutely no reason. Their parents are rich and live in Laguna Beach, so they get a TV show? That just doesn’t make sense. Lauren is a total celebrity now for doing what, dropping out of fashion school?
This girl has done nothing of real substance, but she is treated like a princess. She can get into any club she wants to, she was drinking at those clubs long before her 21st birthday, and she has an amazing internship without any experience.
The internship thing really gets me. Teen Vogue hired her and I’m sure it’s great publicity for the magazine, but she is not at all qualified. It’s kind of a joke now. There is even a contest to hire the next intern who will fill her position.
Even though it bugs me that the stars of “The Hills” are glorified, I watch it. Maybe you can’t respect that, but it’s entertaining.
I’m not going to try to tell anyone that this is quality television and your life will be forever changed after watching it. Not even close. But what I am saying is that there’s nothing wrong with spending half an hour every week indulging in some good old drama.
Why You Shouldn’t Watch
By Brian McMullen
“Laguna Beach,” a marvelous MTV program that documented the lives of the affluent youth of Southern California, garnered countless blank, thoughtless stares as it entertained the young with its tales of douchebaggery. Having not reached their stereotypical dumb-blonde quota, MTV gave us “The Hills,” which begs the question: Why can’t MTV make a show about women who read books?
I’ve always hated “The Hills,” but until recently I’ve never had a solid reason to because I refused to watch it. Realizing this, I sat down and wasted a few hours watching season two.
For those who don’t know what the show is about, and for that reason are better people than those who do, the show follows the “real life” of Lauren, a young woman who has a nice apartment, a Mercedes, meals at the finest Hollywood restaurants, a cushy internship with Teen Vogue, and all the other amenities that MTV can provide her.
Her friends are always backstabbing bitches, that is, until the inevitable plot twist where they replace her best friends and move in with her. Her boyfriends, as well as her friends’ boyfriends, are always “players.” Lauren’s best friend Heidi, for example, is dating a douchebag named Spencer who looks like a coked up Val Kilmer with Jim Carrey’s neck. He sports a fake-ass chain made of twine and beads with a plastic stamped Jesus piece and says stupid shit like “It’s like, life-changing Mexican food” and “We got beef in the streets.”
This dude is so stupid, he tried to pick a fight with one of Heidi’s co-workers who called him out for what he is: a tool.
Spencer’s fighting words were as follows: “Do you think you can call somebody a tool in L.A.?” “Do you have any idea what I’ma do to you homeboy?” And, of course, because he is from the streets and knows where the beef is; “I’ll see you in the club.”
The faith I have in humanity tells me that this guy is an actor hired to be an asshole for the sake of keeping the show interesting, but then again if he were an actor, he would still be an asshole for taking part in this show at all.
Spencer, along with the rest of the men on the show, is definitely the kind of guy you want to start a drunken bar fight with, especially if there is a pool cue handy to knock out some teeth. The women on the show, however, are mostly H-O-T. (Who cares if they’re dumb and say “like” 40 times an episode?)
If you are into women, I suggest watching the show on mute, lighting some candles, putting on some John Mayer, crappy romantic music would compliment the show nicely, and imagining you are the two-timing bastard who is hooking up with Lauren or Heidi (but not so much Audrina).
Everything that happens in this show makes me wish I could karate chop loveseats in half to properly vent my anger. And this, I believe, is why this show is so popular and why forcing myself to watch season two wasn’t as hard as I had thought it would be. There’s so much to hate, I found myself eager to feed my frustration, which in turn frustrated me more because I realized that I started to care about what happened on this crappy show. I’m addicted to loathing “The Hills,” and I’ll admit that makes me pathetic.
For people who understand that this show is a well-produced drama fronting as a reality show, it’s not about saying, “oh look how cute Lauren looks; she’s awesome. You go girl!” It’s more like “Heidi, you gullible bitch, you just saw that dude leave the club with that Playmate, why are you moving in with him?”
Even still, observant people shouldn’t get hooked on the show because they should be able to realize that the same thing always happens. Having realized that myself, here are my predictions for next season:
There will be only one person in a healthy relationship at a time.
When confronted with a life-changing decision, Lauren or Heidi will make the worst possible choice, especially if it’s near the end of the season.
Lauren will have a new car that will get lots of airtime so MTV can rake in cash on the endorsement.
Audrina will move out because she’s not hot or blonde enough to live with Lauren, and MTV doesn’t keep brunettes on the show very long.
Lauren will break up with her current boyfriend, get back together and then break up again.
Lastly, and this is a long shot, Spencer will get some girl other than Heidi pregnant and Heidi will agree to raise the baby as her own and then leave it in the car for a few hours while she’s shopping one day.