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Fall TV Faux Pas
"The shows manage to maintain their drama and entertain viewers, but I’m worried about what happens after we turn off the TV. "
By Caitlin Grey, 16
September 30, 2007
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The Fall TV season is officially in full swing. Youth Radio’s Caitlin Grey is an avid TV viewer and has noticed a disturbing trend in shows geared toward young women.
It’s fall TV premiere week, and shows about the world of fashion like Ugly Betty, and The Hills are all at the top of my friends’ Tivo lists. But I prefer shows that don’t worship makeup and models.
TV programs targeting girls, along with successful movies like The Devil Wears Prada, and Thirteen Going on 30 have all depicted bright, driven young women pursuing their dreams. And those dreams don’t seem to require any skill beyond fetching bagels for their bosses and color coordinating racks of clothing. The shows manage to maintain their drama and entertain viewers, but I’m worried about what happens after we turn off the TV.
These shows revolve around superficiality and validate beauty as a top priority for young girls everywhere. We’re living in a troubled time. While global warming unravels ecosystems, genocides wipe out entire countries, and our nation wages war, it seems like our role models should be scientists, peace activists, and journalists, not fashionistas and their secretaries.
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