In March 2006 MTV premiered a new reality series about the lives of a group of young Americans working and living in Los Angeles: “The Hills”
The protagonist is 20-year-old Lauren Conrad who was already known to the MTV audience through her former reality series “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County”.
The first episode of “The Hills” shows Lauren’s move to Los Angeles.
In the first scene of "The Hills" we see Lauren packing her suitcase and she explains via voice over that she is leaving the small town she grew up in behind because “it’s time for [her] to move on”.
“This is my chance to make it all happen in the one city, where they say dreams come true”, says Lauren, while the viewer is presented with a long shot of Los Angeles’ skyscrapers in golden sunlight and a shot of the famous Hollywood sign. Even though the name of the city is not mentioned, everybody watching knows now that Lauren is moving to Los Angeles.
During the title sequence with its upbeat theme song, Natasha Bedingfield’s "Unwritten", the viewer sees Lauren in her car passing the beach, followed by an overhead shot of a Los Angeles highway junction and finally arriving in the city, again signaled by the Hollywood sign.
The Hollywood Hills give the show its name which is written in shiny, sparkling letters over a night shot of Los Angeles at the end of the title sequence.
( Source: All screenshots by blog author)
“The Hills” was very successful in the US as well as other countries and continued for six seasons. The young adults portrayed became stars and kept a steady income with their book contracts, fashion lines and spin-off series.
The impression gathered by the title sequence, that “The Hills” shows a one sided view of Los Angeles, is confirmed throughout the rest of the series.
The focus of the show lies on Lauren and her three friends Heidi, Audrina and Whitney. In the title sequence a certain life style is presented. These four white, middle to upper middle class, twentysomething women are filmed while driving their BMW, being amazed by their beautiful apartment, working, shopping, lying at the pool, attending fashion shows and enjoying the night life.
Whitney Port, Lauren Conrad, Audrina Patridge and Heidi Montag (Source)
Considering MTV’s target audience from teens to twenty-year-olds nationwide as well as internationally, this is the picture of Los Angeles painted for them week after week. Conflicts happen only between the characters, the conflicts of the city like air pollution, traffic congestion and the divide between the extremely rich and the very poor are ignored.
Instead Los Angeles is presented as an attractive city with many opportunities for beautiful, well off young adults, full of glitz and glamour.
Instead Los Angeles is presented as an attractive city with many opportunities for beautiful, well off young adults, full of glitz and glamour.
No comments:
Post a Comment