BP6: R&R: The Hills

The one show that I could not get enough of when I was in high school was The Hills. It was the “reality” of this show that made it seem like it was possible for any girl to follow in the footsteps of Lauren Conrad. What I failed to realize as an easily influenced teenage girl was the fact that Lauren was on reality TV and she was wealthy. The Hills made it seem like everyone in Southern California was living the life of luxury. Lauren drove a BMW, had a dream internship at Teen Vogue, went to the beach on a daily basis and had a gorgeous two bedroom apartment with her best friend. When in reality, the apartment cost over $2000 a month; a price that few, if any, college freshman could afford.

Yes, there were some real aspects to the show such as fights with your best friend, getting over your first love, and the feat of juggling school and an internship. The show made Lauren relatable with these very real aspects of a college student’s life. It made a young teenage girl believe that when she went to college, she could be just like Lauren.

One thing that needs to be understood is that a very small percentage of young college girls can afford and do what Lauren Conrad was able to do. Girls need to realize they won’t intern at Teen Vogue and they probably won’t drive a BMW. On a positive side, the show makes you want to strive for your dreams and that is something that everyone is able to do.

After religiously following this show through all six of its seasons, I would say it is very easy to be swayed into thinking that the show is real life and that it is attainable. It’s especially easy when you see a young girl around your age doing it with ease. The privileged life is hard to come by and just because one teenage girl is shown living the life on TV does not mean that every girl is living this same life; actually, quite the opposite.

When young girls are exposed to this show season after season they begin to lose the overall concept of what reality TV really is. What girls forget to realize is the fact that the majority of reality TV is staged. The cast is told beforehand where to go due to certain people being in the same place at that time, what topics to talk about to cause drama and what clothing to wear to appear wealthy. This ultimately has a negative effect on young girls. Teenage girls aspire to be what they see on TV. When I was 16 years old I wanted to be just like Lauren Conrad. I wanted her Seven for All Mankind jeans and I longed to have a beachfront mansion. What girls don’t realize is the feeling of negative self worth that ultimately comes from not being able to live the lives they see on TV. Asking your mother or father for a $1,000 hotel party when you’re a senior in high school is not a realistic concept. When teenage girls begin to realize this, they start to feel like they are not accepted and they are worthless because they cannot live up to what they believe is normal teenage behavior.

These shows are ultimately giving young girls a false image of what a teenage girls’ life is really like. This can lead to self esteem issues as well as the feeling of not being socially accepted by their peers. Reality shows need to begin to portray “reality” as it appears in the daily life of teenagers to avoid glorifying the lives of the rich and the famous.