All my life I have watched TV and only recently have I FINALLY reached my boiling point when it comes to female characters on TV. Now I don't mind Bones or Carmela or Cuddy or even Betty Draper. No, these characters are all fine. My problem is with teenaged female characters. I wonder if television writers are all guys that were dorks in high school and were never given the time of day by the female species so they are exacting revenge OR if the writers are women that were shunned by the popular kids growing up and again are exacting revenge.
Whatever the reason is I have had it up to HERE!!!(Pointing over my head as I type) with these bitchy teen girl characters. WHAT IS IT? Your life stinks SO bad? I mean, you have guys falling over you or your parents are rich and give you everything you want? You have incredible freedoms and great parents and THAT makes you want to be a little jerk? COME ON! Let's take a look at several fictional characters from some recent TV that I have been watching. (DVDs and Netflix have helped me out here)
Jen Lindley from Dawson's Creek (Note: I have only made it through season 5, episode 6 of DC). I don't understand this girl at ALL. OH, I saw my dad having sex with a willing 18 year old girl one time when I was 12. So THAT makes you want to "get back at him" by drinking and having a bunch of sex before you even BECOME a teenager? How is that getting back at him? Then afer you go on whoring around New York, you get sent to Capeside to live with Grams and you are a little twit to her too. What did she do to you besides letting you live in her house? Also, you play Dawson by pretending to offer sex then jerking it away. That's mean. Speaking of mean, way to treat Henry like your play thing. Oh I have a younger guy that worships me. That's nice. I will MAYBE give him the time of day when I need an ego boost. And after you DON'T want to go to college because you have PMS, you get ANGRY when your Grams and your best friend submit college apps for you so you don't end up working the Capeside corner (which might be what you are good at, PS). Nice Jen. Oh and hey, who would have thought that a guy you met at a frat party and had sex with the next day without learning his last name would go on to hook up with another girl. Hmmmm. Never woulda thought that. And apparently people DON'T have classes at Boston Bay college, because Jen CLEARLY spent a majority of her first week in Charlie's room. Unless that is where her anatomy class was being held... Just saying. Jen, get a grip. Verdict: Your dad was rich and gave you everything, but you saw him having sex with a willing adult and you decided to become a little twit. Way to go!
Joey Potter (Dawson's Creek) Now I should feel sorry for Joey, her mom died and she is poor, BUT you were a real loser in high school. You were CLEARLY hot, but you hid with Dawson and Co. (at any REAL high school, she would have been the Prom Queen. Just saying. Chick was a hottie) Your bad attitude maybe is what was holding you back. you were just mean and nasty to everyone, why? Because your mom died? A LOT of moms die. Sorry, but it is true. Your dad was in jail? OK, BUT deal and move on. Quit being bitter. You have a sister that, while she got knocked up, is STILL RAISING you too. And you have to get all negative to her too? Come on Joey. And after you FINALLY GET Dawson, you immediately break up with him after starting fights with him. I guess the chase was better than the catch there? But it's OK because you starting dating a gay dude. Then you get ANGRY at Dawson for making a movie about your relationship. Ummmm YOU BROKE UP WITH HIM AND INSPIRED IT! So you finally decide to go live on a boat with Pacey (after kissing him but then breaking his heart by choosing Dawson's friendship over one with Pacey. Nice. Dawson was such a tool at that point-wait, he still is). So then after you FINALLY DO go hook up with Pacey, you then cause problems with Pacey, WHY? Because you are still hung up on Dawson. But WHY? You will just cause problems for him if you guys DO start to date again. Then your relationship with Pacey isn't even cold yet and you make out with DC again in his room? Tell him NOT to leave for LA to pursue his dream? I don't get you. You want everything, but then once you get it, you push it away. I HATE YOU! Get a grip Joey VERDICT: I had freedom and always got what I wanted but then I pushed it away for no reason, just so I could "want" it again.
Julie Taylor (Friday Night Lights). So you HATED Dillon when you first got there, even though your parents were maybe THE COOLEST parents this side of Sandy and Kirstin Cohen. Then all of a sudden you started dating the QB and you tried to turn him against your Dad. WHAT IS THAT? And after you hang out with a VERY troubled girl in Tyra (serious issues, but I won't get into those) you decide to tell your parents off about curfews and freedoms. Sorry Julie, they just don't want you ending up working at Applebee's, sleeping with out-of-town businessmen customers or "dancing" like Tyra's sister. Oh, worst parents ever. Also, after your dad gets his dream job, and despite the fact you are STILL A FLIPPIN' SOPHOMORE, you throw a hissy fit and make you mom stay in Dillon and eventually make your dad quit his dream job to come home....and find that you have LEFT your perfect boyfriend for some 21 year old professional rec-pool lifeguard/horrible bandmember. Seriously Julie, then you challenge your mom's authority about curfews again by staying out HOW late with a dude that drives a freaking WHITE VAN?!?!?! It doesn't have windows! How did he lure you in? Candy? Oh, but then you go off and nearly fall for a teacher. Good work Julie. And way to throw Tim Riggins under the bus with making Coach think he was hooking up with you. Good work Jules. GET A GRIP JULIE! Verdict: I guess when you are treated as a young adult by amazing parents, kids can just become sh!theads for NO apparent reason. Maybe Tammy needed to slap Julie around a little more. ANd please don't play the whole DADDY LEFT US FOR A JOB CARD! Help around the house and with the baby, you know, YOUR SISTER!
Meadow Soprano (Sopranos, NOTE: I have only watched through Season 4 episode 3). I have a perfect high school life (I'm smart, into lots of extra curricular activities, going to get into a great school) and I don't worry about money because my parents live in an amazing house with large amounts of money. Just DON'T ask questions. Just don't meadow! But then you get into taking Speed. Nice work. And after you get IN to college and your parents have noted that they will pay for it all, you go out and LOOK for a guy that you know will piss you parents off. WHY? Because you don't like your father? Give me a break. Even after you started having problems with Noah, you STILL kept it up BECAUSE YOU KNEW it pissed your parents off. Good work there Mead. Oh and you then KNOWINGLY start a relationship with a drug dealer. Good thinkin' Lincoln. Jacky Junior dealt drugs and you knew that. He wanted to be your dad. You have a problem with you dad though I thought? No? OK. Nevermind. Then after Jacky dies, you use it as an excuse just like you did with Noah for not wanting to do anything. How about you appreciate the opportunity you have (COLUMBIA!?!) and get an education and get a great life? MAYBE? And now you want to take a year off to travel to Europe? Who is going to pay for that? Yourself on an Amsterdam corner? Probably. Quit using your boyfriends as excuses for your own shortcomings. I thought girls were into girl power and stuff. No? MEADOW, GET A GRIP! Verdict: She has had EVERYTHING she has ever wanted (including a car, which she turned down), but apparently she was never given "herself" which she thinks she can find in Europe? How about you find it at Columbia?
Marissa Cooper (The OC). She might be THE most frustrating of ALL of these characters. When we met Marissa, she was the IT girl in Newport. But I guess her perfect life really wasn't. But it could have been. Why did you feel the need to drink your @$$ off every chance you got? You were THAT damaged? Change your boyfriend, which you did. But then you go out and shoplift to make a statement? Cry for help? You ditch the only guy that cared for you in Ryan (he believed in you through all of your family problems, etc, but you didn't have his back) then when he tries to come back, OOPS, you've started a drinking problem for yourself and you are dating the yard guy. THEN you have the audacity to turn lezbinen just for kicks (and you break Alex's heart. That was mean Marissa) Oh let's not forget how you shot Ryan's brother then left Ryan for a loser surfer. You LED HIM ON TOO! Led him straight to his death! And way to leave Ryan FOR the memory of the dead guy and his rival surf competitor. Nice work there. Way to skip all that school (how did you even pass your two junior years and even get into Cal-Berkley with all those classes you skipped?) to have sex in a grungy dungeon apartment with Volchek. Not saying you deserved to die Marissa, but maybe karma was getting back at you for being such a d-bag for the first three seasons. Wasting everything that was given to you. GET A GRIP, WAIT, YOU ARE DEAD. Verdict: Poor little rich girl, had a boyfriend serving as protector, but you couldn't wait to get rid of him to see what else was out there. Turns out, a gardener, a lezbinen, a dead surfer and a manslaughtering surfer. Good work!
I am sure there are good teenage girl TV characters, but I just can't recall any at this time. Even LC on the Hills is pissing me off. (I know she isn't a teen anymore, but she bothers me too. YOU ARE MAD AT HEIDI FOR DOING WHAT YOU DID IN SEASON ONE!)
I would say that Summer Roberts was cool, but then she left Brown and Seth for G.E.O.R.G.E. and Che during season 4. Taylor Townsend. THERE is your ONLY redeeming teen girl on TV of late. Yep. That's it. Taylor.
Too bad. She is fighting the good fight, but for every Taylor, there is an Andie McPhee to bring her down. Oh well.
No comments:
Post a Comment