daniellegreenlow

I clearly remember the first time that MTV’s “reality” television show, Laguna Beach, premiered. It was back in 2004 when I was in the 10^th grade. As time progressed, Laguna Beach began to become a distant memory, and the main character of the show, Lauren Conrad, landed herself her own television show titled The Hills which debuted in spring of 2006.

When I began to watch The Hills, it was solemnly for the purpose of entertainment. I found it to be extremely entertaining and cool to watch, actually!  I mean, this show trailed along and filmed beautiful, rich, girls and guys around Los Angeles. Since not all of us have the luxury of huge mansions and Mercedes’, I always thought, who wouldn’t want to watch this show?! I can actually say now that even at the age of twenty-two, I still consider this hit show to be one of my favorites.

Whether it was the power to produce a new noun or modern fashion trend, MTV’s, The Hills, generated much more hype than just high ratings. Although this television series ended just a few years back, this cultural phenomenon, then, included about a dozen of Hollywood’s freshest tabloid celebrities. But one controversy will always be brought to light, and has almost every teenage girl saying: “The Hills was like, totally real life.”

Although there are many critics that question the “reality” standpoint of the show, it seems as if when the scenario becomes more bizarre, the more we love and believe it…

Let’s face it, each of us self-edit our own perspective of life, fall victim to the latest drama, and don’t like accepting the blame if we are the ones at fault. This leads us to the whole scenario of The Hills.

When a show like The Hills came along, its audience could recognize its closeness to real life and relate their own real life issues with which was presented on the show. Many of us can agree that we have been betrayed by a best friend or have a specific goal in life. As long as Lauren had Lo, her best friend, who would ever need someone like the conniving Heidi and Spencer making up rumors? Or who wouldn’t want a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how a fashion show runs?

When it comes to analyzing a television show like The Hills, genre criticism seems to be the way to go. According to Dr. Nichols’ PowerPoint on genre criticism, it “develops framework that serves to attract attention and satisfy expectations of the audience.”

Many viewers of The Hills, like I was myself, was drawn to my attention because of the drama, because of the insights into the world of fashion, and because of the pretty cars and fun night- clubs that the girls would go to. I guess you could say that the expectations of the audience was satisfied because if even for a half an hour, the audience was entertained and could, lets face it, live vicariously through the characters!

In genre criticism, there are three approaches in which the text (The Hills) can be analyzed. These three approaches are titled: Aesthetic, Ritual, and Ideological.

Out of these three approaches, I find the ideological approach to be the most interesting, insightful, and meaningful. Although the other approaches uphold much meaning to genre criticism and the idea of it, ideology is the main instrument or tool that views television as a source of power and control.

This means that, needless to say, we love watching bizarre scenarios and hearing about juicy gossip. Whether some of us believe the show is scripted, real, or somewhere in between, it is inevitable that The Hills falls into the category of being a reality television show but will always, unfortunately, be questioned of its relevance.

Steering off the topic of genre criticism…

I could not help but notice the dramatic differences of the appearance in the characters over the seasons of The Hills. This directed my attention immediately to semiotics.

For those of you who do not know what semiotics is, it can be defined as the “study of how social production of meaning is constructed through a system of signs.”

There are four different ways signs can be used in television shows, which are: advertising signs, material culture, activities and performances, and last but not least, music and sound.

I found that all four of these different signs could be found throughout the television show, The Hills…

When it came to advertising signs, the girls or guys of the show would drink Starbucks frequently. Not that the literal name Starbucks was anywhere to be found but the symbol was revealed on the cups. Also, one of the girls might be wearing a Chanel bag, have a Mercedes, or one of the guys may have been drinking a Corona. The name Corona may not have been publicly displayed but because of the way the shape of the bottle, the audience new what brand of beer this character was drinking. Although these advertising symbols were revealed and the name of the actual product was not, this also falls into a category of product placement but I will not steer off of the path of semiotics.

Material culture was made very apparent throughout the seasons of The Hills. It is obvious that in the first season, the girls were more natural looking. The more they were exposed to the media, the more their bodies began to transform. For those of you not aware about the point I am getting at…plastic surgery and body alterations!

As for activities and performances, to show off how wealthy the cast members were, they would show the girls or guys shopping at high end fashion boutiques or getting backstage at a well-known band’s concert, flying on a private jet to Las Vegas, or taking a random trip to relax in Costa Rica, etc.

Music and sound is actually a big part of The Hills that is kind of overlooked. Depending upon the scene, the music can either be dramatic, fun, or sad. This puts an emphasis on how the mood of the audience should be, as well to understand what the characters may be going through at that particular time.

Overall, MTV’s hit “reality” television show, The Hills, was viewed by the audience for entertainment purposes. But, when it came to analyzing, critiquing the genre, and the four different signs that are found within the semiotics of the show, there is a much deeper, complex meaning to it that most people will almost always overlook.

Ever since I can remember, I have always been fascinated by the media and it’s ever-changing, fast-paced, and exciting world. To be honest, I enjoy talking (a lot!) and I also love anything that is related to the media. With that being said, it is no wonder that I am a major in Communication Studies with a minor in Mass Communications. My name is Danielle Greenlow and I am a proud senior of Towson University.

All of our lives, we have heard of the word media and we have heard of the word criticism. When we bring them both together, we have one controversial topic. Or at least to me, and I am almost positive that a multitude of other individuals in our society can agree.

When I was younger, I always believed that criticism was something that was negative. But is it really?

As I have grown older and have been exposed to classes related to the media, I have come to realize that criticism is certainly not something that is meant to be negative if it is done the correct way. Although criticism seems to have a negative ring to it, we are expected to use it as a positive change and present it our society.

Media criticism is the main source of power that shapes popular culture and entertainment. 

Every single day, we are exposed to the different types of content that the media presents to our society. To be more specific, I am talking about television programs.

One network in particular that I can say is my absolute guilty pleasure would be the infamous MTV.

Something I can most certainly say on behalf of MTV is that for the past couple of years, MTV has definitely broadened it’s spectrum of reality television. One show in particular that really sky-rocketed with success was the reality sensation The Hills.

 Now, let’s think for a minute…

This show trailed along and filmed beautiful, rich, girls and guys around Los Angeles. Since not all of us have the luxury of huge mansions and Mercedes’, it was very entertaining to watch. However, when Kristin Cavallari took over Lauren Conrad’s place on The Hills ratings dropped dramatically.

But now there is a documentary-style show that debuted on MTV called Teen Mom. It follows around four teenage girls who are coping with their little realities. Teen Mom is anything but glamorous but it is very educational—and still entertaining. Teen Mom is a spinoff of the reality show 16 and Pregnant which followed the same girls, minus a few, from the time they were pregnant until they gave birth.

For anyone who has watched this show, MTV chose normal girls living in a not so normal situation. It gives us a glimpse into their lives and a true understanding of how harsh it really is. These girls certainly aren’t being filmed buying the latest fashion trends or working at Teen Vogue, but rather focusing on struggles with earning a college degree to having healthy relationships with their significant others and their children.

You cannot help but really feel attached to these people because MTV really hits hard for what type of reality these teenage girls are living in. These girls are from different types of backgrounds and live anywhere from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Council Bluffs, Iowa.

 This show helps viewers to gain a perspective of teen pregnancy and how to reconsider the way you look at your own life and how you can even take some things for granted. Not only is the show just about teen pregnancy, these stories also range from finding a steady job, a stable relationship with your boyfriend or girlfriend, or adoption.  

It is obvious that a show like The Hills was glamorous and fun to watch, but Teen Mom really has grasped the reality standpoint of how an actual reality show can be.

I can say that I personally enjoy watching Teen Mom for the purpose of entertainment but it really began to grow on me. However, although MTV really hit home with this television show, I also began to quickly realize just how much the media can turn the sole purpose of this show around.

I believe that MTV had the correct idea when it came to creating a television show like Teen Mom to find a rather creative way to discourage teen pregnancy. However, one day while I was watching another television program, it was announced that a numerous amount of females in high school were getting pregnant in hopes to land themselves a position on the show Teen Mom or 16 and Pregnant because they wanted to become “famous”. Something else that I discovered, were that the girls on Teen Mom were actually getting paid large amounts of money for the television show.

A few thoughts that popped into my head were that these four main girls (Maci, Farrah, Amber, and Catelynn) were supposed to be made into examples of. But now they were being transformed into celebrities and getting paid large amounts of money. Now, they are being rewarded for irresponsible behaviors. People who do decide to watch programs like Teen Mom really should take into consideration the difference between actual reality and reality television shows.

By taking this class, I hope to gain an in-depth analysis of the media, specifically television shows. I find it very important for everyone in our society to educate ourselves to be media literate. I hope that this class will help me to think even more critically and become more open-minded when it comes to television shows.

     The Albert S. Cook Library at Towson University will present the Pride and Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience photography exhibit from February 24 to April 8 in the main hall of the library on the third floor.

     Pride and Passion is a traveling exhibition that examines the challenges and successes of baseball’s Negro leagues.

     Sedonia Martin, the manager of public relations in the Arts and Culture Department of Towson University said, “There are extremely interesting artifacts and original documents that are set up on panels so that the students of our university can enrich their knowledge of the hardships and successes that these individuals went through.”

     There will also be photographs to accompany the artifacts and original documents that will be displayed.

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