Midterm Media Report: Laguna Beach

(Pictures from scenes in the episode found at http://lagunahills.tumblr.com/post/1308946302 -- LC: 3rd down, right side; Kristin: 4th down, left side; Trey: 4th down, right side; Kristin and Stephen: bottom, left side)
Laguna Beach Season 1 Episode 7: The Last Dance

            Laguna Beach, a reality TV show that aired on MTV from 2004 to 2006, embodies many aspects of our society that Douglas has a problem with.  One episode in particular came to mind as I was considering all that Douglas stands for and against: “The Last Dance”.  The series follows Lauren Conrad (LC), a white privileged high school student from Laguna Beach, California, and her friends.  It follows them from store to store shopping for $300 shoes, buying new cars, and getting involved in many, many fights.  The episode begins by showing the girls shopping and discussing how they are nervous they might not get asked to Prom.  It continues on to show all of them getting asked in elaborate ways and getting ready for the Prom.  Mixed in with clips of the boys and girls getting ready for the dance are clips of LC and Kristin discussing why they do not like each other.  As a self-proclaimed reality TV junkie, I will be the first to admit I had not thought about many of the issues Susan Douglas discusses.  When looking at Laguna Beach through the eyes of Susan Douglas, however, it is easy to see the many problems in our society that need to be changed.  However, that is easier said than done and many of the issues do not have a “quick fix”.

            In the episode a lot of focus is given to the friends getting ready for the dance.  In one shot viewers see Kristin about to leave the house to meet her friends for pictures.  She asks her dad if she looks good.  He, jokingly, responds, “Yeah, you look great.  Heavy on the makeup, light on the dress.”  Obviously as a father he does not want to see his seventeen-year-old daughter dressing like this, but I would guess at this point in her life he realizes he can do nothing else about it.  Douglas discusses in her “Sex ‘R’ Us” chapter how we have gotten to this place: “In exchange for this freedom [the elimination of the double standard]—indeed, because of this freedom—young women were supposed to dress like call girls and had to start learning how to do this at an even younger age” (156).  Over the years women have transformed the newfound freedom to act and dress however they please into a way to constantly garner the attention of the opposite sex and this is apparent in the entire cast of girl’s choice of Prom dresses.  Even something as traditional and highly regarded as Prom has turned into an opportunity to overtly display sex appeal.  Something needs to be changed before we start seeing barely there First Communion dresses.

            The issues exposed in this episode, however, go beyond the noticeable switch to overly sexual clothing.  While picking up another group of girls to go meet the boys at pictures Lo finds out that Morgan has a dress in the same pattern as hers.  She laments by saying, “Dude.  Morgan like has my dress…same pattern.  She’s a…whore.”  While I do agree that it would be upsetting to find out one of your friends had the same dress pattern as you, I do not think there is a plausible explanation for calling Morgan a whore because of it.  I have heard repeatedly from different people during my life that by calling other girls whores, sluts, etc. it only opens the door to make it more acceptable for the boys to call us this as well.  Douglas echoes this same sentiment: “Girls have learned to be ‘enforcers of their own oppression,’ calling each other sluts and whores, imposing even more ridiculous rules on themselves” (237).  When Lo calls Morgan a whore for having the same dress pattern she is only continuing this oppression.  While Lo does not realize it, she is, according to Douglas, ultimately oppressing herself as well.  This vicious cycle needs to be stopped.

The one clip the producers chose to put in the episode of the boys getting ready is also very problematic.  Much of the second half of the episode is focused on the couple of days before Prom and all that the girls need to do to get ready.  There is a clip I would say is no longer than thirty seconds of the boys casually putting on their suits.  Virtually the only dialogue in this clip is Trey saying, “It’s so funny…every single one of us is going to get laid tonight.”  His comment is followed only by a few small laughs acknowledging this supposed “fact” from the other boys—and not all of them went with girlfriends!  While this may be seen as normal for today’s society, this tone has not always been accepted.  In fact, this tone should still not be accepted.  Douglas notes on page 165 when discussing Maxim that “the irreverent, frat boy, ‘harmless fun’ tone insists that men are slaves to their gonads and live to ogle women in string bikinis not because they’re sexist but because they can’t help themselves since women…have all the power anyway.”  In the case of the Laguna Beach episode, the boys are not necessarily ogling their Prom dates in string bikinis, but many of the same concepts can be applied.  The matter of fact tone that Trey makes his comment with, especially for a senior in high school, is shocking.  As viewers we are all supposed to assume that this comment is not meant as degrading to their Prom dates because we know that girls are equal partners and have an equal say in it.  We are supposed to assume that the jokes and degrading comments made about women and girls are okay because we can play it off as just that—jokes.  However, these jokes still are very degrading to the female sex.  Trey’s comment is not meant as a joke, but can be interpreted in much the same way.  He is, arguably, playing off the historical submissiveness of women to assume that his Prom date will put out at the end of the night.  If our society were really as advanced and equal as we claim it to be, these comments need to no longer be made.

            Another issue the entire Laguna Beach series touches on frequently is one that Douglas discusses in her “Lean and Mean” chapter.  While other episodes do touch on leanness, this episode shows the meanness.  The constant fighting between LC and Kristin over Stephen is a recurring topic in almost every episode.  When one of her friends asks Kristin why she doesn’t like LC she responds, “I just think she’s kind of a little brat.  I’ve never liked her, but then when her and Stephen were hooking up at the beginning of the year made me not like her even more.  And the fact that she’s completely fake, she can’t carry on a conversation, and the only time you hear her talking is flirting with guys.”  (There are many harsher comments in other episodes but for the sake of clarity I wanted to stick with this one episode.)  Douglas chimes in on page 238 with what I believe is an almost perfect explanation of this situation: “…take an image of a really rich, size zero princess…whose parents indulge her every whim and to whom money is no object, who is vindictive, petty, and superficial, who doesn’t deserve and shouldn’t have the wealth that she does, and who channels all her energy into ruining the life of some other equally wealthy, shallow girl.”  This describes the situation between Kristin and LC, as portrayed by the MTV producers, impeccably.  Kristin often flaunted her relationship with Stephen in front of LC, spread sex tape rumors about her, etc. all because LC had a fling with Stephen.  Douglas sheds new light on other media sources that also portray the girl vs. girl fighting and it is something we as a society need to seriously consider.  By portraying it in the media so often we are seemingly making it okay for younger and younger girls to do and is that a road we really want kids in junior high (and younger) going down?

            Susan Douglas’ view of our society and her thoughts on enlightened sexism ultimately help us see how we as viewers are perpetuating all the issues that are presented in most, if not all, reality TV shows simply by watching them.  The true problem, I believe after looking at this episode of Laguna Beach more closely, is how easily we can find examples of all that is wrong with what our society has become in fictional TV shows and movies.  If it is wrong and we know that it is wrong, why are we continuing to show it on TV and in movies for our youngest, most influential generation to emulate?

Works Cited:

Douglas, Susan. Enlightened Sexism. 1st ed. New York, NY: Times Books, 2010. Print.

"The Last Dance." Laguna Beach. MTV: 09 Oct 2004. Television. 21 Mar 2011. <http://www.mtv.com/videos/laguna-beach-season-1-episode-7/1554715/playlist.jhtml>.