Tuesday, February 8, 2011

MTV doesn't stand for Miserable Television Viewing?

Word association: MTV=trash.

This is my normal thought process, but it's not really accurate. It's difficult for me to say that I actually appreciate original MTV shows, but I do.
There are many, extremely mind numbing shows that I honestly can't watch for more than five minutes: Jersey Shore, The Hills, Room Raiders, and it's recently been announced that the channel is bringing back Beavis and Butthead... perfect. I especially can't understand the obsession with Jersey Shore. I can't watch these idiots get wasted and sleep with anyone they meet and not even care.
But just when I try to completely shut myself off from it, they come out with something really great. When I was younger, I loved coming home in the afternoons and watching TRL. Next, many years later, came the Alexa Chung Show. There are so many things I love about Alexa Chung, from her awesome, rough around the edges/girly fashion sense to her cheeky British humor. Her show was, sadly, cancelled and I didn't have any reason to watch MTV for a while after that.
A few years ago, my best friend nagged me forever to watch this show called the Buried Life. She was obsessed; she constantly posted clips and entire episodes on my Facebook wall but I ignored them because I figured it would be like the rest of the shows on MTv at the time- lame, annoying, gross and shallow. Eventually I cracked and watched an episode, and instantly loved it. It's a show about four guys who try to complete items on their bucket list each week and then helping a stranger check something off of their own list.
Earlier this year, MTV came out with World of Jenks, another show I was hesitant of. I thought the commercials looked kind of stupid, but once again, I was wrong. The first episode I watched had Jenks living with an autistic teenager for a week. It was interesting and even a little bit touching. In the following weeks Jenks lived the life of a homeless woman, a hometown football hero, and an MMA fighter preparing for a career defining match. I loved every episode, and Andrew Jenks is coming to campus this month and I'm so excited to listen and see what he has to say about his endeavors.
It's Tuesday, which means that when I get finished writing this post, my friends will gather at 10 to watch this weeks episode of Teen Mom 2. Yes, I'm not ashamed to admit that I have a slight obsession with Teen Mom. The episodes make us laugh, cringe, yell and almost every week you can count on all of us shedding a tear or two. We love Leah, Corey, Ali and Aleeah. So much. This show has caused all sorts of controversy, even getting comments from the oh-so credible TV critic Kim Kardashian. Studies have show that Teen Mom is helping to lower teen pregnancy rates, and I don't believe that it could be encouraging it any way. The show doesn't glamorize their lives; it shows honestly how much their lives can suck. People say that by giving these girls magazine covers and publicity, girls will want to be like them, but if they watch even one episode of the show they won't.
So as much as I wish I could say that I hate every aspect of MTV, I can't. Maybe eventually they will eliminate all of the crap shows, but that would eliminate most of their target audience so I don't really see that happening. But I can dream can't I?

1 comment:

  1. I agree with all of your observations. Ben is very anti-MTV and I'm pretty sure it will be banned for our kids, but I do think the shows you mentioned are actually worthwhile. And I hate when people say Teen Mom glamorizes pregnancy--how could you think that after seeing Amber and Gary? Their lives are HORRIBLE! Anyway, good post, keep them coming!

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