the afterpost

Ok, ok I promise my last mention of The Hills here, (at least until next season goes to air...). Why so much fuss about some vapid faux-reality show? Well quite simply, it's MTV's #1 show, ratings-wise, and as such gives it a potentially disproportionate share of influencing the psyche of young America (and by America I also mean Canada, of course).

It's also interesting because like its predecessor Laguna Beach, The Hils has courted controversy by claiming to be a reality show when clearly it contains way too many setups and complicated technical factors, never mind major plot holes and the like to ever even come close to approximating 'reality'. But who cares? The Hills succeeds in providing a sort of young adult fantasy life, with all the trimmings (beautiful clothes, condos, cars, and boys) and none of the pitfalls. Hell, even LA has been scrubbed clean in post-production and is startlingly smog-free.

All of this would be moot except for 1) the aforementioned ratings and 2) apparently massive turnout to the Canadian finale and aftershow. The show's influence is clearly making an impact. Is this a negative thing? Not necessarily, but one hopes MTV's glittery version of 'reality' doesn't lull us all into a Hills-ian overstated sense of self-worth.