Links
Football, video games, math, food, other stuff.
Monday, October 29, 2007
My name is Geoff...
And I can't stop watching the damn O.C. It started out so innocently - looking for something to watch while I was cooking from 5-6 - and now I eagerly tune in every evening to find out what happens next. Where did it all go wrong?
Actually, in all seriousness, I'm starting to think it's a pretty good show. What initially attracted me to the show was an interesting premise - a family adopting a troubled teenager. This is actually a remarkable act of generosity, if one thinks about it. To adopt, at the age of 17 (or thereabouts) someone who has just broken the law, to make him part of your family, is quite something to do. The entire situation, however, is handled, well, truthfully. The wife takes a long time to accept Ryan, and still at times shows that she doesn't wholly accept him. The grandfather never accepts him, and is always convinced he is merely out to steal the family's money. The son accepts him - but initially only because he is lonely. The boys bond over videogames (something that is seen throughout the show).
Ryan himself is only looking for a family, and acceptance - but has a whole lot of rage and anger that often comes out. He changes, as the show goes in, but never completely, from his troubled early days. His relationship with Marissa is a wonderfully tragic romance - they would work if they didn't have so many other problems. Of course, their problems are part of what attracts them to one another.
I suppose, the more I think about it, the more I realize that the show is actual drama, as opposed to melodrama. That is, the characters are the cause of their own downfalls, as opposed to exterior forces over which they have no control. There are numerous examples of this - the situation between Ryan and his brother, Kirsten's alcoholism, Summer and Seth's relationship, Sandy's marital problems. The situations all feel real because it was the characters themselves that made them.
Of course, it's not all good. There are far too many "comedic" scenes which fall flat, the actor who plays Ryan is terrible, Julie Cooper can be horribly annoying. But on the whole, the more I think about the show, the more I do realize it's actually pretty good - and maybe that's why I can't wait to see the fallout from the end of season two tomorrow night.
And I can't stop watching the damn O.C. It started out so innocently - looking for something to watch while I was cooking from 5-6 - and now I eagerly tune in every evening to find out what happens next. Where did it all go wrong?
Actually, in all seriousness, I'm starting to think it's a pretty good show. What initially attracted me to the show was an interesting premise - a family adopting a troubled teenager. This is actually a remarkable act of generosity, if one thinks about it. To adopt, at the age of 17 (or thereabouts) someone who has just broken the law, to make him part of your family, is quite something to do. The entire situation, however, is handled, well, truthfully. The wife takes a long time to accept Ryan, and still at times shows that she doesn't wholly accept him. The grandfather never accepts him, and is always convinced he is merely out to steal the family's money. The son accepts him - but initially only because he is lonely. The boys bond over videogames (something that is seen throughout the show).
Ryan himself is only looking for a family, and acceptance - but has a whole lot of rage and anger that often comes out. He changes, as the show goes in, but never completely, from his troubled early days. His relationship with Marissa is a wonderfully tragic romance - they would work if they didn't have so many other problems. Of course, their problems are part of what attracts them to one another.
I suppose, the more I think about it, the more I realize that the show is actual drama, as opposed to melodrama. That is, the characters are the cause of their own downfalls, as opposed to exterior forces over which they have no control. There are numerous examples of this - the situation between Ryan and his brother, Kirsten's alcoholism, Summer and Seth's relationship, Sandy's marital problems. The situations all feel real because it was the characters themselves that made them.
Of course, it's not all good. There are far too many "comedic" scenes which fall flat, the actor who plays Ryan is terrible, Julie Cooper can be horribly annoying. But on the whole, the more I think about the show, the more I do realize it's actually pretty good - and maybe that's why I can't wait to see the fallout from the end of season two tomorrow night.
Comments:
heehee! Well, you've converted me from thinking the OC is just a terrible teen soap opera to perhaps something worthy of the fanatic following it got. Also, I'm intensely pleased that you too (like other mortals, not like Tolstoy-reading-PhD-studying-math genius deities) enjoy 'low-brow' tv now and then. Happy watching!
Post a Comment
<< Home
Post a Comment
<< Home
