The [Y]ear in Pop Culture

I really enjoyed the year-end recaps from Anastasia, Karell, and Chet. Since they've done a great job with technology, online and music trends, for my year-end post I'm going to focus on some of the pop culture trends that have attracted my attention this year.

Celeb Watching Goes Even More Mainstream

This year I became more obsessed with celebrity gossip than ever before and it has become more readily available and mainstream, with links to random celeb tidbits on Yahoo's homepage, in daily newspapers, via mobile phone alerts, and through the growing collection of celeb-watching blogs like PinkIsTheNewBlog. As was mentioned at one of the teen conferences I attended this year, celeb rags like Us Magazine are even becoming the latest teen magazine staples.

Newsletter readers: Visit Ypulse.com for the rest!

Engagements and Breakups as Latest PR Ploy

This year was over-the-top in terms of young celebrities (and celeb wannabes) utilizing marriage as a press release ploy. "America's Next Top Model" Adrienne Curry even got a TV show out of her attraction and subsequent engagement to the aging Peter Brady. And, guess what, Season 2 will focus on the wedding. "Newlyweds" (well…3 years ago) Jessica and Nick got tons of press about their failing marriage and rumored split. Other celebrities like Tom and Katie and Paris and Paris announced engagements after mere months of dating. One of the most egregious examples was the engagement of no-namer Talan from the reality show "Laguna Beach" to Rod Stewart's daughter Kimberly. The engagement was so brief that by the time it was in print in my copy of Entertainment Weekly, the relationship had already ended via a press release hyping Talan's imminent music career. I think that the general public is getting increasingly suspicious of these engagement announcements, so I will be curious to see if this trend tapers off in 2006.

Related posts:

Kimberlyand Talan Engaged
Talan and Kimberly un-engaged
Teen People Poll on Who Will Stay Together
Nicole and DJ AM in Bongo Ads
Malcolm Engaged
Avril Engaged

After 16 Seasons MTV's "Real World" Becomes Parody of Itself

I've been a fan of "The Real World" since the first season, when it was more of a social experiment that utilized young NYC artist types (dancer, model, folk singer, rock musician, poet, rapper, and gay painter)living together and opening the eyes of the "fish out of water" roommate from a small town in middle America.

At its best "The Real World" offered glimpses into hot topics of the day and provided a forum for showcasing how very different types of young people can learn from each other and become more tolerant. In particular, the show did a great job of incorporating diversity into the casting process by hiring a variety of (good-looking) young people representing different ethnicities including numerous multi-racial twentysomethings, casting a range of sexual orientations (gay, straight, bi, and those who just experimented), and by seeking out roommates with varying socio-economic backgrounds, political leanings, and career aspirations.

Like many reality shows, over the years The Real World has become a launching pad for careers in entertainment for some cast members and for careers in the growing MTV Real World/Road Rules/Challenge/Reunions franchise for many roommates. At the same time, the content of the episodes themselves has become more and more focused on partying, hookups, and conflict and less and less focused on teamwork, group jobs, and interesting intellectual debates.

This season's (can you believe it's the 16th!) Austin version of The Real World took the show to whole new levels of ridiculousness as the cast members seemed drunker and lazier. The cast was less diverse than previous seasons and I'm almost certain it was the first season to not feature a gay roommate. (Perhaps MTV figured that with two gay cast members in the previous Philadelphia season they could skip a year?). At least three roommates were arrested and/or had troubles involving law enforcement in Austin surrounding drunken antics. Even though they were given the enviable "job" of creating a documentary about South by Southwest, many of the cast members were more committed to partying than doing a kick-ass film about indie music.

Additionally, the male roommates this year were so entranced with their pseudo celebrity status that they boasted on and on to the cameras about their "groupie drawer" where they stored all the phone numbers from chicks they met in Austin bars.

Personally I find it sad that "The Real World" producers feel the need to rely so heavily on all the partying story lines. On the latest reunion show they did bust out with the news of the engagement of two cast members and the displaying of the requisite ring. Again, seems like another young celeb engagement designed more for press attention than anything else.

The N Gets Praise for Innovative Programming about Gay Teens, But Still Shies Away from Abortion Storylines

On the plus side, The N had a great year as the teen show "Degrassi: Next Generation" garnered raves from both critics and teens for its realistic portrayal of young people. Both Degrassi and The N's new show "South of Nowhere" do a great job of broaching controversial, yet important teen topics in a sensitive manner. Episodes have focused on school violence, cutting, teen pregnancy, STDs, AIDS, sexual orientation, body image, and racism.

In particular, "Degrassi" and "South of Nowhere" have embraced the story lines of gay teens in a way that should do wonders for increasing tolerance among viewers. However, The N is still afraid to tackle one topic: Abortion. They will not air several episodes of "Degrassi: Next Generation" that deal with a pregnant teen's decision to have an abortion. Additionally, although they recently began airing every season of vintage "Degrassi Junior High" and "Degrassi High" (Old School), they are again choosing to not air abortion-themed episodes. Although I'm glad that they aren't censoring gay storylines, I'm hoping that in 2006 they will reconsider their stance on portraying a teen facing the difficult option of abortion.

I'm looking forward to more pop culture antics in 2006. I wonder who will actually get married, split up, have babies, or star in their own reality show…

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