Jezebel
High School Confidential, a new miniseries premiering on the WE Network tonight at 9, promises to document the myriad of issues facing today's teenage girls: Pregnancy, anorexia, divorce, even death. What separates this series from similar documentaries is that it follows a specific group of girls (in suburban Kansas) during all four years of high school, and features extensive interviews with both the teens and their families. Since most "reality" shows tend to focus on extremes, a program that presents life at face value sounds refreshing. But will it make for good TV? The critical reaction, after the jump.
Most of the episodes follow two subjects and end with their forced, pat self-appraisals. ("My name is Suzy and mine is a story of a girl who started freshman year confused and unsure of herself and four years later really found out who she was.") And while High School Confidential has its flaws — it is choppily edited and far too spare in its depictions of the girls living rather than talking — it does us a service by portraying teenagers beyond the media's typical parameters of exceptionalism.Los Angeles Times:
Chronicled from 2002 through 2006, they grapple with what their parents did a generation ago: Should I go to college? Should I have sex? They also wrestle with other issues: Drugs and alcohol are readily available, after-school activities and sports consume much of their lives, and some people have sex as easily as people once changed dance partners.The teens profiled went to Northwest High School in Overland Park, Kan., and though one lives on a farm, the others are daughters of suburbia and could easily be anywhere.The Washington Post:
Somehow, even after following these girls from ninth through 12th grade, Confidential manages to make their stories boring. Watching it is like sitting next to your great-aunt as she flips through the family photo album. Individual pictures might grab you, but on the whole, you'd rather be cruising the mall. One wants to like these girls. They're forthright, articulate and darn cute with their straight long hair and braces that by junior year have disappeared, revealing perfect pearly whites. But they don't engage us, and that's not their fault. Their stories don't move us largely because of how they were shot and edited.The Hollywood Reporter:
The premiere episode revolves around Lauren and Cappie. Lauren, the apple of her parents' eyes, is diagnosed with a brain tumor during her sophomore year. Cappie, the rebellious product of a broken family, veers off into a life of partying but has a change of heart.The series, from Liese's Herizon Prods. and New Line Television, is remarkable for the way it compresses time and hones in on pivotal moments. Even so, it might have been even stronger if Liese could have delved more deeply into these young lives so that we not only see the changes but also better understand, particularly in Cappie's case, how they came about.Chicago Tribune:
Though the interview segments are sometimes compelling, High School Confidential tends to rely a little too much on talking-head footage of the girls and their parents.The show is often more interesting when it just shows the girls living their lives.Variety:
The trappings and small touches (such as the musical score) are, admittedly, a trifle soapy. Still, by choosing a heartland state and letting the girls and their parents speak naturally about what's transpiring, Liese and her collaborators convey the universal challenges of growing up — rites of passage that include concerns about sex, drugs and family issues, especially with divorce rates taking a toll on the traditional nuclear family. Given the ongoing culture wars, it's a timely reminder that such dilemmas are hardly confined to the big city.
High School Confidential [WE TV]
Comments
I think the reviews have saved me space on TiVo...
I dunno. I hated high school. I'm not sure I want to sit down and relive it, even through somebody else.
Whatevs. Still going to TiVo it.
What is it that makes people thing these girls lives should be all uber-dramatic 24/7? This ain't the OC.
And I thought it was hard out here for a pimp. Death! Divorce Bitches got it rough.
A pity that reality programming needs to be scripted to be engaging.
Has anyone seen the commercials for this? They say something like "This is the story of high school, and we won't be bursting into song and dance." Cracked me up.
Also, yes, in case it wasn't clear already (reality show! High school! Girls!), I will be watching this.
This sounds like the best show I have no desire to watch.
I'd still like to see it just to give it a shot. It's an interesting idea. Too bad I don't have WE.
I liked the version with Jerry Lee Lewis and Mamie Van Doren better.
They're totally ripping off a show I used to watch on PBS. I forgot what it was called, but it was exactly this premise and was on at least 5 years ago.
@ceejeemcbeegee: Okay, I say this knowing that it'll crack you up, but ... in Kansas, Overland Park (well, Johnson County) IS our O.C. It's a very well-to-do suburb, a bedroom community full of master-planned neighborhoods and million-dollar homes. It's hard to believe that wealthy people CHOOSE to live in Kansas but, when they do, they head to JoCo.
Sounds realistic to me. I remember spending a lot of time in HS being bored out of my skull and waiting for my "real life" to begin. (College, employment, any time I could get the hell out of my parents' house.) There were certainly Big! Dramatic! Developments! but not every week. And probably not enough to keep anyone entertained for long.
"My name is Suzy and mine is a story of a girl who started freshman year confused and unsure of herself and four years later really found out who she was."
How terrifying for them. Can you imagine taking about "who you really are" at 17 and having to watch it now? I think I've evolved a bit since that time and "who I am" has, too.
@Smackdown: Word. My HS experience was so boring, I would NEVER want to watch it again.
I want to see behind the scenes of the slutty cheerleaders/cokeheads/that one girl who gave random guys blowjobs at every party/druggies from my school, though.
This show is the kind of thing you know you should want to watch but don't. I mean... I did high school. I watched 500 other kids do all this in real time.
@virginiawoolf: American High, perhaps? [en.wikipedia.org]
@misssgolightly: Oh yeah, some of that might be kinda funny. I vividly remember hearing a girl in my PE class (a cheerleader!) casually mention how pop rocks really spiced up her blow jobs. We were freshmen or sophomores, and I doubt I had my John Krasinski surprise/wtf facial expression quite mastered, but that's how I was feeling. I'd maybe watch to see how true things like that were.
liz gately (creator of the hills and newport harbor) is from my home town. and these shows are very much like my hs experience. pretty disgusting, right? ah, the beauty of tivo. i will fast forward through the boring parts, or just delete it if it's lame.
@jenndavo: Welcome to the JoCo, bitch?
@hugnkiss: Yes! That was it. I feel pretty dumb now that I realize how obvious the name was.
@sequined: My sophormore year of PE class was basically a Sex Ed class for me. Two of my senior-class friends were in it with me (having flunked it their sophomore years) and I regularly hung out with them at PE. They were also pretty damn right promiscuous, so the things they talked about blew my virgin mind.
@sequined: Or the one freshman who's gym locker was next to mine who would parade around in a lacy thong, and loudly proclaim how her knees had "SUCH BAD RUGBURN FROM LAST NIGHT WHEN RYAN CAME OVER!!! *giggle*".
Jesus, girlfriend, there are other blowjob positions you can try that don't involve rugburn.
@Miss Smith Drank Your Vodka: God, isn't it sad? I remember my oh-so-snappy high school (about 20 minutes north of Overland Park) referring to these girls as "JoCoHos." We were poor, they weren't ... give us a break!
@Hooplehead: @jenndavo: When I heard it was in KS I knew it had to be JOCO. I thought it was maybe in a well to do Wichita part but I leaned heavily in favor of OOOOOOlathe. I wonder which school it was. Seriously, I went to college where 80% was from that area they idolize the Laguna Beach...ok so maybe i do too a teensie weensie bit but they have the money to go completely over to the dark side.
@boogieoogieoogie: No way would our Laguna Beach society film in Wichita -- too poor, too diverse, too real and too representative of a Real America.
Actually, WaPo, I would rather sit with my great aunt and flip through a family photo album with my great aunt Edna than "cruise the mall." Gotta love that hometown newspaper.
@jenndavo: You're from that neck of the woods, right?
@boogieoogieoogie: From what I understand/have noticed, Olathe seems to be becoming more and more "urban" (ie, fewer well-to-do white people).
There is a gated community of rich motherfuckers in Wichita, but they don't have their own high school.
Ugh. It is a good premise, but looking at the picture and hearing about JoCo...it just does not represent "real" highschool, at least to me. I went to a very diverse highschool, both racially and economically speaking. Sorry, I may just pass on this. I would honestly rather watch True Life on MTV.
a onclick="javascript:return jumpToComment(365894,'CommentBox', this.href);" href="http://jezebel.com/365894/high-school-confidential-a-reality-show-that-keeps-it-real#c4627575">jenndavo: Ha! That is exactly what we called them. Kansans are pretty original.
@SammyKitty: Well, we didn't have much where I grew up, so we directed our energies toward hating those who did. Kansans kinda have to make their own fun. :)
@sequined:
Pop rocks!?! WTF! Was this girl getting her bj advice from Cosmo? That sounds painful to me and I don't even have a peen.
@jenndavo: Ha! I can't imagine what a million dollar home in Kansas must look like! How many square feet? 10k? 15k?
@ceejeemcbeegee: Dude, you ain't kiddin'. I was thinking of buying a condo here in Texas to save on rent, but my two-bedroom rental unit runs around $130,000 for just 1,000 SF. My parents bought their four-bedroom house just outside of Kansas City last year for $98,000. WTF?
@evier: I just discovered I don't have WE either. Why do I keep seeing previews for this then? But I did see there's an Intervention on tonight, so I won't be too sad.
@virginiawoolf: Also, about every third Frontline sounds like this.
@jenndavo: $98,000 would buy you a piece of plywood where I'm from (Long Island). I am jealous of your parents and should probably move to Kansas.
Why do I still think I'll be able to survive on a teacher's salary on Long Island when I graduate? Oh, cause I'm crazy.
I have no desire to watch this program, ever. I teach in a HS and see it every day. Do. Not. Want. More.
@misssgolightly: I know, I shouldn't complain. I've lived in two of the least desirable places on the planet, so I should expect low to middling housing prices.
@jenndavo: Head to the sticks in MI or IN. We have 4,200 sq.ft. with gardens, pool and historic status for $120,000. Gorgeous place. On the downside the best place to eat in town is Applebee's and the movie theatre shows nothing but mainstream Hollywood crap with an emphasis on Disney. And the closest real entertainment is more than an hour's drive away. Win some, lose some.
@jenndavo: Bet. Your same Texas house in LA (like, on the coner of Crip and Blood) would cost you about $300K.
So, are moms with young daughters meant to watch this as a sort of bonding, discussion-opener type thing or what? I mean, if it will have some USE, then sure, if not...the fuck is the point?
@jenndavo:
Wow, a new 2 bd condo in my part of OC (not even the fancy part of OC!) runs around 350k-400k. 3 bd homes in my (old) neighborhood start from the mid-500k. Most low-middle classers end up buying homes way out into the Valley -- then paying $$$ in gas to make the commute. Terrible.
Reality is neither universal nor entertaining. Yet, TV is supposed to be entertaining. And as expected, reality TV shows prove to be neither real nor very entertaining. This "reality-tv" show that promises to be more "real" --? Meh, I don't buy it.
@SBJ: My mother used to watch Survivor with my younger brother, so they could discus what assholes all the contestants were, and figure out ways to not become one.
But showing Juno to Jamie Lynn seemed to have the opposite effect, so tread carefully.
I read jezebel every day, but this is the first time I've posted. I went to high school on the Missouri side of Kansas City. The way we generally felt about Kansans was that they were either farmers, or rich, bored and snobby. We Missourians on the other hand, are either farmers, or were in gangs, selling drugs, or running meth labs. The weird thing about Kansas City is that it's split in half like that. JoCo is the OC of the midwest, especially as far as reality televison is concerned. Million dollar mansions, trophy wives, and debt...all in a nice suburban package. I'd like to see a reality show about the crackheads my midtown neighborhood is nestled in.
i cant wait for this show. im hoping it will be an observational style documentary - not the sensationalist crap that they have on VH1 and Network TV. (*cough* that i usually watch *cough*) and i forgot to set my DVR tonight, dammit!
I loved the commercials for it. Giving the marketing person there a raise.