Laguna Biatch

I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before in my blog, but Laguna Beach is an awesome show. I know I always rip on trashy "reality TV" and stuff, but then I somehow always end up watching these shows anyways and find myself enjoying them.

I guess I'm not really sure why I liked this show so much. Olivia says "you just like it cause you think Kristin's hot", which she is, but that's only a small part of it, honestly. You gotta admit Kristin is pretty good looking, even though she's still just a high school girl. Not like I'm worshipping her as a goddess and drooling over her beauty as I'm watching the show, or anything like that. She's definitely not hot enough to make me watch a show purely based on hotness. The only examples I can think of that fit that category were Jessica Alba in Dark Angel, and currently maybe that dark-haired Desperate Housewife (Eva Langoria?). Even that one is questionable, she looked a little overrated in the last couple episodes I saw.

As far as Laguna Beach goes, people say it has no plot, and what's the point of watching, but they clearly don't understand the show. That's what I thought at first too. Who wants to watch a bunch of spoiled rich white high schoolers? If we can't stand them when they're being annoying at the movie theater or at the mall, why would we enjoy a "reality" show about them?

But after watching a few episodes, I realized that even though these are exactly the kids we all hate, their lives are actually still very interesting. It's all the stuff I never went through in my own high school experience - the girls, the drama, golfing, surfing, and hanging out at the beach. Am I envious of their lives? Maybe about some things, but overall, no not really. It's mostly just entertaining and interesting to watch.

And I couldn't disagree more about the show having no plot. It's about a bunch of high school seniors going through their last year in Laguna Beach before they all head off in different directions. At the center of it is LC, and the love triangle between her, Steven, and Kristin. There were other subplots too, but this was by far the most captivating storyline and probably the main reason I kept watching. How much more of a plot do you need anyways?

The thing is, it's not like I even liked any of the characters. Most of the girls were dumb, and the guys were tools, which I figured they would be anyways. Kristin, for all her attractiveness, was pretty freaking annoying and wasted her looks by being too much of a hoe. Steven, while you gotta give him props for being a stud (by high school standards), was too big of a whiner at times and way too self-centered to truly like. And LC, even though she was the narrator, it was still hard to feel for her because she was the one who kept wasting her feelings on a guy that obviously didn't deserve it. She's that stereotypical dumb girl we all have seen too many times, who knows she's being used but doesn't have the self-respect to do anything about it.

But by the final episode, I couldn't help but feel somewhat attached to all three of them. Despite their many shortcomings, I think I was still rooting for a happy ending for all of them in the end. The weird thing is that I don't really know what the best ending would be. On the one hand, I kind of wished Steven and Kristin would stay together like they were meant to be, but also thought it might be nice if LC and Steven hooked up in college and made each other happy too.

I guess the show's ambiguous ending was not bad, a good way to leave the viewers wondering. Especially since they had a Laguna Beach 2 planned, which I will definitely watch in hopes of seeing updates on what happened between the three star-crossed lovers. Not to mention the "new girl in the Mercedes", who is a good bet to spice things up.

People like to compare Laguna Beach to the OC, but I'd say this show is way better, for the simple and obvious fact that it's more believable. I know "reality TV" is never truly "real", but at least you don't have ridiculous things like guys hooking up with their ex-girlfriend's mom in this show. Even though I have to say LC's mom is not too shabby, they should follow her around more... haha.

One other thing I thought was interesting was how that one girl was a part of the Schuller family, who are actually kind of well known in the Christian community. At least, I have heard of them, the Crystal Cathedral, and seen the older Robert Schuller (her grandfather) preaching on TV before. It was funny watching her dad, Robert Jr., preach too, because he sounds and acts almost exactly like Rev. Lovejoy in the Simpsons.

While I'm at it, let me also say this: not all reality shows need to have a "point", like eliminating people every week and everyone fighting to win some prize money or a shot at stardom in the end. We have enough of those shows as it is, thank you.

Oh I almost forgot, the music in the show is awesome too. Hillary Duff 4-ever!!! Just kidding... kind of.

Hopefully they will release a Laguna Beach Season 1 DVD, with special features and deleted scenes. I'd line up to buy that one.