I'm watching this show as I write this and...ack.

"Secret Life of the American Teenager" on ABC Family. When I saw the first commercial for this show, I thought it would die after one year. It's probably Juno-inspired, about a 15-year-old who gets pregnant yada yada drama drama. I figured the only selling point of this movie was having Molly Ringwald of Pretty and Pink fame (and a bunch of other 80's movies that I love) play the mother.

It's lasted two years already and kids in my newspaper class talk about it all the time. Apparently people like it. I said I wouldn't pass judgments on it until I actually watched a full episode. Well, I have, and dear God, I hope this isn't supposed to represent the lives of all American teenagers. We are not all sluts and man-whores who have perfect hair all the time and whose lives are weighted with unnecessary drama.

Right now they're talking about how this 15-year-old (not the baby's father) she barely knew asked her to marry him and she said yes, but he's upset that she doesn't want him to come for the sonogram. This show has more melodrama than "Dawson's Creek." I'm not into it.

Now an ABC Family show I actually like.



"10 Things I Hate about You," based off of the movie from the 90's, is very cute. First time I heard they were making that movie, originally meant as a modern interpretation of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, into a TV show, I thought, how is that going to work? The story is of two sisters in high school, the younger one just wants to be popular and the older one has no patience for stupid people in high school hell.

Most of the movie's plot was lost in translation to TV, but the general idea makes this show likeable in a different way. Lindsay Shaw from "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide" plays Kat, and she does a great job with this part. She would make the show funny if the rest of it sucked. The younger sister is played by Meaghan Martin from Disney's Camp Rock. They kept the original father from the movie, Larry Miller.

Anyway, I really like this show for it's lightly mocking and slightly cynical portrayal of high school life. I can actually relate to this depiction of the "life of the American teenager." I wonder who indentifies with "Secret Life." Hopefully there aren't that many, but you know that's just me being naive...or, you know, just overusing the rose colored glasses.

Love,
Juliana