By Emilia Hwang
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Maybe you haven’t heard of the prestigious Rawley Academy,
even though it’s one of the most exclusive boarding schools
in America.
Perhaps you’ve vacationed in Cape Cod, Massachusetts and
yet never been to Capeside.
If these places don’t ring a bell in the campanile of
reality for you, don’t worry ““ they’re all made
up.
That’s right. There is no Rawley Academy. There is no
Dawson and he doesn’t really have a creek.
On July 12, the WB premiered its latest teen drama “Young
Americans” strategically in the time slot directly following
“Dawson’s Creek.” The same criticism, however,
that plagued its predecessor seems to apply to this new series as
well.
I’ve heard people say that “Young Americans”
is unrealistic. One look at Will Krudski and you’d say:
“Whoa, he looks way too old to be 15 years old.”
Well, of course he does. First of all, Will is not a real
person. He is a character played by actor Rodney Scott, who is 22
years old in real life.
Which brings me to another point: What is “real
life”anyway?
If I wanted to see the face of reality, I’d sit in front
of my bathroom mirror for an hour every night after dinner. But
because the real world isn’t all that great sometimes, I
choose to spend my Wednesday evenings watching a show that relieves
me from the truth of my own mundane existence.
In reality, UCLA’s summer session A is a woeful routine
comprised of atrocious midterms and never-ending chapters about the
theory of human communication. At Rawley Academy, summer school is
a whim for the young and the beautiful who spend their sunny days
rowing crew and frolicking in a dazzling blue lake.
What would you rather watch?
A television show does not have to be based on actual people in
actual situations to be deemed worthwhile for general viewing.
A truly captivating show, however, needs to have more than just
visual appeal to captivate this astute TV watcher. “Young
Americans” is more than just blue-eyed beauties in trivial
adventures ““ these gorgeous guys and girls are on an
incredible journey.
The remarkable thing is, they never have to leave their New
England town, because their extraordinary odyssey is one that spans
the adolescent mind and soul. The theme here is pretty universal
““ teenagers struggling to find their identity.
And just like the teens in “Dawson’s,” the
Rawley kids talk about life as if they know everything there is to
know ““ at the age of 15.
But that’s the beauty of being young ““ you
don’t know enough about “real life” to know that
you haven’t got a clue. And at the same time, the world of a
teenager doesn’t have to be larger than your parents and the
girl who lives down the creek to cause confusion, frustration and
grief.
Look at those “Dawson’s” kids. They’ve
known each other all their lives and they’ve never left
Capeside. Not to mention, their extensive vocabulary is larger than
the average SAT prep book. Yet, they still can’t communicate
their most essential fears and desires to one another. What could
be more realistic than that?
In “Young Americans,” the kids come from different
pasts and face different futures together. One look at the
seemingly generic story lines and you’d say: this show is too
predictable.
But, isn’t the process of growing up a little predictable
at times? Your parents watched you make the same mistakes they
made. And you’ll probably watch your kids make the same
mistakes that you made.
Why not watch the kids at Rawley make some mistakes while
you’re at it?
Finally, if you think that all the shows on the WB network are
the same, they’re not.
Sure Rodney Scott looks a little familiar. That’s because
his character, Will, recently appeared in “Dawson’s
Creek” as a long-lost friend of Pacey (Joshua Jackson).
I learned about this in my English class. It’s called
intertextuality and it’s at the core of human existence.
Everyone is an individual yet we are all connected.
In literature, intertextuality is the weaving of outside texts
within a story. In life, it is the intertwining of similarly
unrelated situations or people, like the popular theory of six
degrees of separation.
Our lives may steer down divergent paths, but they all
eventually lead back to a single point of convergence. The bottom
line is we are all familiar with the same stories, players and
settings, no matter how divergent our paths may be .
In literature, life and television, intertextuality adds a
remarkable layer of richness to otherwise isolated and irrelevant
instances.
In bringing together its network genealogy and its $6 million
sponsor, “Young Americans” makes playful references to
it’s WB cousin “Felicity” while integrating its
Coca-Cola product placements into its rich plot. What genius
““ the WB must be where philosophers and poets go when they
die.
Don’t get me wrong, “Young Americans” is far
from being the perfect show. In fact, it is sometimes so bad,
it’s embarrassing to watch. But it seems to me that that
feeling of vicarious humiliation and self-consciousness is also at
the core of growing up.
So even though there is no “real life” Rawley
Academy or Capeside to visit, their fictitious inhabitants exhibit
enough raw emotion and young hope to keep this aging American glued
to the tube.
Hwang will be watching “Young Americans” on
Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on the WB. You can e-mail her at
[email protected].