O.C.' calls men to soaps

I will never forget the day, while making the downhill stroll from Susan B. Anthony Residence Halls to Anderson Tower, that I heard one of the most amazing things ever to come out of the mouth of a member of the male species. I was alone, so I had no one to make the usual “sheesh, this hill is steep” banter that usually occurs every single time we go down the hill – there are a bit more colorful words we use when making the trip up – and this was also before the mini iPod, so I happily eavesdropped on the girl and boy walking in front of me. And that is when I heard it. “Yeah, Luke is such a player. I don’t know why Marissa doesn’t leave him. I mean, her and Ryan are obviously so perfect for each other.” I had never heard a boy speak like this before, except for every single male character on the WB network, and after two years at Rochester I have come to realize that real boys are actually quite different. I wondered who this lucky Marissa girl and this Ryan boy were and why I recognized these names. Then I realized this boy was referring to the characters of the Fox hit drama “The O.C.” To my even greater shock, he was telling this girl about how during the summer, his mom would make margaritas for him and his friends to have while they watched the show. He was actually participating in O.C. viewing parties with his male peers! I had only heard that guys liked the show and I assumed it was because the girls on the show weren’t exactly ugly. But this boy was discussing plot lines! Could it be that “The O.C.” had actually done the impossible, and united boys and girls in the viewing enjoyment of a soap opera? Yes, that’s right boys, “The O.C.” falls under the category of soap opera – they write about in Soap Opera Digest – which means it is true. How had creator Josh Schwartz done it? His simple motivation was that the way the kids talked on certain shows – not to point one out in particular, but it might have been the one that included a weird boys’ name and a small body of water in the title – was completely unrelated and unrelatable.For example, on the show I just mentioned when a certain female character was trying to explain to her male best friend why it was weird at age 16 for them to still be sleeping in the same bed, her explanation was “I just think our raging hormones are bound to collide and I am just trying to limit the fall out. And you have genitalia.” While on “The O.C.” an alternative response to this issue that might be used would be “Hey this is frickin’ weird cause we are really old and I am Katie Holmes and a lot hotter then you, Dawson.” I would just like to say that I was an avid “Dawson’s Creek” fan, though I can understand Scwhartz’s point that the vocabulary was too much, because I definitely assumed that genitalia was some sort of disease. Other contributing factors to the show besides the witty, sharp dialogue would be that, although the characters are these perfect specimens of nature, they have a lot of inner conflicts. For example, Ryan, the tough, brooding, abused kid from Chino now fits in perfectly with the rich kids because he wears those sophisticated black man bracelets, and he obviously has some control issues given the fact that he punched someone in at least the first six episodes. Another example would be Marissa, who appears to be your typical beautiful, rich, anorexic, chronic alcoholic and frequent valium abuser whose picture-perfect family is based on a web of lies, when she actually has a shoplifting habit, too.The show has also sparked many fashion trends such as the ugg boots craze – I believe it to be the fifth show to claim it started it- minis and pointy flats. I know that when I pick out an outfit, I now always think to myself “Would I wear this if I was in the O.C.?” The story lines about the parents are also captivating most likely because both moms on the show fall into the category of MILF and the fathers are both very funny and portray realistic characters. The show also keeps up with the latest trends in music, getting very non-O.C.ish bands to perform on the show. The final aspect that I say definitely makes the show the most different from “90210” is the character of Seth Cohen. Actor Adam Brody has created, I think, one of the greatest characters in television history. I mean, where would be without precious lines such as “Is it twisted to find your potential grandma really hot?” and “I’ve got Jesus and Moses on my side” and my favorite, “So when you lost your virginity I was playing ‘Magic: the Gathering.'” The cover of this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly poses the question “Is this the death of sitcoms?” With the loss of “Friends,” “Frasier” and “Sex and the City,” and the fact that a new reality show comes out every week, the argument does seem valid. “The O.C.” is great because it is in no way reality television, and at the end of the day, isn’t that what one needs – to see a bit of a world that allows us to escape from the snow and go to the beach? So indulge yourself in a little time with “The O.C.” because soon we may only be watching shows about big, fat obnoxious somethings.Lepore can be reached at mlepore@campustimes.org.