The Hills

Media: Reality Television Show
Creator: Adam Divello
Executive Producers: Sean Travis, Sara Mast and Adam Divello

Plot Summary: A group of young girls move from various parts of the country to Los Angeles to pursue their dreams in the fashion world, music industry and PR business. During their tenure in LA, they make and lose friends, break up and make up with boyfriends, flirt, party, work and play. But for some, LA isn't all it is cracked up to be. This is a reality show, and cameras follow the girls around in all aspects of their lives.

Critical Evaluation: The next generation of reality TV, this is a "semi-scripted" reality series. While there is no set script, it seems that the producers deliberately put the cast members in certain situations, and then sit back and film the ensuing drama. Now in its sixth season, the cast members have given up on all pretenses of having jobs or careers other than being the stars of this show (in the first season it seemed that they were at least pretending to care about their respective jobs). The show has also shifted from using the girl cast members as main characters to including their husbands, boyfriends, and friends to be central cast members. While some may relate to their inner circle drama of boyfriend stealing and catty behavior, it is hard to treat these cast members as real people. They are in their early twenties, don't seem to have real careers, yet are seen living in mansions and driving luxury cars, going to the hottest clubs and fanciest restaurants, and shopping like there is no tomorrow. This show is essentially the ultimate case of schadenfreude, it goes to show that money can't buy you happiness. It is a slow moving train wreck that many can't tear their eyes away from. Equal parts horrifying and boring, this is still a show that educators need to be at least peripherally aware of, because it is very popular among the teen set.

Reader's Annotation:Growing up can be tough, even if you are young, pretty and rich.

Author Information: Adam DiVello is a reality television producer. He created the show Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, The Hills and The City. He currently runs his own production company and has a first look deal with MTV (information taken from the author's wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_DiVello).

Curricular Ties:N/A

Genre: Reality TV, Contemporary Life

Show talking ideas:

• Why did Lauren Conrad leave the show?
• Why did Heidi have so many cosmetic surgeries? Do you think it was a good or bad idea?
• Is Spencer controlling Heidi? Why or why not?
  

Challenge issues: underage drinking

• Familiarize yourself with the book and its contents.
• Check the library for specific policies on challenged books.
• Check the ALA website for advice on how to respond and react when a book has been challenged. (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/index.cfm)
  
• Find positive reviews from reputable websites.
• Ask the challenger for their specific objections and try to address them using information from the above research.

Interest Age: Grades 6 and up

Why I selected this piece: This is one of the most popular reality shows for teens.