I have a new favorite TV show. It is The Paper on MTV.
As many have already discussed (although none as succinctly as Rich at fourfour) this show is insanely good, and not just in a campy, Hills level of so-unwatchable-it-is-watchable endearingness that guides most reality TV shows, this show actually has smart, interesting, funny, and real teens. The kids are sometimes thrown into stereotypes (which is true of any media representation of anything) but often you can see a glimpse of the levels of their personalities that are underneath the characters they have created out of years of social awkwardness. Like when Alex is guided by his new friends to ditch Amanda, he admits to being aware of this divide (especially when gabbing with his mom). And when Amanda’s righteousness and/or her overdramatic tendencies (something inherent in every Drama kid in high school) is undercut by the awkwardness of being mocked by her peers, those moments just seem so real and so accurately display the system of peer hate that so guides high school hierarchies, but also the teens awareness that maybe this stuff doesn’t actually matter in the long run.
I love it. I especially love Amanda (this doesn’t shock me since I was naturally drawn to overdramatic sassy know-it-alls throughout my life) and I also love the other kids in their own ways. Even that one really hot guy who is dating Gianna whose name escapes me.
I have often said to no one in particular that MTV makes amazing documentaries about the real life of average young people (see: the True Life series, which is the only reason I really regreat I don’t have cable). This show is a perfect example of that, and it is also genuinely funny as much as it is honest. Love it.
That is all for today, I swear.
