Sunday, July 11, 2010

You're not a character from Entourage. (And that's a good thing.)

Since when did being young or in college give anyone the right to be a total asswipe? And who should we blame for this recent outbreak of idiocy?

During a discussion with my friend Aya last night, I came to the conclusion that pop culture is to blame for this current trend that's sweeping the nation. Specifically, Judd Apatow movies and films like The Hangover, where Ed Helms ditches his wife (who's portrayed as a stereotypical shrew) for a hooker. I can't forget the douchiest show of all shows: Entourage. (I Googled "douchey shows" and it was, of course, at the top of the list of image results.)

You know what screenwriters write about? Fantasies. What they wish would have happened to them. Josh Schwartz created the character Seth Cohen to get the hot girl and write comic books, in other words, doing everything he wishes he could have done in high school. In Glee, Ryan Murphy based the character of Kurt's dad on the type of dad he wished he had - one that accepted him for who he was.

The only problem with this wish fulfillment writing (which is fine; I totally do it) is that it means you get a bunch of middle-aged men writing about a bunch of shit they wished would have happened to them. This means trying to get through as many women as possible and driving ridiculous cars and being generally disgusting. When college-aged kids watch shows like Entourage, they think "Hey, I should be doing that, too!" and proceed to act moronic. They expect girls to fall all over them and they often do, because college-aged girls need better role models. I've been through two universities - a very large state school that knows how to party and a tiny private school that knows how to party and pray simultaneously. This attitude of "I'm young, so I should live it up, drink it down and be grateful for Plan B " is prevalent at both schools, and all schools, I'm assuming.

I know you only live once and you may get hit by a bus tomorrow. Look both ways and that probably won't happen. And then what? Something a lot of college students don't realize is that the young and stupid choices they make now affect, for one, other people. These choices also impact how well they will mature when they transition from college to the workplace. They better wise up fast so they don't end up like this guy.

Also:

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