Reality TV Analysis: The Hills

For my reality TV analysis, I choose to analyze “The Hills” which is a reality show documenting the lives of Lauren Conrad and her friends in Los Angeles. Lauren, who starred previously in another similar MTV show called Laguna Beach, came to The Hills after her move from Laguna Beach. As this show is supposed to depict the everyday life of Lauren (someone who is rich, thin, blond, and extremely beautiful from Hollywood, the heart of celebrity lives and actions), one can expect what the show will be about – lies, deception, gossips, friendships, fashion, and beautiful people.

I watched two episodes from Season 4 of The Hills
Episode 15: One Last Chance

The episode opens up with a snippet of the previous episode, where Audrina decides to move out of Lauren’s and Lo’s apartment to live on her own. The three girls were originally roommates, but Audrina wanted to try something new, so she decided to move out, and invited her boyfriend, Justin, to move in with her, who however, denied the offer. Heidi, who used to be Lauren’s best friend, is currently in a bad situation because she took her boyfriend, Spencer, to a job event and got herself into trouble. Heidi also got into a fight with her sister, Holly, and ended up kicking her out of her apartment.

In this episode, Audrina’s relationship with Justin seems to be heading the right direction. Now that she’s living on her own and Justin has finally shown signs of becoming a better man, everything seems to be perfect. However, Justin is not the perfect boyfriend and Audrina knows it too, but she can not let him go.

Meanwhile, on the other hand, Heidi had to beg for her job back and was granted a second chance. She’s worried about her sister, Holly who hasn’t contact her since their fight, and frustrated at her boyfriend, Spencer, for showing no guilt over getting her into trouble. Heidi later finds out that Holly is residing with Lauren and becomes hurt. (Heidi and Lauren used to be best friends until Heidi’s relationship with Spencer broke Heidi and Lauren’s friendship apart.
As a result, Heidi and Lauren are somewhat not “friends” anymore).

Heidi’s boyfriend, Spencer, is not the greatest guy either. He has a bad attitude and has been pushing all of Heidi’s friends and loved ones away from her. She, however, doesn’t seem to realize this and continues to stay with him and defends him.

Episode 16: You Did This

In this episode, Audrina heard a rumor that threatened her friendship with Lauren. She heard from a friend that Justin and Lauren had hooked up and she went crazy. She confronted Lauren, who then became angry at her for making such an accusation (being that they are close friends). Lauren told Audrina that she will never hook up with Justin, but Audrina refused to believe her and persistently pushed her to tell the truth, which just got Lauren angrier. Meanwhile, Audrina is calling Justin constantly to demand an answer, but he kept ignoring her calls. She finally met up with him and confronts him about him and Lauren. He told her he hadn’t hooked up with Lauren, but she seemed unconvinced. Finally, he got angry and just walked away, leaving behind a confused and guilty Audrina. Still feeling unsettled, Audrina met up with Lauren again to try to resolve things, only to leave both girls angrier at each other.

While not suggesting that Lauren’s “real life” is artificial, her lifestyle is reminiscent of the dramatic life story that we only see in soap operas. The show depicted a lifestyle that is very stereotypical of the Californian valley girl theme. All the female characters in the show are tall, thin, blond, and very beautiful. Despite the drama in their lives, they seemed to be having it all – a job in the competitive fashion design industry, good looks, money, friends, and boys. The show is also heteronormative and very white. All the characters are white and wealthy, thus depicting the idea that only white people can be rich. One thing that I found problematic with the show (and many shows as well) is how the female characters are always shown “head over heels” in love with the bad guy, always waiting for him, and being dumb enough to not let him go. In addition, women are always shown fighting over one man, as if that’s all we know how to do. In this case, Audrina and Lauren’s friendship was at risk because of one rumor over one guy.

Audrina’s relationship with Justin can be bittersweet. He’s the “pretty” bad boy who can’t commit, and is irresponsible and untrustworthy, yet she still clings on to him as if she will not be able to live without him. There was in scene in episode 15 where Audrina’s sister challenged her to rethink her relationship with Justin. Apparently, Justin is very independent and likes to disappear whenever he feels like it. He doesn’t tell Audrina where he goes or why he leaves, but when he comes back, Audrina was expected to be the happy girlfriend who waits for him without questioning his whereabouts. This speaks to the power dynamics in relationships and society about women’s role as a subordinate to men.

In addition to Audrina’s relationship with Justin, there’s also Heidi’s relationship with Spencer, who also doesn’t treat her well, but she is still with him. Spencer verbally abused Heidi all the time, but that didn’t seem to matter to her. In fact, she continues to live with him and let him chase away all the people in her lives that ever love her.

Overall, The Hills is only a good show to watch because it lures its audiences into a fantasy world made up of pretty people and pretty things, while at the same time, selling away ideas of race, class, power, and beauty.