Goddamn Brownies

It is very rare for TV or film (especially TV) to show what high school is really like. Today it is much better than when I was in sixth grade, junior high or even throughout high school. I was young and had no idea what to expect. Then Saved by the Bell came along.

My eyes were now open and ready for the experience just a few years away. Everyone seemed to get along, save for a few minor differences, and your close friends were a diverse brand of cliques. The school's most popular hung around with the brainy, feminist as well as one of the biggest nerds at Bayside. Even when I went into junior high the cliques began and hardly anyone from the previous year still hung around with me. It was a little confusing to see Zack, Slater and Screech doing the Risky Business dance together while those I thought were my friends turned their nose to me because I was a bit different.

This is not some "feel sorry for me" post, I just think it is odd the way teen shows would portray life in school. NBC only made it worse with each late Saturday morning teen show they added - Hang Time, California Dreams and City Guys. The Dreams were great because not only were they an insanely diverse group (not just with ethnicity) but their "rock" band was just the epitome of early 90s cheese. I recently re-watched seasons one and two, now out on DVD, and I could not get over this freaking band. One episode it's a soft rock ballad, then a surf song, then R&B and after that maybe an alternative rock sound. Could they not make up their minds? I have never seen any band who did this.

I could go on and on about how easy TV makes everything. When you fail a class and are not going to graduate all you have to do is go to the principal and he will let you dance in one recital to make up for an entire semester. Yeah, that's fair. Or you could break every rule time and time again and all you get is after school detention. I wonder if high school was really like this anywhere, at any time.