laguna beach?

August 30, 2005 11:06 AM

What's the deal with Laguna Beach (the show, not the town)?

I can't quite figure out how much of the show is staged/reenacted and how much really is spontaneous. The lighting and camera angles, as well as some clear discontinuities and inconsistencies, indicate that a good portion of the show is staged or reenacted. MTV seems to claim that this is not the case. What gives? I've looked at the official MTV site, the TV.com site and the wikipedia entry and none of them give any real answers.

posted by ohio to media & arts (7 comments total)

Gawker wondered this exact same thing, and here's what they learned.
posted by junkbox at 11:14 AM on August 30, 2005

Gawker.com did a little investigation on this. You can read their take on it here.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:15 AM on August 30, 2005

Hahaha, jinx, junkbox, you owe me a coke.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:15 AM on August 30, 2005 [1 favorite]

There's an article in the NYTimes today too. Sample quote:


The style is so foreign to the genre that when strangers approach Kristin Cavallari, a "Laguna Beach" cast member, the conversation always starts the same way. "The No. 1 question is, 'Is it real or not?' " Ms. Cavallari said.

Well?

"It's as real as any reality show," said Tony DiSanto, an executive producer of "Laguna Beach." "These are the real kids. The things they're saying are unscripted; it's what goes on in their lives. What we chose to show or not show is where we are editorializing. And just like any reality show, if two kids say they want to go out to dinner and we know that this one restaurant will not allow us to shoot in there then we can't get the scene. So we may ask them, 'You know what? Would you guys mind going to this one where they'll let us shoot?' They say yes or may say no. It's obviously their decision."

I had the same questions as you and Gawker helped me out...but what I still don't get is the appeal. This show is BORING. And this is coming from someone who is a sucker for reality shows.
posted by jetskiaccidents at 12:13 PM on August 30, 2005

I love this show. It's really appealing to me, even though I know it's not 'real'
posted by benkolb at 12:18 PM on August 30, 2005

I have a friend who goes to college with one of them (I don't know which one) -- I hear it's less real than say The Real World but more real than The Cosby Show. The Gawker article summed it up nicely, where it's not scripted in the sense of writers, it's more like improv (break up with him here at this time if you're going to do it, we'll leave the words to you).

I've never actually seen the show, except for clips. Do they actually show underage drinking at the parties? 95% of all high school drama occurs or results from being drunk, does it capture this or do they gloss over the fact that these rich kids with little supervision apparently stay sober?
posted by geoff. at 12:23 PM on August 30, 2005

My co-writer wrote about it in a reality TV column we do.

Then I got mail from some young girl insisting that Gawker was wrong, saying she has a friend who was followed around by an actress who now plays her friend on the show. But her friend wouldn't be quoted and apparently signed a non-disclosure, so I don't know how true that is.
posted by GaelFC at 4:48 PM on August 30, 2005