Bohemia Bunny

Why I love ‘The O.C.’

June 14th, 2006 by lynn under Leisure

‘The O.C.’, for the uninitiated, must be referred to in quotes, since The O.C. without quotes refers to an area in California famed for its surfing beaches. Known in common parlance as Orange County (and guess what, there’s also a movie entitled ‘Orange County’), ‘The O.C.’ is a hit teen drama based in Newport Beach, which I know is a real place because I saw it on a map featured in ‘Arrested Development’ (I think I watch too much TV).

‘The O.C.’ features a main cast of maybe half a dozen, with many supporting actors, but they are easily categorized according to their roles.

The Bad Boy: Ryan Atwood, played by Benjamin McKenzie, apparently looks like a young Russell Crowe. Whatev! The show revolves around him and his life in Newport after he is picked up off the streets by his lawyer, Sandy Cohen. Who is obviously Jewish, duh! Just look at the name!

The Geek: Seth Cohen, played by Adam Brody, is the lawyer’s only child, so like, Ryan becomes sort of his cool brother. We KNOW that the Cohens are Jewish cos Seth has to read the Talmud. See, like, I’m not a total bimbo.

The Girl: There’s always a girl. It’s like the golden rule of teen dramas. Ms Ever-So-Perfect, aka Marissa Cooper played by Mischa Barton, she’s blonde, skinny, and the girlfriend of the school’s water polo captain. Omigosh! Like, they actually go to normal school, and not some exclusive prep school? I dunno. I’ve only watched up to Episode 6 so far, right before they start school. And because everyone hates perfection in others, Ms Ever-So-Perfect actually has a totally lousy home life, boyfriend problems (an overabundance of males, natch), and I wouldn’t be surprised if she was anorexic due to an overcontrolling mum, but she has mental health issues of a different kind. And guess who falls for her, and whom she falls for. I’m not telling you if you don’t already know.

The Bimbo: Everyone knows geeks and bimbos, like, totally go together. That’s why they have that reality show, ‘Beauty and the Geek’, right? And that’s why you always see sexy babes at IT fairs, right? Right? Anyway, the Bimbo is Summer Roberts played by Rachel Bilson, and get this. Not only are Seth and Summer an onscreen item (oops, spoiler) but Adam Brody and Rachel are totally engaged in real life! How sweet is that! Anyway, Summer is Marissa’s best friend, and that’s pretty much all she’s good for, since she treats poor Seth like a snotrag at first. She can’t remember his name (Stan? Sid?) and is only nice to him to get an invite to his family’s party so that she can make him introduce her to all the rich investment banker dudes. Ew! She is like the ultimate gold-digger for the information age. Only the chance of hooking up with a moneyed banker would convince her to read Forbes. She’s a flirt, a tease and has a habit of calling people by their surname. The ultimate Valley Girl stereotype.

The Parents: If your parents picked up a juvey delinquent and put him up in your house, you might have a fit, no? Well, just as well your parents aren’t Sandy and Kirsten Cohen. Played by Peter Gallagher and Kelly Rowan, they are pretty cool parents. Sandy goes surfing when he’s not rescuing teenagers from a life behind bars, and Kirsten has a contentious relationship with Newport’s richest man, who just happens to be her dad and employer. Not totally screwy, after all they have a house with a view to die for, they aren’t divorced and they aren’t bankrupt, which is more than can be said for Marissa’s parents. Jimmy and Julie Cooper are sadly no more, and it gets even screwier from here cos Julie ends up dating Caleb, aka Richest Man in Town aka her neighbour Kirsten’s dad. Like, total ew! And you thought the young ‘uns were bad.

The Boyfriend: Ah, yes. The Paris to our bad-boy Romeo and his Juliet. His name is Luke Ward, he has blonde hair, blue eyes, broad shoulders, and about as much personality as breakfast cereal. Which doesn’t mean none, it just means he’s ubiquitous and you can’t tell one from the other. His body looks like any male torso from the Abercrombie and Fitch catalogue (indeed he is derided as being an ‘Abercrombie & Fitch-wearing bitch’) and his face belongs to him, obviously, but good luck finding him in a crowd of similar beach hunks. Somehow he takes a bullet to the arm, but it might as well have gone through his head (said Seth, not me) because he has a total turnaround in behaviour. Suddenly he’s nice to the Geek and the Bad Boy, and then, improbably, he ends up banging Julie Cooper, aka Marissa Cooper’s mum aka his girlfriend’s mum. That-totally-brings-up-the-ew-factor-by-10. Now, I have to say ‘banging’ and not ‘dating’ because remember, Julie is dating Old Man Caleb.

See? It’s so horrendously convoluted and twisted and it’s even worse because all this sex, drugs and betrayal happens under the respectable veneer of beachfront mansions, BMWs and professional careers. Yes, you’re right. It’s exactly like ‘Beverly Hills 90210′, THE teen drama of the 90s. And no surprise, I loved that too. It’s not just the money. I think pretty much everyone wonders how the rich live, what their houses look like, what their kids wear, and that’s one of the reasons for the show’s popularity. But it’s the writing that keeps people coming back. Punchlines are sharp and snappy. The acting is real (which is more than can be said for certain local dramas) and yes, I will concede that the twists are seriously over-the-top. But my dear, the rich don’t live like you or I do.

The nuances of teenage interaction are difficult to capture, but there they are. As real as anything any adolescent can dream up, although our backseats may be Hondas instead of Range Rovers, and we skip classes instead of sneaking out to beach parties. As unreal as their privileged lives may be, the love triangles, unrequited affections and social manoeuvring stay the same, even translated halfway around the world.