C'est La Vie

 

I used to love watching this show.  Hearing Lauren Conrad’s voice.. the song in the beginning, the palm trees, the Hollywood sign..what’s not to love?  It was so cool to see these girls living a life that many girls including myself would want to live.  Lauren came from a well off family, was going to fashion school, working for Teen Vogue, partying, living in a big city, was pursuing her dream, and had cute boys as friends and even cuter clothes…it was the dream life.  She was likeable, relatable, she cared about her friends, she was down to earth, she made mistakes (yes, she will always be remembered as the girl who didn’t go to Paris) and she was losing her friend to a smarmy guy and couldn’t do anything about it.  It was electrifying television I tell you.  It was a show full of promises, it was youthful, and it was fresh.  As I sat down to watch the first episode of the final season the other day, I felt sick watching it.. where did it all go so wrong?

Why did I feel sick?  It kind of reminds me of this poem from the beginning of one of the best books ever: The Valley of the Dolls

You've got to climb to the top of Mount Everest
to reach the Valley of the Dolls.
It's a brutal climb to reach that peak,
which so few have seen.
You never knew what was really up there,
but the last thing you expected to find
was the Valley of the Dolls.
You stand there, waiting for
the rush of exhilaration
you thought you'd feel - but
it doesn't come.
You're too far away to hear the applause
and take your bows.
And there's no place left to climb.
You're alone, and
the feeling of loneliness is overpowering.
The air is so thin you can scarcely breathe.
You've made it - and the world says
you're a hero.
But it was more fun at the bottom
when you started,
with nothing more than hope and
the dream of fulfillment.
All you saw was the top of that mountain -
there was no one to tell you
about the Valley of the DOlls.
But it's different
when you reach the summit.
The elements have left you battered,
deafened, sightless - and too weary
to enjoy your victory.
- Jacqueline Susann, Valley of the Dolls

I felt sick watching it because of Heidi Montag.  She started off as a sweet girl, full of spunk and brimming with confidence.  She looked fresh faced and cute… Now, she’s a completely different person!  The allure of fame and living in LA has ruined her.  How is it good television to see someone fall apart?  I’ll admit it’s morbidly fascinating, and while that may help ratings, it leaves one with a bitter aftertaste in their mouth and that’s not good.  I just kept shaking my head in sadness and pity when I saw Heidi and her mom having their conversation in Heidi’s hometown.  I feel so bad for Heidi’s mom it’s crazy.  I can’t imagine how she feels, to see her daughter change so rapidly over just a few years and morph into someone who has succumbed to the pressures of living in LA.  It’s a horror story.  The Hills is supposed to resemble a fairy tale, not a horror story!  It’s become something that I would imagine a parent would show a child if the child said they want to become famous.  “Do you want to turn out like Heidi Montag?  Look what happened to her…it’s an evil world out there kiddo”
The episode really made me sick, Heidi’s plastic surgery nightmare, seeing her mom’s pain and sadness (I DO NOTTT WANT TO SEE A MOMMY CRYING ON TV! IT’S JUST TOO SAD!), watching Kristen do shot after shot, drug abuse accusations… it was too much I was cringing the whole way through the show.  I think to have fame and to go for a dream and enter a world that is cut throat, you need to be strong, level headed and grounded or you’ll just get chewed up and spit out.  Heidi got screwed and it truly is sad to watch.  The show used to have a point, it was about a girl pursuing her dream.  There is no point to the show anymore other than to watch all their lives derail.