The T.V. show Awkward is about a 16 year old teenager named Jenna Hamilton and her daily experiences with high school, boys, bullies, as well as her home life. Her witty humor and sarcastic banter is rather refreshing in order to cater to the current generation of teenagers in America.
A specific episode of the show, called “Knocker Nightmare”, deals with Jenna and her body image; more specifically how her body is portrayed to the public. In the episode a popular female takes a nude picture of Jenna and distributes it throughout the school in retaliation for Jenna supposedly having “a thing” for her boyfriend. Within minutes the entire school has access to Jenna’s bare chest. In an effort to seek comfort she locks eyes with the boy she is involved with, but instead she is crushed when he makes a comment about “there’s not even much to look at”.
The episode brings to light the concept of a young girl’s body image and the scrutiny that she may endure because of her peers. Granted Jenna’s body was judged on a insanely large scale, but it still raises the problem of other people having an influence on another person’s body image. In this day and age it is extremely easy for other people to criticize, mock, and judge a person’s body image, especially a young girl’s body image. Technology has a great part in the big scheme of it all, making it incredibly easy for people to communicate. And it played a significantly detrimental role in Jenna’s overexposure based on the fact that the photo was sent out within seconds of it being shot. Jenna is at first mortified, but then attempts to take the “high road” approach by acting as if it does not bother her. But in the end it does strike her hard. It is disheartening and vulgar for other people to think that they have the right to judge a young girl’s body, yet so many people decide to do it anyway.
The episode, along with the rest of the season, gives an interesting perspective into the life of a present day teenage girl. The sarcasm, humor, and life perspectives proposed throughout the show is very indicative of the time that we live in. All in all the episode was an entertaining piece that dealt with the concept of body image. Besides her lack of humiliation at the beginning of the episode, everything else was for the most part “spot on” with how a normal teenage girl would possibly deal with the horrific experience.
If you do take the time to watch the episode, take a mental note on how the lead characters deal with the idea of body image. Do you think they have take a practical approach to dealing with the uncomfortable situation?
Thanks for reading :)
-Raymi Damo
This show is such a good example of how teens today deal with body image! Not only is the main character, Jenna, always preoccupied with what people think of her, but it represents such a stereotypical image of what goe in in teenagers' heads. There is the awkward character who is upset because she is "invisible" to her peers and she is angry because the guy of her dream will never pay attention to her seeing as how he is very popular and she's not. Then you have the dream guy, Matty, who is very popular and suave, but also a jerk! Although he has feeling for Jenna he does not want to be seen in public because he has "an image to protect". Finally you have the rich girl who is popular, but she has weight issues and therefore is a bully to people because she has a very lo self esteem because of her body image.
ReplyDeleteI think this show portrays situations which teenagers do face everyday. Although I never went to a high school who was split up in groups of popularity and nonpoluarity, as a teenager, I have had to deal with issues such as gossip about other people, Gossip about myself, body issues, and worrying about how other people see me. They are issues that have been drilled into our heads by society and we grow up hearing about the "perfect guy", the "perfect image" and the "perfect body" and they are issues that although should not matter as much, they are all teenagers thik about at different stages in their lives.
Suleyma Garcia
DeleteBeing someone that has watched a couple episodes of this show, I do believe that it takes a different approach to addressing many of the issues that everyday teens are facing. Unlike shows such as the OC or Laguna Beach, not everything that happens to Jenna is conveniently perfect, like having a mode picture of her circled around the school, she deals with things that constantly happen in high schools across America. I do believe that the creators of this show are making strides in the right direction to address exactly how many teens feel. Although at times it seems a little unrealistic that someone would just "shake off" a picture of themselves circulating through the school, while most teens today would turn to revenge or something much worse like self harm. With this in mind, I do feel like they have a pretty practical approach to addressing the issue of body image.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has watched a couple episodes of this show I can say that I believe the writers of this show have taken a much more practical approach of addressing key issues that today's teens are facing. No longer are the troubles of teens seen through the light they were during shows such as "The OC" and "Laguna Beach". With this in mind for this specific episode, it does still seem a little unrealistic that someone react exactly as Jenna did during this episode. Most teens that might find themselves facing this might turn to revenge, or something as horrible as self harm. With this in mind, I do think this show gives a new alternative view on the reaction to such horrible acts taking place in many high schools across America, and shows this alternative in a much more realistic approach than previous shows have.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the media aspect with all these shows like Awkward and Teen Mom and Skins and Jersey Shore. We viewers are entertained by these programs but also judge them because we think that kids are influenced by them; however, now that my perspective has changed, I think it is good for teens to be aware of what society is really like. The reality shows that MTV broadcasts are a representation of the stereotypes, body image, teen pregnacy, and sexual identity that goes on in the world. This show Awkward really stands out to me because I have not watched TV in a long time, but the issues that are presented to Jenna are similar to those in high schools everywhere. The importance of body image is being focused to let young teens know that they are being judged because that is the way society is set up, on the other hand, those same teens do not need to use the social stereotypes to base their body image on. I think too many teens try to base themselves on their looks and if they are following the new trend but the imporant thing is to be educated and change society from ignorance to intelligence. Girls want to be equal to guys, but guys dont send nude pictures of other guys to the whole school as an act of revenge. Teens are the most vunerable in high school and are always being judged, they set the base for all judgement by their actions society records as the norm. Word to the wise to any of you potential feminists, don't do anything a guy wouldnt do if your seeking equality.
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