While sitting in the theater waiting for a movie to start, a clip of Condensed Soup with Joel McHale (from the E! network) played. The clip was so ridiculous that I thought it was a joke, and I didn't think much about it. But last night, my friend mentioned the same clip and said it is indeed real.
The clip is from the ABC Family show "The Secret Life of the American Teenager." I don't watch the show because from what I know of it, it's nothing I want to support. But in this clip, one of the teenage girls is talking with her mother about her dad's recent death. Here is a link to the clip.
In case you can't watch the video, the following is what the teenage girl says. I really wish I were making this up, but unfortunately, it is verbatim:
There's a reason it didn't just happen. It's not a mystery. I had sex and now Dad is dead. He had a horrible death because I had incredible sex. It's just the way life works. And death. I did this. I did it. And if I hadn't done it; if I hadn't had sex, and if I hadn't enjoyed having sex so much, then Dad would still be alive and you know it mom.
This is just so ridiculous that at first I couldn't decide if I should laugh or be angry. But the more I think about it, the more upset I become. The fact that such an absurd line of reasoning even made it onto a television show is beyond me. It seems as if ABC Family is suggesting that if you have sex as a teenager, you are risking your father's life. Not your life, because we all know that people risk their own lives all the time. But people are less likely to engage in behavior that risks the life of a loved one. It also seems as if they are portraying God as the harbinger of doom who is just waiting on you to have sex so he can smite your family members as a form of punishment.
The last thing this world needs is another form of media telling young girls that sex is evil and can only be associated with very bad things. What are you thoughts? Does anybody actually watch the show?
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Oh, that shows really bugs me. It's called the 'secret life of the american teenager' but the majority of teend]s don't get pregnant like the girl in the show.
I tried watching it. I really did. It just was so...dramatic!
Hmm, I think you should actually watch the episode before you decide thats what is going on here.
I saw the clip on The Soup as well, never watched the show, and it gives no indication of what her mother says in response to that absurd proclamation. Perhaps the daughter is able to accept that what she does with her vagina has no effect on her parents' health.
I have seen this show a couple times while babysitting a 12 year old and her younger brothers. The girl and I will watch this show while the boys get ready for bed. I have problems with this show and try to convey that to this girl, but it doesn't always sink it.
I will say that all of this girls friends and her mother tell her that she is not responsible for her fathers death. But that doesn't really excuse it. I was surprised not only that this character had sex (because she was always so adamant about waiting til marriage) but they had her father die "as a result."
Because this girl is so upset over her fathers death, she also tells the main character (the one with the baby) that her baby is her punishment for having sex. While I do think that this show very much romanticizes teen pregnancy, I think it is completely inappropriate to think of a child as a punishment. Of course the main character stands up to this attack, but it's still out there.
I know I'm rambling, but I have a lot of issues with this show, not only because my 12-year-old neighbor loves the show.
Yes, this show is stupid. It is basically intended to be a psa about teen sex.
The main character had sex at band camp and got pregnant. Now that is possible, but I am really bored with the number of shows/movies in which a girl gets pregnant after having sex once.
All but one of the characters tell her emotionally that she would be killing her baby if she aborts.
The one character who offers to take her to the clinic when she is considering aborting is the show's wild child. It is notable that the wild child is the daughter of a single mother and latina, one of the only minority characters on the cast. She has sex, with everybody. They also made her very smart, and she is definitely my favorite character, but is generally presented as out-of-control.
And now the show's abstinence-advocating evangelical had sex, against her father's wishes. Then her father dies.
I was an American teen, and I did not have a secret life anything like the characters on this show. Every show ends with a plea to parents to talk to their kids about sex. That itself is a good message, but I think the show in general sends very few good messages. And the stupidity of most of the characters will make you want to bang your head on the table.
I haven't seen the show either, but I would definitely watch it before casting judgment on that statement. To me, the concept that sounds so utterly ridiculous it's hard to believe the show would be promoting such an idea - isn't it just as likely be that the show is highlighting some of the absurd social pressures surrounding sex that American teens deal with? Not to say the show couldn't be sexist (most American TV is!), but I'm not sure you can say it's supporting the girl's equating having sex with the death of her father from such little information.
"It also seems as if they are portraying God as the harbinger of doom who is just waiting on you to have sex so he can smite your family members as a form of punishment."
That part's pretty accurate, at least...
Secret Life is a gulity pleasure for me. Not because of it's politics (because I feel a lot of those claims are misunderstood) but because it's cheesy.
Anyway, I don't believe the show is actually saying "sex kills." I think Grace will eventually understand she didn't kill her father. She was fighting with her father at the time of his death. People can get crazy when a loved one dies, especially if they were fighting at the time of death.
Wait what? That quote is just too funny to actually be serious.
I've had incredible sex many times and my dad is still alive and well. lol
It is really sad though if there are kids watching this show that actually take these messages seriously. It's just ridiculous
I think people should watch the show befor passing judgement. If you had seen the show before, you'd know that Grace was brought up in a very Christian household. Her parents specifically told her to wait until marriage to have sex because that's what the Bible says. Her dad was leaving on a business trip one morning and Grace never said goodbye to him after they had a huge argument about sex before marriage. When she found out that her dad's plane crashed, she was just really guilty. The quote was really stupid but if you knew the context of the situation it makes more sense
I haven't seen the episode, but I have watched the show and my judgement is that it's a melodramatic, unrealistic, typical piece of ABC Family bull shit masquerading as something that has merit. I also find the 'sensual latina' character to be extremely racist.
I saw the first season on abc family's website one morning when I had the worst cramps ever and couldn't get back to sleep. It was pretty decent but then after the second season I just couldn't watch anymore. I can't believe how crappy shows like this can get anywhere.
I've got a great new idea for a show. It's called 'Secret Life of the American Teen Drama Writer'.
It's about a cast of 5-8 dynamic, foibled characters who sit in a room together desperately trying to brainstorm what cultural memes could be used to exploit a lesser-tapped demographic.
The main characters decide that christian youth are easy targets, being fickle and non-discerning, like regular youth, but also a captive audience, denied much of 'secular media saturation'.
Marketing to teen parents the idea of 'more wholesome TV' the main cast of the show achieve almost limitless critical acclaim and almost as limitless paychecks. Laughing all the way to the bank, the main characters have little conflict, except how to write caricature 'rebellious children' in order to keep frothy liberals and feminists at bay. (in this case, they will all be portrayed as overweight harpies or well-meaning ditzy unibrow anti-fashionistas)
I think it's a hit. I should pitch it to Fox.