After a weekend at home, and watching far too much TV, I came up with my next problem. Geordie Shore and everything about it. Yes, I have watched it once, the ‘Chaos in Cacun’ special, and let me tell you, there was most certainly nothing special about it. I know its a pretty provocative view to hold, a sheer hatred of the show, but I think a lot of people watching are completely unaware of how derogatory and just plain gross the show really is.
No matter how blurred and dark all of the scenes are, no amount of editing can get rid of the behaviour that the show is essentially encouraging. What really worried me the most, besides the standard of the show in general, was actually the amount of young people/girls I assume would be watching. The advert I saw, showed two of the girls from the show being miraculously stripped by a strong gust of air (realistic) at the site of some supposed ‘hotties’. Young girls are known to watch the show, should the people the show surrounds really be considered role models for our generation and younger? We’ve finally managed to run away screaming from the stereotype of the ‘hoodie’ and yet we’re running straight into a stereotype which encourages young girls to tan up (although I don’t have a great problem with this, being a fan of fake tan myself), strip down and get annihilated on national television. Should these women really be setting a precedent for young girls? High heels, hair extensions, butt grazing outfits and outrageous behaviour at the helm of alcohol is telling teens of thirteen upwards (and perhaps below!) that this what fun is, this is what guys like and this is how you should look.
Personally I think that, despite the programme making clear that it’s for 18+ viewers, it does nothing to discourage younger viewers. What happened to the good ol’ days of Lizzie McGuire and Mary-Kate and Ashley being teen icons? The age of innocence is well and truly over and it makes me worry about the state these girls will be in when they reach university, when the standards for attractiveness and likeability have been slipping further down a scale towards baring all, and in the case of Geordie Shore that definitely means more than just skin…
(Geordie Shore is one in a variety of programmes causing this problem; Jersey Shore, The Valleys etc are all contributing. Don’t be hatin’ Geordies!)