Backchat Magazine Sep. 2014 | Page 8

ABOUT PAST ISSUES ADVERTISE PANDORA PROJECT CONTACT TAKE ACTION NS -I der WRITE Rea STORM -Courtney Clark- Skrew the American Dream... live your own life! -Sadie van Rensberg- So I kind of have to admit that while I write this article I’m waiting patiently to watch Laguna Beach… Shameful, huh? This show entails all the things I have come to despise about the future leaders of the world we live in. For those of you who don’t have DSTV, this program is about a shallow bunch of teenage brats who turn the steering wheels of Ferrari’s with their manicured nails while applying yet more Chanel lipstick. So why do we always tune in for more? With shows like ‘My Super Sweet 16th’ and ‘The Hills” we wait in bated breath, to see what scandal is going to happen next and who will be first to (gasp!) run out of mascara. Reality TV has given us a peek inside the lives of people we thought were so different to us. They seemed perfect at first. The foreshow song-introduction perceives them to be a bunch of happy teenagers, living in a world of bliss, along with the dramatic touch ups, cheesy background pop music and wind generator (Just to ensure the American flag -and their hair- billows to full effect). Soon into the program you realize that these kids are enslaved by their own images, of the great American dream. Their ideas on life are sad, uninspiring and show just how spoilt ‘Daddy’s-LittlePrincess’ truly is. What do we, as teenagers, stand to gain from watching the head cheerleader fluff her blonde hair and complain she has, like, no ‘hot’ clothes because she hasn’t been, like, shopping in, like, two days? Shame, what a tough life she lives… crazy, messed up way we can relate to them? If these people are living the American dream, then I seriously don’t want to be a part of it. Besides, the South African dream of freedom and equality is so much better than some air headed, outlook on the world. So…who wants to watch the History Channel instead? Hhhmmm…Didn’t think so. Why do we continue to waste our time watching these unproductive half hours of trash? Is it because we enjoy laughing at them? Because we look up to them? (I hope not) or is it because in some CONTENTS The waves thrash, the thunder roars, as white horses prance through schools of blue and purple, the swells raising me to happiness, and then dropping me and making me feel like nothing. But still, I paddle on, sometimes with strength and hope, but sometimes with fear of the unknown. Now and then I will wobble and almost topple over, but never have I really gotten wet. I pass many people on my way, sometimes those who have capsized and can’t get back up, and even though I know that at any moment, that cold be me, I realise that I am strong and can keep my balance, as I paddle through life on my canoe.