A pregnant teen. A brother with Down syndrome.
No, this isn't yet another post about Sarah Palin. It's about The Secret Life of the American Teenager, a show my daughter's been watching obsessively all summer, and which I only just caught for the first time this week.
Yeah, maybe I should have been more on top of what she was watching. But she's 18 years old and a high-school junior, and I'm telling myself that she has a right to choose her viewing and enjoy it without supervision. Especially if it sounds as stupid as this show did.
But on Tuesday, I sat down and watched an episode with her. And ... wow. Who knew it would be possible to make a show that has a higher percentage of sex-related plotlines than Grey's Anatomy? An impressive achievement. Yet for all the sex and sex talk, it's really not all that steamy. The plots are so simplistic as to seem symbolic, like a really well-produced video for a health class.
Which, you know what, is probably why my daughter likes it. Lots of sexy shows are way out of her comprehension range, with snappy sarcastic dialog and tangled plotlines. Grey's just soared over her head when she tried to watch it. I'm pretty sure Gossip Girl would, too. But The Secret Life of the American Teenager is pretty much entirely on a topic of interest, and pretty straightforward, and pretty shallow, and pretty simple to grasp, even for a teen who is delayed in the understanding of social speech. It's not what I'd call entertainment, but that doesn't mean it's without value.
If you've been thinking that you ought to have The Talk with your special-needs young person, and don't know quite how to approach the topic or what sort of situations to address, watching The Secret Life and discussing it afterwards might be a good "in." I haven't seen the episode in which the teenager with Down syndrome -- the brother of one of the characters, who seems to mostly be around to make wise pronouncements -- hires a prostitute, but I bet there are some talking points there. The show is having a marathon this Tuesday, for those of us who need to catch up and/or DVR and pick the things we want to fast-forward through.
Have you been watching The Secret Life? Has it led you to talk with your teen, or just run screaming from the TV? And why do all the adults in the show have to be so pathetic? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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