Who's Watching Cable's Teen Anti-Heroes (I Am!)
Posted by anastasia on 03-06-2009
Last night I went to a benefit screening of "The Watchmen," the ultimate anti-hero movie. It made me think about the cable TV trend of unlikely (and maybe even unlikeable) protagonists. I don't know if anti hero is actually the right word for people like mafia boss Tony Soprano, "Weeds'" drug dealing housewife Nancy Botwin, or "Big Love's" patriarch Bill Hendrickson. But still, they are very flawed characters you hate to love.
What's more interesting to me in a Ypulse context, are the teenagers on these cable shows. Mob kids Meadow and A.J., mortuary teen Claire Fisher from "Six Feet Under," Nancy's sons Silas and Shane from "Weeds," "Big Love's" polygamist teenagers Sarah and Ben, and now, Marshall and Kate (pictured left), the two teens on Diablo Cody's new series "United States of Tara." The Showtime comedy chronicles Tara (Toni Collette) and her family's struggle to integrate her multiple personalities or Disassociative Identity Disorder (DID).
The teens on network shows like "Gossip Girl," "90210″ or even "Secret Life" or "Greek" are not without their issues or moral ambiguity — but they don't have quite the same edginess as teens on HBO and Showtime. They're not as complex. Even my favorite network teens from "Friday Night Lights" feel a little less nuanced compared to the premium cable kids. What makes a great anti hero is being able to see the character struggle with their weaknesses and contradictions. A.J.'s struggle with depression (probably inherited) and his suicide attempt in the final season of The Sopranos; Claire's choice to terminate a pregnancy on "Six Feet Under"; "Big Love's" Sarah getting pregnant and brother Ben lusting after one of dad's younger wives; Silas following in his mother's footsteps as a pot dealer and sleeping with an older woman on "Weeds"; and on "Tara," Kate's overt sexuality and possibly acting out as a way to deal or escape her mom's craziness along with Marshall's homosexuality and decision to join a production of conservative Christian Hell House because he has a crush on the preacher's son.
I'm not arguing that these premium cable kids should be role models by any stretch of the imagination – I don't think these shows are appropriate for younger teens. Still for those of us trying to understand youth, I think they have a lot to offer. By writing teen characters for adults (instead of for teens), we get more of the emotional nuance of coming of age today with less emphasis on what they're wearing, what music is playing in the background and the general effort to make us want to be them (or at least look like them). Personally, I find these teens, and their royally screwed up parents more enjoyable to watch as they struggle through life, making poor choices, yet making us still root for them to turn out ok….in spite of it all.
Categorized under: TV
March 6th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
I agree (I think) that is is refreshing to see some of this moral complexity of a good novel tiptoeing its way into TV; ditto the superhero realm, which at its best is about how we use our HUMAN powers, for good or evil. Hooray for shades of gray!
March 8th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Another adult-oriented show that had some amazing teen characters and story lines was Swingtown. I thought it was sort of a shame that people may have not tuned in to the show because of perceptions that it was racy or sleazy, when in fact it was a really interesting slice of 1970s family life, with equally intriguing teen and adult characters. Too bad the show didn't last.
On the flip-side, it's unfortunate that not all teen shows have equally nuanced parental story lines. Poor Molly Ringwald has to struggle with a cheesy script on "Secret Life of the American Teen." The goofy slapsticky portrait of the parents is really grating.