Kid's Shows and Fame

The Common Room Film, Television, Music & Books
#1

For the sake of using reconisable programs, I’ll mainly refer to shows from the United States, even though I live in the UK and could proably use examples from the CBBC.

I’ve noticed that over the past few years, kid’s channels have really been pushing live-action shows and TV movies about fictional celebrities. For example, the Disney Channel has been heavily promoting and showing:

Hannah Montana- show about a teenage popstar who keeps her identity secret.
JONAS- show about a teenage boyband
Sonny With a Chance- show about teenage actors in a sketch show (as far as I know they aren’t that famous in the show itself)
Camp Rock- girl goes to music camp, meets pop stars
Starstruck- girl meets famous pop star, stuff happens
I’m in the Band- boy meets favorite band, they come to live with him (a little different as the band is kind of washed up)

Now, I know that there have been exceptions (like Wizards of Waverley Place) but at least half of the live action shows/ TV Movies seem to be about fictional celebrities in some way. Nickelodeon has also done this lately, with shows like Big Time Rush and iCarly (internet celebrities).

I’m also aware that this isn’t a new thing- there have been kid’s shows about fictional singers and actors for years now, and that these recent ones are often a good way of getting albums sold. But that’s not my problem.

The problem I find with a lot of these shows is that they kind of push this obsession with celebrity upon kids. I mean, kids know that the shows are unrealistic, but still. There’s so much focus on being a famous singer in these things. I wouldn’t mind it, but with so much emphasis on big performance jobs… I don’t know. I just find something really negative about the quantity of this stuff produced. I don’t mind the shows themselves, I guess some people find them funny or good escapism, I just don’t like the way the networks airing them show so many similar shows.

It’s hard to explain what I mean, but my problem comes down to this- are these shows pushing unhealthy interests onto kids? There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be a singer, or actor. But are these shows kind of encouraging a strange fasincation and obsession with fame and celebrity? I’m not sure, so I wanted to find out other people’s views on the prevalance of “celebrity” characters in kid’s shows today.

Cartoons are a different matter, but a lot of them are so out there it’s hard to tell if a viewer would be affected by them in this sort of way. By the way, I don’t really believe that people imitate movies, tv shows etc. This is why I’m not sure if kids would really gain an idealised interest in celebrity. Although that wouldn’t be imitation.

Sorry for the long and rambling post! So, what do you guys make of all the live-action kids shows?[/b]

#2

I despise them, to be honest. There’s nothing wrong with children having dreams, but the problem caused by TV shows that encourage children to focus entirely on attaining the celebrity lifestyle is that it narrows down their perspective and view of the world onto this one, usually unattainable, idea.

I don’t think I’d have such a problem with it if the celebrity lifestyle wasn’t so hedonistic and wasn’t so badly misrepresented by these shows. If these shows actually happened in real life, the reality would be that half of these child stars would end up having a very short-lived career with not much of a future, whilst the other half would probably end up associating with drugs due to the pressure of being famous. Children watching these shows don’t realise the implications of what it means to be famous, to have the papparazzi knocking on your door night and day, to be involved in scandals.

Our obsession with celebrity in the west is both depressing and unsurprising. Civilized society is becoming more and more materialistic, and the ultimate icon of materialism has to be the celebrity. Why teach our children to aspire to such an unstable, destructive and sometimes even soul-destroying career?

Of course, it’s not all bad. The reality is that the majority of these children grow up and realise that they’re not going to turn into iCarly or any of these other fake, plastic characters. They become accountants and doctors and hopefully live a fulfilled and happy life. Unfortunately, more and more people do seem to be dissatisfied with their lives, even when, in comparison to citizens of less economically developed countries, they have a lot to be thankful for! And I can’t help but wonder if such TV shows have had a part to play in that.

Interesting idea for a topic, Nausicaa!

#3

Yeah, you just summed up what I’m worried about quite succinctly. What makes these shows worse is that fact that the real actors in them are often under media scrutiny- like Miley Cyrus. The fact that they’re mainly teenage actors makes it worse- after a few years of Disney or Nick, they want to branch out to prove that they can do more varied and mature stuff. This leads to a questionable inbetween time when they are still between images and half of their work is increasingly innapropriate for the fans of the rest of their work.

It’s annoying, because it is possible to do the transition well. Whilst it may be a bit premature to say this, the three lead actors in the Harry Potter movies have all been fairly tasteful in their new projects. But that’s a bit different, as none of them have singing careers or roles in these sorts of shows.

I don’t like how lots of magazines stalk celebrities. I especially hate how one week they’ll call a famous woman “fat” when she’s actually about average in size, then critise another famous woman for being too skinny! It’s so hypocritical and sends out so many mixed messages!

I’m just a little worried that giving kids “celebrities” to look up to could be the gateway to reading those sorts of things.

#4

This is sooo true. While I don’t believe absolutely all media affects the minds of children (did Tom and Jerry make children violent? No), I think it actually has left a mark on the ways of thinking among kids today. Fame and popularity have always been a big deal, but shows like Hannah Montanna seem to tell kids being a famous celebrity is the best thing in the world. It isn’t. What if kids don’t end up famous like they always thought they would? There is nothing in these shows as far as I’m concerned telling you it’s ok wherever you end up.

#5

Yeah, I agree with your comment about all media affecting children’s minds. I hate it when a teenage does something violent and the media immediately blames it on video games or movies whilst ignoring the other circumstances of the act. But I think things like this could influence kids in a more subtle way, like you said.

I wouldn’t mind shows like Hannah Monatana if they weren’t so common. There need to be a wider range of role models for children really. I’d like it if more kid tv characters aspired to be doctors, writers, artists, any kind of job, not just a limited few.

#6

I hate all those shows. WOWP is alright cause it’s not all about music. They are pretty much saying thet you can become famous with a snap of a finger. Like Lizardgirl said there most likly be docters or something in real life. The shows think these kids have the life of everydau people but are lives our much more diffrent then that.

#7

Exactly! If they’d glorify other jobs I’d be content.

#8

To me its like they are pushing the kids channels to be more teen friendly. I remember once while flipping through channels when the Disney Channel had some kid talking about a thong, a THONG. That seriously pissed me off i mean these are little kids and i couldnt believe that Disney would do that! >.< it really upset me and ever since then ive been catching things that i think are inaporopirate for younger viewers.
Cartoon Network i dont Really have a problem with because they’ve always been close to the edge and they already have Adult Swim(which i love but i dont think it should come on so early) and they’ve had things like Toonami. but i hated when Cartoon Network first broke their ALL cartoonness. I love Disney but Cartoon Network is my favorite channel.(I miss things like Foster’s)
Disney is more apealing to tweens and stuff i think because its just cheesy and they have things like boy bands and pop stars. That what girls Love YD not that boys dont watch Disney because Sweet Life is one of my little bros favorite shows but its for the ages around there that arent ashamed (yet) of watching “kids shows”

#9

That is so true. There is too much emphisis on fame and wealth in not only preteen shows, but other shows as well. I find it interesting that most of the listed shows are from The Disney Channel.

Here’s another example
iCarly: About a girl who has gained fame by having her own web show.

#10

They’re definately trying to age up the programs- or at least give the impression of being teen orientated. Slightly younger kids probably feel a bit more grown up watching shows like that. Cartoon Network has always put adult jokes into their shows, but I think they can get away with it because they show old cartoons, like Looney Tunes, which tend to have adult themes. I don’t know why but Cartoon Network just has a different feel to the other major channels.

lol, it;s funny that you should mention girls loving Disney shows- the only friend of mine who’s ever said they like them was a guy XD. He used to watch Hannah Montana, High School Musical and Wizards of Waverley Place.

ellie-jessie-eve- Yeah, I mainly listed Disney shows because I’m more familiar with them. Some of the Nick shows about fame have only just come out where I live, so I thought it would be better to just mention them in passing in case I seriously misunderstood what they were about lol. I do think that Disney is a little bit worse about it- at least Nick balances it out by showing millions of episodes of Spongebob and FOP. Disney kind of shoved most of their cartoons onto the XD channel. Nick used to have The Amanda Show, but that was more of a sketch show really.

As for your comment about fame and wealth being emphasised in other shows, I have to agree. A lot of programs show people in fairly wealthy neighbourhoods, getting into romantic triangles.

iCarly weirds me out a little. It might be because in the first episode I ever saw of it, Carly and her friend (the girl) were filming an episode of their webshow in bikinis, using a green screen to pretend they were at the beach. I thought it was a little creepy to show girls in their early teens filming themselves like that for the internet. I saw the scene out of context though, so I might be wrong.

#11

Well, I don’t find those shows too bad, at least the ones about just celebrities. I watched Hannah Montana when I was younger and I turned out fine. I still want to go to Hollywood, but as an awesome Disney executive. :sunglasses:

What scares me? ICarly. Pretty much what this show says is that you, as a young teenage girl, can post many videos of yourself, your family members, and your best friend, clearly showing the city and apartment building you live in, including where you go to school, and nothing bad will happen. No, you’ll just become an overnight sensation! That is extremely dangerous. The internet is NOT a safe place, and if someone wanted to track down Carly and do God knows what to her there is nothing stopping them. In fact, it would probably be incredibly easy, especially since she’s apparently such a well known star. Let’s face it, parents don’t always follow their kids on the internet. They very well could be endangering themselves trying to make easy stardom.

Despite what the show may try to convince us, Spencer is a horrible parent. Anyone who lets their 15-year-old sister expose that much information about herself online should NOT be her guardian. When my 21 year old sister found out about my use of this forum, she quizzed me on every bit of info about myself I gave to you in case she found it dangerous. Annoying? Yes. But at least she’s friggin looking out for that stuff!

#12

I agree. What is the dad doing, he always sends gifts. One that is hard to bealive is he seens a huge flat HD tv, where do they get all this money? They have cell phones, flat screen compulters, Carlys room has everything possible, and they live in an apartment, thats most lieky the reason they live in one, cause they spend it all on stuff, there saying it’s good to spend. Where is the mom also, she is never seen or anything.

They also spy all random people which is ilegal, if they spyed on me I would arrest them before they could say sorry. In one episode the police didne’t care, they thought it was a good thing.

They never get in troble, in another episode the prinsiple leaves and two teachers now rule the school and make them wear unifroms and stuff. the kids trash the school proberly having the school to pay hundreds or even thounends of dollars, but do they get punished, NO? they get along with there lifes and pretend it dident happen. Sam fights people to the death and only gets dentention when she should be suspended and put in jubi.

They also make fun of people like the Wade Collins guy, Sams boyfriend and even random people. The show is unreal and it teaches a bad message to kids.

#13

I agree, I’m suprised that girl hasn’t had anything incredibly life threating bad happen to her, or her friends. That show is just tacky and corny anyway.

The show also gives off the impression of “Who needs parents?”

#14

Yeah, I think iCarly fails to show a responsible way to use the internet… or a responsible way to do anything really. Normally I hate kids’ shows with lessons in them, but I think iCarly is a show which needs them. They have to show some kind of danger from being on the internet so much, giving away information.

#15

That was the episode I officially stopped watching. I was twelve and stressing a lot about my relatively good grades. There was a girl at my school whose parents were going to buy her an ipod if she got good grades, and I thought that was ridiculous (I’m expected to get As. I’m not going to get expensive gifts for it) Then I saw that episode where her dad buys her an HD big screen TV for ONE strait A report card and went “WTF!?”

Plus, her dad is in the military and her brother is an independent sculptor (Who don’t make much money unless they’re very famous, which he’s not). Unless her dead mother was SUPER rich, where the Funk and Wagnall do they get the money to support their expensive looking website? It looks about the same quality as (if not better than) say, ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com, and even the is supported by an actual company and asks for donations from the fans.

And I’m sorry for my extended rant, but Spencer as her “guardian” just disgusts me. “Hey, my sister is doing something that could very easily get her stalked, raped, or killed…but at least she’s having fun!”

And I agree about your points about the character’s behavior. I did watch the show for a little while (I missed Drake and Josh :cry: ) and I sometimes couldn’t believe the terrible things the “heroes” got away with (The only one that didn’t seem needlessly cruel was Freddie, and even he got a few Kick the Dog moments) and the terrible messages it promoted. Basically the message was “Everything is okay as long as your peers think you’re cool.” Seriously, that’s pretty much the theme of this show.

#16

The more I read these posts and t hink about it, the more I realize how pathetic the shows for preteens are these days, and I wonder what effect it will have on them in the future.

#17

It’s true, a lot of these shows have pretty obnoxious protagonists.

About the HD TV thing, I haven’t seen the episode but I get the gist of it. In a lot of these shows, the lead character has some really cool possessions- Hannah Montana was given a car once! I think it’s silly to show so many kids in these shows having this stuff. I know it’s kind of wish fufilment, but it’s not fair on some kids whos family’s can’t afford this stuff. I mean, the lead characters are supposed to be average kids with some sort of twist to their life- most of them go to normal schools rather than expensive, private ones. So it sets a weird standard for what kids should have in their life.

I know most kids will be able to differentiate, but a lot of stuff could subconciously affect them.

#18

I despise them too. I miss the old Disney shows. :cry:

#19

I like Phineas and Ferb, but that’s basically the only new show of Disney’s that I like. Nickelodeon just won’t let shows die. I like the old Spongebob, and I used to like Fairly Odd Parents, but after about a decade of them being constantly shown I’m growing sick of them. I’m looking forward to the new Avatar series though :slight_smile: