 |
Watching the first season of “The
Secret Life of an American Teenager”
last year, I had to wonder if there was
any chance that the show could possibly
improve if it were to make it to a second
season. Since the series focused on a teenage
girl who gets pregnant the first time she
in coerced into having sex, I had hoped
it would serve (if it became popular) as
a warning to teenage girls that getting
pregnant is not worth the risk of pre-marital
sex.
In it, we meet Amy Juergens (Shailene Woodley)…
the aforementioned teenage girl who gets
pregnant after losing her virginity to the
stereotypical bad boy, Ricky (Daren Kagasoff).
This is of course a relationship that is
not going to happen and she falls in love
with Ben (Kenny Baumann), heir to his family’s
sausage company. We are also introduced
to Grace, a super Christian, who swears
to remain abstinent until marriage…
much to the chagrin of her boyfriend, Jack
(Greg Finley II)… so he sleeps with
another girl. And on and on it goes.
|
As the father of a teenage boy and a 5 year old
girl… I’m learning that the mistakes
we made in the past aren’t necessarily going
to keep them from being repeated by our children.
My son, thankfully, is pretty understanding of
the issues involved with pre-marital sex and swears
he won’t, but you never know. A lot of teenage
girls today (especially here in Texas) are rather
slutty and I can see why it would be difficult
for a hormonally raged teenage boy to swear off.
That said, the problem I had with the first season
was in the fact that despite the heavy and important
concepts (again especially here in Texas, where
teenage promiscuity is bordering on the brink
of prostitution) the series opted to take a very
lighthearted and somewhat silly tone. This was
unfortunately exacerbated by the fact that most
of the cast were really not very good actors.
I wasn’t so much surprised by the ‘teenage’
cast in this respect, bit I was shocked to see
John Schneider (as the town’s overtly Christian
character) delivering some of the worst acting
of his career. He goes way overboard in his depiction
of the character. It was such a major surprise
after his wonderfully understated role as Jonathon
Kent in “Smallville.” I was also surprised
by veteran actress Molly Ringwald, but for the
opposite reason. I’ve never really found
her to be a very good actress, but here, as Amy’s
mother, delivers a very good performance that
is often poignant and heartbreaking.
As it turns out, this second season isn’t
really any better. It mixes reality with unreality
to a degree that it doesn’t imitate life
as parody the serious issues if life. On one hand,
it teaches that if you have pre-marital sex it
ruins the lives of everyone around you (which
is true), yet it speeds by these facts with rapid
fire dialogue that ultimately makes fun of what
has gone so wrong.
The DVD of the second season does include a music
video of the song “Secret Life (You and
Me)” by The Strange Familiar as well as
two featurettes focusing a little on the behind
the scenes shenanigans of the cast.
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Daren Kagasoff, Megan
Park, Greg Finley II, John Schneider, Molly Ringwald
Extras: Music Video “Secret Life (You and
Me) by The Strange Familiar; Character Secrets,
Cast Close-ups
Specifications:
Studio: ABC Family
Release Date: 6/16/2009
MPAA Rating: NR
http://www.SecretLIfeOnDVD.com
We'll give The Secret Life of an American Teen:
Season 2 a C-.
|
