The not so secret life of the American Teenager

Soon, the ABC family channel will debut a new series called, "The secret life of the American Teenager."

You can read about it at this Website.

The show deals with a teenage girl, affluent and white, who becomes pregnant while in high school. While it is not stated, this girl is no doubt 16 years old. Why would I venture that guess? Well, this isn't a story that we haven't seen before, let alone see recently.

See
Gilmore Girls
Saved
Juno
(and who can forget Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones)

In fact, one can venture a guess that this new series is on the air because the success of Juno. I just wonder what it is about this same story that needs a constant retelling. Teenage pregnancy is a serious issue in our society and I in no way intend to make light of it. Two things. One, the teenager in these films are white and affluent. Two, they are often the smartest characters in the show. These same circumstances keep appearing because for whatever reason you can't deal with this issue with minority or poor characters. Would it then become too real? Too serious?

To that end, I also offer an addendum. Juno owes a lot to 90's female TV icons Buffy Summers, Joey Potter and Rory (and Lorelei) Gilmore. The idea that a teen girl in a tough situation could be witty and smart and quick is really nothing new. For some reason it's new to movies, but in fact, this character has been a staple of American television for years now. Yet there is no mention of the debt owed to these characters of the people who created them. Juno offers nothing particularly new, which is fine, what irks me is that it makes the appearance of being singular when it is not.

As serious as teen pregnancy is, we always see it occurring in a comedy. Why is that? Is it that it would seem like a lifetime movie (fifteen and pregnant) otherwise?

-cjfer-