{"id":87239,"date":"2024-11-16T21:25:09","date_gmt":"2024-11-16T21:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/16\/shows-that-actually-get-young-adults-where-tv-gets-it-right-and-wrong\/"},"modified":"2024-11-16T21:25:09","modified_gmt":"2024-11-16T21:25:09","slug":"shows-that-actually-get-young-adults-where-tv-gets-it-right-and-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/16\/shows-that-actually-get-young-adults-where-tv-gets-it-right-and-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"Shows That Actually \u2018Get\u2019 Young Adults: Where TV Gets It Right (and Wrong)"},"content":{"rendered":"


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In difficult times, young adults need shows about them more than ever. <\/p>\n

Adolescence and early adulthood are challenging no matter what\u2019s going on in a young person\u2019s life, and doubly so when they\u2019re growing up in a high-stress, polarized environment.<\/p>\n

TV gets a lot of things right about young people, though it still misses the mark sometimes.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot\"Screenshot
(CBC\/Screenshot)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

American Shows Need To Take Some Lessons from Degrassi High (and Degrassi: Next Class)<\/h2>\n

Degrassi HIgh feels like it\u2019s been around forever. I remember it being on PBS when I was a kid, not that I ever watched it then.<\/p>\n

But if you want to know what writing young adults properly looks like, you\u2019ve got to check out Degrassi: Next Class.<\/p>\n

This show featured a ton of LGBTQ+ relationships, but the thing is, saying that only scratches the surface of why it is brilliant.<\/p>\n

LGBTQ+ shows shouldn\u2019t ONLY be about being a queer kid. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but there\u2019s so much more to being young, and our LGBTQ+ identities aren\u2019t our only identities.<\/p>\n

This is especially true if you\u2019re Black or Indigenous or Jewish or any other marginalized identity. <\/p>\n

Your queerness is only one part of who you are, and LGBTQ+ representation should show the diversity in the community. <\/p>\n

\"Screenshot\"Screenshot
(CBC\/Screenshot)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Degrassi: Next Class did that by including people from different cultures and showing how their culture influenced their queerness and vice versa.<\/p>\n

This show, which sadly only lasted two seasons, is most properly classified as a teen soap. This means that it features romances, problems with parents, addiction issues, and other things that are of interest to young adults.<\/p>\n

It was also designed to appeal to Generation Z, which means there\u2019s a lot of smartboards, cell phones, social media, and other tech that today\u2019s kids are familiar with.<\/p>\n

But despite these gimmicks, the characters are well-rounded and realistic, which is something that we sometimes miss on shows about young adults.<\/p>\n

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Watch Degrassi Next Class Online<\/p>\n

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\"Toast\"Toast
(Disney\/Carlos Lopez-Calleja (Freeform))<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the few shows I can think of that\u2019s anything like it is the recently ended Good Trouble<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Like Degrassi, Good Trouble featured well-rounded characters who had stuff going on in their lives. It wasn\u2019t JUST about being LGBTQ+, but about being a young adult whose LGBTQ+ identity was part of who they were.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the kind of LGBTQ+ representation<\/a> we need more of!<\/p>\n

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Watch Good Trouble Online<\/p>\n

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Also, There\u2019s More To Being A Young Adult Than Romance<\/h2>\n

Shows like Good Trouble and Degrassi High have a LOT of romantic subplots. In a way, that makes sense.<\/p>\n

\"Jamie\"Jamie
(Disney\/Troy Harvey (Freeform))<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After all, young adults are new to the game of love. <\/p>\n

Every crush, every meaningful look, every fight\u2026 all of these are super intense when it\u2019s your first or second love.<\/p>\n

Plus, love triangles, insecurity, jealousy, and other relationship roadblocks lead to strong drama.<\/p>\n

That said, sometimes shows aimed at young adults focus TOO much on romance, especially those shows that straddle the line between teen drama and soap opera.<\/p>\n

\"Holly\"Holly
(Peacock\/Screenshot)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Young adult shows tend to fall into one of two camps: the teenager who has found the person they are meant to be with for their entire lives at 16, or the teenager that quickly jumps into a relationship with someone else when their heart is broken.<\/p>\n

(These two are not mutually exclusive, of course.)<\/p>\n

In reality, teenage love life is full of drama, but it gets tiring when shows focus too hard on the romance angle, especially when it involves too much partner-switching.<\/p>\n

I was thinking about this when I read an interview recently with Leo Howard, who plays Tate on Days of Our Lives<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Howard was glad that, unlike many soap opera characters, Tate was level-headed enough that he would be honest with his ex-girlfriend about having moved on. However, he attributed Tate\u2019s quick change of partners to that being the way teenagers are.<\/p>\n

To an extent, Howard is right \u2014 some teenagers do jump from one partner to another.<\/p>\n

Yet, it bothers me that this trope is so prevalent on shows involving teenagers. <\/p>\n

\"Tao\"Tao
(Netflix\/Samuel Dore)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The easiest, most common way to create drama is for somebody to get their heart broken and then jump into bed with someone else, usually their ex-partner\u2019s worst enemy.<\/p>\n

Even though that might be quasi-realistic, shouldn\u2019t TV strive to do better?<\/p>\n

Shouldn\u2019t there be SOME shows that show teens who are real role models, whose lives don\u2019t revolve around relationships, who do something other than jump from one relationship to another?<\/p>\n

Young adults are into SO many things. And yes, crushes and relationship drama are part of teenage life, but what about idealism? What about after-school clubs? What about conflicts with teachers and parents?<\/p>\n

When there is too much focus on romance, it starts to feel like the message is that that\u2019s the only thing that matters, which is a terrible message to send, especially for shows that focus on girls.<\/p>\n

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Watch Days of Our LIves Online<\/p>\n

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\"Charlie\"Charlie
(Netflix\/Samuel Dore)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Additionally, this exclusive focus on romance often leaves out asexual teenagers.<\/p>\n

Both Heartstopper<\/a> and Sex Education<\/a> introduced asexual characters, making them the exception to this rule, though Heartstopper did a better job of getting it right.<\/p>\n

Heartstopper Season 3\u2019s Isaac storyline was brilliant because it demonstrated how left-out asexual teens can feel when their friends begin dating.<\/p>\n

Isaac was happy for his friends when they got into relationships, but he felt like a third wheel, which often happens when you don\u2019t have crushes or an interest in dating.<\/p>\n

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Watch Heartstopper Online<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\"JustWatch\"\"JustWatch\"
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\"O\"O
(Netflix)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Conversely, Sex Education\u2019s asexual storyline was mostly forgettable, which I have mixed feelings about.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, not focusing on it allowed O to be a human being who was asexual, but on the other, it got lost in the bigger storyline of O trying to take over the sex therapy business.<\/p>\n

That just points to the fact that we need more stories about asexual characters, period.<\/p>\n

That way, the ones that are not explicitly about asexuality don\u2019t bring up questions about whether they\u2019re strong enough representation.<\/p>\n

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Watch Sex Education Online<\/p>\n

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\"A\"A
(Justine Yeung\/The CW)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Where Do Fantasy Shows Fit In?<\/h2>\n

Shows like Riverdale<\/a> that have supernatural elements, superhero shows, and vampire shows have always been popular with young adults and still are.<\/p>\n

There are a lot of reasons that these shows speak to young adults. They\u2019re about people who are capable of doing extraordinary things, and often the heroes are the ones who are outcasts.<\/p>\n

The message behind these shows is that young people can do anything, including unimaginable things, and that they can make the world a better place.<\/p>\n

Obviously, these shows aren\u2019t realistic, yet they include some of the best depictions of young adults on TV.<\/p>\n

They offer young people dealing with difficult situations (remember how problematic Jughead\u2019s father was on Riverdale Season 1?) and not only surviving, but thriving and being able to help others in even worse situations.<\/p>\n

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Watch Riverdale Online<\/p>\n

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\"Basketball\"Basketball
(Justine Yeung\/The CW)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Over to you, TV Fanatics. <\/p>\n

If you watch a lot of young adult shows, especially if you\u2019re the target audience, I want to hear from you.<\/p>\n

Where do you think TV gets young people right? Where does it need to improve?<\/p>\n

Hit the comments with your thoughts.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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In difficult times, young adults need shows about them more than ever. Adolescence and early adulthood are challenging no matter what\u2019s going on in a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":87240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[175],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}