EDITORIAL:MTV clashes with some but pleases others

The MTV issue has reared its head again, with some parents insisting the reality show that stars actual Laguna Beach High School students is projecting an image of the city that is erroneous, unsavory and even dangerous.

We agree the show, despite its highly touted “realism,” has nothing to do with reality.

But, come on, this is the town — and the school — that spawned Joe Francis, who is making a fortune getting girls to act out for real for his utterly unsavory and utterly real “Girls Gone Wild” videos. Boys are also not immune to the “go wild” siren call.

MTV’s “Laguna Beach” is tame as an afternoon soap opera by comparison. And as for making the city look “bad,” that’s also a matter of opinion.

Here’s a squib from the MTV website that sums up how the show’s producers view Laguna Beach: “It’s one of the wealthiest, most beautiful beachside communities in the world, and MTV has unlimited access to the tight-knit power clique of eight rich, beautiful teenagers that live there. Their lives intertwine in ways you won’t believe, until you drop in for a visit. Laguna Beach is paradise — a little slice of heaven on earth — why would anyone want to leave? The answer will come as you watch the best friends share experiences through parties, relationships, love and small-town injustice. This is where the angst and the tumultuous affairs are the stuff of prime-time drama, except this is all REAL. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Welcome to paradise, otherwise known as Laguna Beach, California.”

Sure, it’s “real,” wink-wink.

The producers of this popular show have apparently tapped into the craving of many who want to listen in on the private conversations of the teenage “in crowd” they could never be part of or missed out on.

Now, many in the community are trying to figure out how “their” town got mixed up in this frenzy of craven voyeurism and blaming the school district for not stamping out the flames.

They might as well try to decipher how rock ‘n’ roll took hold of an entire generation.

Sociologists are only now coming to grips with the never-before-seen ability of this generation to be comfortable on camera, and their appetite for seeing themselves and others captured on video.

There is some need served here or the show would not still be a hit. It’s hard to see the harm in focusing the world’s attention on a half-dozen or so kids — with their permission and that of their parents.

Still, it is unpleasant for many who are not reaping the benefits of instant celebrity to endure the lack of privacy that these young people and their families embrace.

As for “Girls Gone Wild,” the harm is obvious — but apparently not to those who spontaneously flash to the camera in return for a T-shirt.

Season 4 of the MTV show will start filming in December, so, for those of you who are disturbed by camera-toting voyeurs following well-dressed kids around, you have been warned.