Pretty Perfect Little Liars

I must say I had higher hopes for Pretty Little Liars. I’ll go easy on the show since it was the pilot, and pilots have trouble introducing characters, plot, setting, and atmosphere all at once, so if felt a little rough. Beginning the show with music by a woman vocalist reminds me of the way Gilmore Girls also used women singers to amp up the feminist, estrogen-driven plotlines. The setting reminds me of The Vampire Diaries, with the classic green lawn, Victorian house, yellow-school-bus-high school, red-fall-trees look. Even though the town seems too pretty and stereotypically “American,” to evoke a sense of originality or geography (in contrast to Veronica Mars, which clearly depicts a very specific type of public school in California), this setting works well with science-fiction and mystery shows, so Rosewood’s generic feeling is a good choice.

But it was pretty hard to stomach all the beautiful people. Not only are they good – looking, but every teenage girl comes from the same petite, heart-shaped-face mold. I think ABC Family is trying to lure in the same crowd as Gossip Girl, which is why they picked pretty actors and trained them to all walk slowly and sexily in short skirts, but come on, at least Gossip Girl seems to have variety in body shape. Even with males, the two young love interests look like the same Prince Charming – I can tell them apart only when the talk, since one has an accent. The show misses diversity somehow even though it displays different colors of skin, which is almost more off-putting to me. That seems like a pretty bad way to help young girls accept diverse body images. The outcome of all these beautiful people in this pretty little town is an insular feeling; everything feels aesthetically homogenized.

A key difference between Lily in Veronica Mars and Alison in Pretty Little Liars is that Lily always seemed to express affection for the people she appears to. When Veronica or Duncan have flashbacks and imaginary visions of Lily, we get a sense that Lily loved her friends. This love compels Veronica to solve the mystery. So far in Pretty Little Liars, Alison seems controlling of her friends in an antagonistic, self-indulgent way, using them simply to exert control. Now in the present, “she” sends them threatening, catty, mean-spirited messages. I wonder if this opposite approach to friendship will still compel the girls to solve Alison’s disappearance. Perhaps in her absence they will become close friends, like Veronica and Logan, but this time because they’ll realize how close they can be to each other without a tyrant in the way.

I’m curious to see how this show plays out the rest of the season in terms of borrowing key themes from Gossip Girl, Veronica Mars, The Vampire Diaries, and Desperate Housewives. I don’t think this plagiarism is bad, if PLL uses themes as a jumping off point to create an original story and new discourse for the millennial viewers, but if they use these themes simply as a cheap way to pull in nostalgic fans from other TV shows, I’ll be bummed.

A Kick-Booty Easter (that's for you, Jesus)

I love Easter. I love waking up early with a bubbly feeling inside my belly because today is special, and tiptoeing into Elise’s room to wake her up, (she’s a little grumpy) and together we wake up Jessa, (she’s way too sleepy, so we let her be), and then traipsing down the stairs. Everything looks the same. But somewhere out there is my yellow wicker Easter basket, filled with eggs holding chocolate carrots and jelly-beans, pretty bracelets, and something funkier, like a glimmery mermaid comb. All I have to do now is find it.

But I’m not six anymore. (Actually, I did this all the way up to 17). And my mom can’t fly to Vermont to hide my Easter basket in the French House, or curl my hair into ringlets for church. I can’t eat my dad’s tasty rack of lamb and strawberry salad, nor play board games with the Grimes and croquet in the yard.

The weird thing about getting older is that I still miss the holiday traditions from my childhood, and reenacting them on my own out here obviously feels different, since the most important ingredient – the family – is missing. But I’ve figured out these past few years ways to keep holidays happy and meaningful at college.

1) Spend it with friends. Friends are my family out here. And they’ve probably felt the same nostalgic confusion when they faced their first father-less Thanksgiving or bubby-less Passover. 2) Pull in your favorite customs, throw in your roomies’ original twist, and don’t be afraid to revise things. That’s how you end up making your own traditions anyway, when you start a new family. 3) Call your parents. Tell them you love them.

4) Without wanting to sound preachy – it is nice to take the holiday’s message to heart. Easter is about joy, rebirth and salvation. With the school year coming to a close and spring weather seriously just around the corner, (it better be), try to have dinner with someone you thought was dead (or just buried in the library for three days), salvage your  poor grade in Botany class, and do something cheerful for the sake of good fun.

I went to mass this morning with my friend Brittany at St. Mary’s on the corner. Besides the regular townies, all dressed up in light dresses, ties, and cute crying babies on their shoulders, many college kids showed up, some with parents that must have driven pretty far and pretty early for family time. Afterward we met up with more friends, hunted for chocolate peanut-butter eggs in the damp backyard, and then headed off to Storm Café for brunch. Mmmm mmm delicious. And now as I write this I’m eating dark chocolate eggs and thinking about what a great day this is.