The Hills.

Last night I attended a new artist showcase for the band White Tie Affair, at the Roosevelt hotel, hosted by Epic Records and the wonderful (okay maybe not so wonderful but open bar), Effen Vodka. The blackberry flavor was awesome.

Anyways, the event was a hit and the band was awesome but this is my problem with Hollywood. My friend and I walk up to the event and there was Audrina from MTV's #1 rated show The Hills. Now I have to admit, while I'm not a huge fan of the show, I do catch it from time to time when I turn on my office TV to MTV and the re-runs come on at 12 noon. For some reason it's oddly addicting watching the lives of rich 22year olds living in Hollywood. But, last night my friend and I and everyone else who attended the showcase (which was probably about 200 people), had to sign release forms and take a picture in case we were in the background of The Hills. How annoying is that? It held up the line to get in and all I wanted to do was get my free vodka tonic, mingle and watch the show.

But it got me thinking. Are the stars of The Hills happy with their lives right now? They were all there. Audrina - who acted like she ran Epic Records A&R department when really she hasn't worked one 8 hour day with Epic Records and only comes to the Sony campus once a month to film for the show. So, from my perspective she is not pursuing her so called "passion for music" she is just showing up at gigs when MTV pays her to be there. I know it can't be that bad, but is she happy with that? Like truly happy, not just happy because she got $2k for the night.
And then there were her little friends who attended. Lauren, who I have to admit is a total cutie pie and seems like a down to earth girl, Lo - the brainiac UCLA grad, Brody, and Stephanie - Spencer's sister.

I don't know why, but it drove me nuts looking at them run around with their Fendi bags and cute little outfits realizing they get paid GOOD money to be the stars of The Hills. Most of them were once regular (rich) kids in the OC who became a part of this new phenomenon show that has pretty much swept over the world. But in ten years from now when they become real adults will they look back and wish their years of being twenty - somethings wasn't scripted into a reality TV show? Are they truly happy?

Perhaps I am a little jealous that being 25, they probably make ten times the amount of annual income I do. And maybe a part of me wishes I could have come from a rich "OC family," so I wouldn't have to ever worry about monetary issues. But seriously, in my opinion they are not role models to 14 year old girls. They get to accomplish their dreams of becoming fashion designers and music producers, because of their reality star power from the show, not because they are in the process of working hard for it like the rest of us in the world. I'm sure they work hard at it - but still, their goals are being full filled because of the fame of the show. Otherwise, they would be amongst the commons.