‘The O.C.’ is not quite how it’s done in Orange County

Lolita Harper

The city’s teens sniff cocaine, steal alcohol, smoke marijuana, dance

half naked, leave their underage friends passed out on the sidewalk,

fight and have casual sex in threesomes in the bathroom while their

parents have affairs and embezzle millions of dollars. Or at least

that’s what the creators of the new Fox network show “The O.C.” would

have you believe.

The highly anticipated teen drama made its debut Tuesday night,

telling the tale of a down-on-his-luck kid who gets busted for

stealing a car and winds up living with his public defender in

Newport Beach. Bad boy Ryan Atwood -- played by Benjamin McKenzie --

travels overnight from a desolate trailer park in Chino to a

beautiful mansion by the beach. And so the fun begins.

When the sun is up, or the parents are around, the show represents

a picturesque Newport Beach where sailing and charity abound. But

when nobody’s looking, the trouble surfaces.

Newport Beach Mayor Steve Bromberg said it was “just another

show.”

Bromberg thought the story line would be more specific to Newport

Beach, but found it was just another teen drama.

“This is a story about characters that could easily fit into any

affluent beach community,” Bromberg said. “It’s just entertainment.”

Cassidy Weiss, a Newport resident, and Rachel Alcone, who lives in

Irvine Cove, were discussing the new drama at lunch on Wednesday.

They described it as funny, exaggerated and true -- of some people.

The 18-year-olds said they took issue with the show’s name. It is

obvious the television series highlights a very specific segment of

Newport Beach, and is not representative of the entire city, much

less the county, they said.

“Obviously, people in Minnesota are going to think we are all like

this in Orange County, and that is sad,” Alcone said. “It is

representative of some of the people, but it is not a good portrayal

of the area as a whole.”

Weiss said the show portrayed what she referred to as the

“National Charity League” scene. A high society scene in which people

-- adults and teens -- throw a lot of money at good causes, pat

themselves on the back and then indulge in various vices. Not

everyone in the city is like that, Weiss said.

“I live in Newport and I’d never be in that. It’s just a joke,”

she said.

“There’s more to Orange County than that,” Alcone added. “It’s so

diverse. I wish they would show everything.”

There were parts of the show that touched on universal truths for

teenagers, such as the part where the character Summer snags two

bottles of champagne from the fashion show for the after-party.

“There were little things that all teenagers do, and that was more

real,” Alcone said.

“A lot of it was really hyped up just for TV,” Weiss added. “Girls

don’t run around half naked, or naked.”

Weiss and Alcone said they would watch next week.

Bromberg, who said he only kept watching out of curiosity, said he

will not rearrange his evening schedule to accommodate the show.

“I don’t think I am the demographic they are going for,” the mayor

said.

Veena Patel and Lauren Hawkins, both 20-year-old students at UC

Irvine, also talked about the new drama during lunch Wednesday.

Neither of the women are originally from Newport Beach, or Orange

County, so they weren’t sure how accurate the portrayal was.

“That’s not us, but I’m not from here,” Hawkins said. “We’re the

college kids, and that’s more the rich kid, spoiled high school

scene.”

Patel agreed she has never been confronted with that type of

scene, but can imagine some people have.

“You know, Annie, in physics, she grew up here and she seems kind

of like that,” Patel said.

The show also lost popularity points because it is not filmed in

Newport Beach. The coastline was not the same, and the hills were too

green.

“It all looked unfamiliar, even though we live in the area they’re

supposed to be filming in,” Hawkins said.

* LOLITA HARPER writes columns Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and

covers culture and the arts. She can be reached at (949) 574-4275 or

by e-mail at [email protected].