I hate to admit it but...I like My Life as Liz. As one of MTV's newest "reality TV" shows, My Life as Liz follows main subject (character?) Liz Lee as she starts her senior year of high school. Typical story of a popular girls fall from grace really. Cliche as it sounds, Liz's situation is not uncommon therefore has relevance and a built in audience. Nerd girls like myself love seeing a quirky high school-er take on the social norms and injustices of growing up weird in a closed minded society. Its what we never had the chance to accomplish in our day and age. Awesome right? Not always.Enter the "reality" of the show=Cori Cooper as Liz's evil nemesis, and ex-friend. The rivalry would be acceptable if there were a reason. Liz never really says what happened between them and Cori doesn't seem multi-faceted enough to actually have it out for Liz. She's just static evil. A cliche, a mockery of her own self. We all know that girls in high school can be ruthless and mean, but not without some warped selfish sense of right or entitlement. No one tricks someone into going to a dance to meet an imaginary secret admirer or says 'I hope you die' for no reason. Blind hatred just does not make sense in this scenario.
Not to mention the camera angles. There is a moment when Taylor, the popular girl with a heart (who didn't see that one coming?) actually falls while the group is walking down the hall a la Cady in Mean Girls. Dialogue in the show in a lame attempt of biting trash talk between Liz and Cori doesn't work either, and soliloquy to tell the audience what Liz thinks and feels just plain sucks. MTV, your viewers are not as stupid as you think they are. Okay, maybe some are. But not all of them! Hire a few good writers to get your ideas across better. Viewers deserve better direction and acting.
Liz's friends are a rag tag group of nerdalicious boys that like to LARP (That's Live Action Role Play bitches!), gamble with comic books and either be supportive of Liz or completely callous. They flip flop so much it is difficult to know where they stand.
Having said that, the idea isn't bad. It's the medium of reality television that misses the mark. Honestly, the story would work as a real TV show. I'd watch it on The N. Liz's personality really shines on her way driving to school. She's lip singing to some silly song and totally into it. It's scenes like these that show the heart of the idea behind the show.
What won me over the most is the budding romance between Liz and the boy who sits behind her in English, Bryson. Sure he has a girlfriend but he totally digs her. Why else would he hang out with her eating fries after the Valentines Day dance or play guitar for her performance in the talent show? I'm a sucker for love. And anyway, that's how it started for Jim and Pam in The Office. I believe in the scripted TV romance.
The show is about standing up for yourself, being okay with not being popular, and not settling for non-existence. Liz just wants her high school experience to mean something. Whats not to love about inspiration?
It's really a testament of at least one great writer with good ideas at MTV that I actually liked this show and the 7 or so minutes of Taking the Stage I witnessed after watching America's Next Best Dance Crew last week with Corinne.
My Life as Liz: a surprising thumbs up
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