Death of the Everyman

            The shift in tween television shows

BY: Mary Ann Bennett

             In recent years, there has been a shift in tween culture. I walk past stores I shopped at when I was in high school and younger, looking at the mannequins wearing skimpy midriff shirts I see in stores for college-aged women. I see middle school girls shopping in expensive stores, with make-up covering their faces and iPhones clutched in their well-manicured hands. Boys circulate around these groups of girls, responding to their sexual appeal and beginning to flirt.

            Attempting to integrate with the teenage culture, kids from the ages of 8 to 12 assume the over-sexualized, violent lifestyles of the older generations. Demanding to be treated in an adult-like manner, tweens assimilate into the teenage culture by watching their TV shows and buying the same brands of clothes. Tweens adapt to the social habits of teenagers, accepting mature themes as a part of their everyday life. Wishing for the unlimited freedom they see in idealized lives of the rich and famous, tweens transform into consuming machines.

            The falsified maturation of the tween generation reflects in the popular TV shows of Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, two channels targeted for tween culture. Disney Channel phenomenon Hannah Montana features the life of a famous performing rock star, with an elaborate wardrobe to prove it. Current Disney shows continued to portray exceptional lifestyles, such as Shake It Up, Austin & Ally, and Jessie. The exceptional talent of the main characters in these shows leads to immediate fame and financial security. Making their way up in the world, the protagonists experience success at a young age and assume the attitude of adults. Girls become fashionistas on these shows, matching elaborately accessorized outfits with perfectly stylized hair and make-up in every shot. Victorious, Nickelodeon's response to Hannah Montana, stars a fashion conscious performing arts student attending a unique art school. Nickelodeon's other popular show, iCarly, revolves around the life of a famous web show star.

            I used to watch Disney Channel shows like Even Stevens and Lizzie McGuire. Simple shows following quirky people through their average lives. The shows emphasized identifiable "everyman" characters, rather than the extreme lifestyles of extraordinary characters in environments of unlimited opportunity. These new shows, even if they are meant to show the relative normalcy of rich and famous lives, put pressures on the tween generation to become the characters they see. Tweens expect to become Hannah Montana, transforming into her persona as they buy her clothes, make-up, and other branded objects of consumption. These pre-adolescents grow up immature, with a facade of maturity masking their inner turmoil of poor self-esteem and distorted body image. The "everyman" has died in this shallow world of idolized premature success.