I really want to hate The O.C. This surprise success on
Fox has become the guilty pleasure of millions, using the drama of
high school and the exotic backdrop of posh Newport Beach, Calif.,
to draw in viewers. It is a premise used for years on television,
from Beverly Hills, 90210 to The Presidio to Dallas (kind of). For
some reason, people just can’t get enough of rich people being
jerks to each other.

For those proud few who have yet to see The O.C., it
revolves around Ryan (played by Benjamin McKenzie), a kid from a
down-and-out family who is adopted by his public defender after an
altercation with the law. Ryan must adjust to his new surroundings
in the posh Orange County suburb of Newport Beach and try to fit in
with its less-than-inviting inhabitants. Did I mention a girl is
involved? Did I have to?

From suicide attempts to forlorn love letters to breaking and
entering–all in one episode, mind you–this show packs quite the
dramatic wallop. It doesn’t help that everyone in the show is
beautiful. Where I went to high school, there were ugly
people–where are they in the show? Apparently, Newport Beach has
much better genes than central Ohio, though I guess that is the
most believable part of the show. Still, everything about this show
should insult the viewer, not intrigue them.

As much as this show grinds away at my will to live, I cannot
escape the fact the music the show uses is astonishingly good.
Glancing at the show’s soundtrack CD, called Music From the O.C.
Mix One, out in March, the tracklisting plays like a sampling
from my own CD collection: South’s “Paint the Silence,” Joseph
Arthur’s “Honey and the Moon,” selections from Jet, Doves and even
Turin Brakes somehow find their way onto this thing.

This brings about mixed feelings. On one end, I am excited that
bands I love get to be showcased for the masses to hear. If it were
not for The O.C., these bands would remain unknown and
simply fade away as lesser bands get accolades they don’t deserve.
Perhaps now everyone could see what I saw in these bands, and just
maybe the music industry would right itself. To see South at the
top of the Billboard’s Top 100 would be a beautiful sight
indeed.

Be that as it may, why does the venue that these artists have to
use to get exposure have to be such a vapid show? I worked hard to
find these bands and fall in love with their music, and now it
seems like my hidden treasure is being ripped away and pawned off
to these swill-dealers. Sarah McLachlan and and Dido make songs for
these kinds of shows, not Doves. Doves make music for me,
dammit!

Now I have to like this show. I have to like the evil show
producers for having such great musical taste. I have to like the
fact that Joseph Arthur will be playing in the background as Ryan
and Marissa make their first on-air kiss.

Finally, I have to like that the world is finally catching up to
my album collection.