TOP 5: SERIES

Another TOP 5 is here!! Today, we bring you the best series to watch. Let us know what you think! 

NUMBER 5: MY MAD FAT DIARY

Set in Stanford, Lincolnshire, in the mid-1990, it follows the story of a 16 year old – 105 kg. girl, Rae Earl, who has just left a psychiatric hospital where she has spent four months. She begins to reconnect with her old friend, Chloe, who is unaware of Rae’s mental health and body image problems, believing she was in France for the last four months. 

Genre: Comdey / Drama

Based on: My fat, mad teenage diary by Rae Earl

Starring: Sharon Rooney, Nico Mirallegro, Claire Rushbrook

Seasons: 3

Episodes: 16

NUMBER 4: THE ORIGINALS

This is a spin-off from The Vampire Diaries which focuses on the Mikaelson siblings, Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah. The first episode revealed that a werewolf, Hayley, is pregnant with Klaus’ child. Having originally built the city, they had been forced to flee from their vengeful father. In their absence, Marcel took charge of the city. Klaus resolves that they must take down Marcel and get back the city that once belonged to them. While doing that, they must also protect everything that they have built from the war between vampires, werewolves and witches. 

Genre: Horror / Fantasy

Created by: Julie Plec

Starring: Joseph Morgano, Daniel Gillies, Phoebe Tonkin, Claire Holf

Seasons: 2

Episodes: 44

NUMBER 3: PRISON BREAK

Lincoln Burrows has been accused of killing Terrence Steadman, who is the vice-president’s brother and he swears he didn’t do it. Sentenced to death for that crime, he is sent to the Fox River Penitentiary until the day of his execution. His brother, Michael Scofield, is sure of his innocence and, in order to save him, decides to commit a crime. From the outside, a lawyer called Veronica Donovan is helping them. The problem comes when a secret organization gets involved.

Genre: Serial Drama / Action / Crime / Thriller

Created by: Paul Schevring

Starring: Dominic Purcell, Wentworth Miller, Robin Tonney

Seasons: 4

Episodes: 81

NUMBER 2: BATES MOTEL

This is a contemporary prequel to the film ‘Psycho’. The show starts out with Norman Bates being portrayed as a regular young man. As the show goes on, Norma (his mother) and Norman’s relationship gives up insight on how he came to be the way he is. An intricate flashback to Norma’s life is revealed and Norman’s psyche slowly starts to unravel. 

Genre: Drama / Thriller / Suspense

Based on: characters from ‘Psycho’ by Robert Bloch

Starring: Freddie Highmore, Vera Farmiga, Max Thierict

Seasons: 3

Episodes: 30

NUMBER 1: UNDER THE DOME

It tells the story of the residents of the fictional small town of Chester’s Mill, Maine, where a massive, transparent, indestructible dome suddenly cuts them off from the rest of the world. With no internet access, no mobile signals and limited radio communication, the people trapped inside must find their own ways to survive. While military forces, the government and the media from outside attempt to break it down, a small group of people inside is trying to figure out what the dome is, where it came from and when and if it will ever go away. 

Genre: Science Fiction / Mystery / Serial Drama

Based on: Under The Dome by Stephen King

Starring: Mike Vogel, Rachelle Lefevre

Seasons: 3

Episodes: 39

Jazmín Mendoza, Tobías Zavalía and Santiago Vanella - 4th Year

REALITY SHOWS

When we talk about reality shows, we often think about people exposing their lives and letting everyone know what they think and feel. We often relate it to the first reality that was shown here: Big Brother.

But, was it really the first one? The only one? Can we consider 'Showmatch' a reality show? What about MasterChef? 

What makes a reality show what it is? How does this kind of entertainment affect young people and teenagers?

Big Brother

This is one of the most popular reality shows. It is a franchise created by Jon de Mol and was originally based on a tv programme from The Netherlands. The premise of the show is that there is a group of people, dubbed as 'house mates' or 'house guests', living together in a specially constructed large house. During their time in the house they are isolated from the outside world and are not aware of outside events or have access to any electronic devices. Contestants are continuously monitored by television cameras as well as personal audio microphones during their entire stay.

The show gained such popularity that it started to expand overseas. Today, we can turn on the tv and watch our own Big Brother; this was what gave us the idea of writing this article. 

The goal of the show is to portray different people, with deep personal stories. Among this year's participants we can find a gay man, a womanizer, a raped woman, an engineer, a transexual woman, a boxer and a cumbia singer, among others. 

Big Brother 2015 - Argentina

The participants are young people, they share the ambition of winning the general prize and during the process they win fame, money and followers.

The goal is to avoid fiction. Reality shows that are based on this concept, are undoubtedly the most discussed ones and are in the eye of the media because they represent the invasion of the private lives of those portrayed in the show.

But, is it a good thing to turn on the tv and watch someone else's life live? What do we learn from this? Is this constructive? 

One of the reasons why people are against reality shows is the extreme exposition. Media should keep a balance between portraying people's lives and their rights. They must respect people's privacy and freedom, which is not done when taking part in a reality show. 

A blogger, Lucy Maher, wrote the following about the issue:

Parents need to know that the contestants on this voyeuristic reality show are 14 adults who live together in a house. Their close proximity leads to various iffy situations, including excessive drinking and hooking up. What's more, the contestants manipulate each other (lying, flirting, etc.) to get a leg up on their opponent.

We agree with Lucy. 

We think that reality shows are a bad influence to teenagers and younger generations. Big Brother is clearly among the worst of them since it displays an unnnecessary amount of explicit content, having their participants, both men and women, exposing themselves with nudity and live sex. This phenomenon does not end there, it gets worse when they show their 'inhabitants' consuming alcohol and drugs like it's a socially accepted trait. 

Our culture has been invaded by this kind of shows. Does this mean the decadence of good tv has finally started? Is this the ONLY thing we will be forced to watch in the future? 

It depends on every person, to support these formats or not. But it's in our hands, we have the power: we can choose not to watch it, lowering the so call 'rating' battle and asking -silently- for a change. 

Luna Méndez, Agustina Varela, Thomas Lepera, Jonathan Meneses and Facundo Guajardo - 3rd Year.-