Comparing YA to other shows
 

Okay, so I was watching The O.C. the other day and thought there is actually quite a close resemblance between The O.C.'s premise and that of YA. They both entail a kid from the 'wrong side of the tracks' who gets thrown into a fancy rich world.

To me, Ryan is sort of like Will because they're both quite smart, and they both fall in love with a rich girl who'd grown up in the 'rich world' their whole life. I also think the character of Theresa is interesting because she reminds me of Bella - a girl that grew up in the not-so-rich neighbourhood with Will/Ryan, and a potential romantic interest.

So that prompts me to ask if anyone else wants to talk about shows or movies that can be linked to YA thematically? [img]smilies/look.gif[/img]

can it be a book? or series of books? (thought i'd better check before i start ranting lol)

Why not? Just trying to stimulate discussion that's anything to do with YA. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Speaking of books, I always link the setting in Catcher in the Rye to YA. New England boys' boarding school, yeah! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

[ 04-03-2004: Message edited Silversun ]

ok. well i was thinking of the "Song of the Lioness" series by Tamora Pierce, 4 books by an American writer. there's this girl called Alanna, and she swaps places with her twin when they're 10 so she can go be a knight (it's set in a different time period, but that's unspecified).
anyway, she becomes a boy called Alan. (Alanna --> Alan, Jacqueline --> Jake)
and she falls in love with the son of the authority, in this case Prince Jonatthon. (Ham was the son of authority, the Dean)
there aree some other similarities, but they're on my other computer and the twins are sleeping in there, so i'll grab 'em later.

That's really interesting, Toria! Especially the son of authority bit. Maybe if YA was continued for longer, the fact that Hamilton was the Dean's son would have come into play in the J/H relationship.

While I have always regarded the Young Americans as a unique and incomparable treasure, there are parallels to one of my favorite movie obsessesions- Casablanca. There's Hamilton's reference to Bogey's white dinner jacket in Casablanca. There's the storyline of two star-crossed lovers (Rick and Ilsa - Scout and Bella). To me the biggest and most meaningful parallel is the similar endings, where two buddies go off on a life experience (Rick and Louis - Will and Scout).

Green Ranger
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May the Power protect you !

Wow, I never thought about Casablanca that way before, but there are some pretty big similarities. The 'Two Buddies' thing is very like Scout and Will. [img]smilies/glow.gif[/img]

In the second eppie of the show Gorsse Point all the characters were running to the water while undressing AND while the song Six Pacs by the Getaway People played in the background...

In yesterday's eppie of Everwood was a total YA scene when Bright, Amy and Colin were driving in a sunny day in a car and suddenly turn up the volume of the radio and all start singing a song, it was 'Man on the Moon' by REM but it totally remined me to the 'Fernando' YA scene [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] !

I guess the WB can't think of new things all the time... [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img] They suck!

Yeah, there are only so many plotlines and so many characters they could spin out and put into different settings. There has to be a 'Will' in almost every teen show out there. His counterpart in DC is probably Joey(?), in Buffy it'll be Willow, in Angel it's Wes (although Wes went majorly badass later, go him! [img]smilies/cool.gif[/img] ) - the scholarly, insightful type is much too overdone.

And as far as Bella goes, I didn't actually like her that much in YA. She was pretty much just 'the girl', instead of having a very defined personality of her own.

I think that's why I like Jake and Hamilton, because they are unique to other shows.

I haven't said it better myself [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

kinda off topic
 

The question is to compare to other shows but I see some parallels between YA and Harry Potter. Of course they both take place in boarding schools but it's more than that. Ryder is a lot like Malfoy but I'm sure he has more of a conscience since he let Will borrow his car. I believe Hamilton and Jake have the potential to be better pranksters than Fred and George. Hamilton is such a gold mine of inside info about the school that he is basically a Marauder's Map.

As for a Will counterpart, Jamal from "Finding Forrester" would be one. The way they got into prep schools was a little different but they're both the writer-philosopher types.

As for Bella, I don't see her as "just the girl." I cared about the conflict between her and her mom and I felt that added a lot to her character.

Hee hee! Harry Potter YA! That actually makes quite a lot of sense. I feel a fic coming on... :lol:

Harry Potter...hmm..possible...;)

Well, for me it's DC because there's the lake...I even thought that it was in Wilmington when I saw the first ep. Will wasn't really one of a kind. Scout was...Scout. I saw Bella as the girl next door ala Joey. Basically, they were the Pacey-Joey-Dawson triangle, complete with the 'they will-they won't love story' of Bella/Will. Somehow, I could feel the Dawson-Joey syndrome there--which took seasons before they resolved their feelings. It wasn't really new, and it was somehow predictable. One thing i noticed about YA was its pacing. A lot of things happen and unfold for one episode which may be good/bad. And finally, jakeandhamilton...they're the best. from the throwing of caution to the wind to the showers+++...nothing, nobody compares to them. i just simply :love: jH. :nod: