One would think we've had enough of pre-and post-pubescent drama a
la the prep school genre. Herein the Plebian angst depicted in Welcome to the Dollhouse commingle with the patrician insouciance in the petulantly perverse Brideshead Revisited to give us NYC Prep.
These kids are prepping all right. But for what? Orange County
housewives? Or a career at Foggy Bottom? Or to become fully vested
bent-out-of-shame Alpha types as encouraged by these students parents?
The
show's voyeuristic focus on the kids acting up and acting out allows
the less-than-privileged audience to form ad hominem opinions that will
be less than empathetic. It obscures the fact, whether we want to
acknowledge it or not, that these kids are as vulnerable -maybe more
given the constant socio-economic pressures to perform and be
successful- as the rest of us. So one kid complains about her STK
secret becoming publicized and another primps prior to a "wet
towelette" date. They're really no different than public school kids. I mean, look at the kid with the "porcelain skin" turning green when she hears her SAT scores. Don't you think most kids with certain aspirations would feel the same whether planning on going to an ivy league or community college?
