The Paper

Now that it has reached its series finale, let me tell you about my new favorite television show, The Paper. Just when I had given up altogether on MTV "reality" programming for being trite phony shit, someone recommended The Paper to me. As a cable-less individual, I turned to watching them here at MTV.com, and I highly recommend you do the same.

While most of MTV's reality fare has devolved into a showcase for America's young, rich, and insipid, The Paper stands out in stark contrast, featuring a cast of high school seniors who serve as the editorial staff for their newspaper. Unlike most reality programming, it comes across as genuine. Sure, some of the moments appear to be re-staged for the cameras, but it doesn't sting with artificiality. Moreover, it's not about superficiality, cheating significant others, and drunken antics. Instead, the show is about the production of a student newspaper and the formation and destruction of relationships that develop around it. Rather than manufacturing drama like similar series, The Paper allows the natural drama and comedy to arise from the scenario, and it flourishes.

Perhaps most captivating is that I've never seen my own life reflected so closely on television. I say that not as Mr. Kevin the teacher (my students aren't driven overachievers that write for fun), but as Kevin the high school student about seven years ago. I, too, wrote for the school paper and over the years rose through the ranks to reach the position of editor-in-chief. I relate to the drama of power grabs, missed deadlines, and stressful last minute layout changes because I've been there. I went to a similarly upper-middle class Caucasian school where I was that nerd who attended school events for the sole purpose of reporting on them later.

The Paper's protagonist and editor-in-chief, Amanda, is largely unpopular with her peers. She's too smart, too overachieving to be well liked. Inevitably, jealousy surfaces. For all of her quirks and awkwardness, she's endearing in her underdog status, particularly as her former friends attempt to usurp her power. The other kids on the staff are witty, if not just assholes. I do actually feel bad for the other kids who never really got a chance to do much beyond serving as opposition to Amanda, the unappreciated hero. Nevertheless, the kids are real. They're ambitious, envious, immature, sarcastic, fallible, and most refreshingly of all, average looking. Even the newspaper's adult advisor, Ms. Weiss, is refreshing: they don't put Jew 'Fros like hers on television anymore.

I look back and think that my own newspaper experience could be fodder for a similar program. During my freshman year, our student newspaper became engulfed in a controversy that garnered some national media attention because of its issues associated with the First Amendment. The school administration shut down the newspaper for a while, though in the interim, a renegade crew produced an underground publication.

In time, the administration permitted the official newspaper to come back. I chose to align myself with this newspaper for a few reasons. First, I thought the "good" thing to do was to participate in the officially sanctioned publication. Second, I saw an increased chance for leadership opportunity at the less popular paper. Third, no one ever asked me to join the underground rag, so, frankly, I didn't feel cool enough. Ultimately, the two publications became rivals, with staff members looking to somehow outdo one another.

My choice of allegiance was right for me. I put a lot of work in and by my junior year, I was elected second in command, beating out a veteran staff member with seniority and a title; I'll say it: I deserved it. I was the heir apparent to the editor-in-chief position when an Amanda-type asked that I share the title with her. I reluctantly agreed, mainly because I wasn't assertive enough to say no. "Amanda" had her hand in everything at school; there probably wasn't even enough room to mention her editor-in-chief position on her college applications. Did she really need to take charge here, too? While we were friends, being friends with her wasn't always easy. The shared position led to numerous scuffles when it came to making executive decisions.

None of these incidents were life-altering theatrics, but it was real drama and real conflict resolution (or lack there of) occurring naturally out of a high stress environment. As The Paper embraces these same elements rather than trying to concoct over-the-top story lines, it flourishes. I'll never watch Laguna Beach or The Hills and their hyper-sexualized, inauthentic depictions of teenage life. Instead, I'm drawn to what the mainstream television audience would immediately and mistakenly dismiss as boring. The subtleties of real real life are fascinating -- hence The Paper is as well.