For some completely foreign and asinine reason, I've become comletely addicted to MTV's Two A Days. The show chronicles a season of the Hoover High School Bucanneers Football team in Alabama, the cheerleaders that fawn over them, the parents who are entirely too proud of them, and the over-the-hill, fucked-up coaches who live through them. The team is ranked second in the nation and that nothing in the world is more important to them than a state championship. The premiss is solid, and in a very "Laguna Beach: The Real OC" sort of way, the show works towards a conclusion by focusing mainly on spoiled white kids and their life-or-death problems... like dating, popularity, prep rallies, homecoming, and athletic scholarships. It's serious stuff and no one takes it more seriously than themselves.
All in all, the show is nothing more than a bunch of drama-based bullshit. More importantly, it unknowingly provides proof that our priorities in this country are incredibly missplaced, bizarre and, well, just plain fucked-UP. So I should hate it, right? No.
Well, Yes! I mean... maybe? FUCK! I don't know!! I hate it. I love it. I love to hate it. But here's the kicker...
I was the captain of my football team in high school, so I can identify with a lof of what's happening in the show. As I got older, I became increasingly embarrassed about that fact. Then when I came out, I became downright ashamed, realizing that my participation in the that machismo-injected tribal nonsense didn't line up with my newfound lifestyle. Eventually though, I came to terms with all of that, writing it off as an important part of my journey. And then this show comes along, throwing all that crap right back in my face.
High School - although indicative of the way many will live their lives in its absense - is filled with petty drama, just like this show. Two A Days shows us that parents can take things way too seriously, teachers can do the same, and cheerleaders are just fucking nothing because they have no real purpose in life. But it's the coaches - oh yes, the coaches - that can create drama where none previously existed. They can be downright evil, too.
High School Football coaches are a breed of their own, and this show makes that very clear. Every week I watch them ridicule the players. They yell and scream and cuss and demean the students whenever they can. Holding a scholarship recommendation over the senior players heads like a dangling carrot, the coaches even threaten to pull it away if the team doesn't win. They're total dicks and it's incredibly obvious to me that they really get off on it. And that is completely dispicable and I hate it.
But I also think it's incredibly hot.
Yeah. It's like that. Some sort of freaky S&M bullshit has come to the surface, bringing up all sorts of questions about the role of authority figures in my life. But the big questions all go back to the '80's. Why did I play football in high school? Why did I subject myself to that shit? And why did I let my coaches unload all of their psycho-babble on me year after year? Was I merely a slave to an underlying desire to get the shit kicked out of me on a regular basis?
There are all sorts of conclusions I could make about all of this. But the bottom line is that I just don't know what to fucking think. Maybe I need to put on some assless chaps and a piggy mask and trek down to the nearest leather bar and do some fieldwork. Or should I go in my football uniform? Then again, a little Freud and a cup of coffee can go a long way. Or maybe I just need a damn shrink? Who knows.
As for Two A Days though, I'm not sure if I love it, hate it, love to hate it, or hate to love it. But oh baby - it hurts so good.
All in all, the show is nothing more than a bunch of drama-based bullshit. More importantly, it unknowingly provides proof that our priorities in this country are incredibly missplaced, bizarre and, well, just plain fucked-UP. So I should hate it, right? No.
Well, Yes! I mean... maybe? FUCK! I don't know!! I hate it. I love it. I love to hate it. But here's the kicker...
I was the captain of my football team in high school, so I can identify with a lof of what's happening in the show. As I got older, I became increasingly embarrassed about that fact. Then when I came out, I became downright ashamed, realizing that my participation in the that machismo-injected tribal nonsense didn't line up with my newfound lifestyle. Eventually though, I came to terms with all of that, writing it off as an important part of my journey. And then this show comes along, throwing all that crap right back in my face.
High School - although indicative of the way many will live their lives in its absense - is filled with petty drama, just like this show. Two A Days shows us that parents can take things way too seriously, teachers can do the same, and cheerleaders are just fucking nothing because they have no real purpose in life. But it's the coaches - oh yes, the coaches - that can create drama where none previously existed. They can be downright evil, too.
High School Football coaches are a breed of their own, and this show makes that very clear. Every week I watch them ridicule the players. They yell and scream and cuss and demean the students whenever they can. Holding a scholarship recommendation over the senior players heads like a dangling carrot, the coaches even threaten to pull it away if the team doesn't win. They're total dicks and it's incredibly obvious to me that they really get off on it. And that is completely dispicable and I hate it.
But I also think it's incredibly hot.
Yeah. It's like that. Some sort of freaky S&M bullshit has come to the surface, bringing up all sorts of questions about the role of authority figures in my life. But the big questions all go back to the '80's. Why did I play football in high school? Why did I subject myself to that shit? And why did I let my coaches unload all of their psycho-babble on me year after year? Was I merely a slave to an underlying desire to get the shit kicked out of me on a regular basis?
There are all sorts of conclusions I could make about all of this. But the bottom line is that I just don't know what to fucking think. Maybe I need to put on some assless chaps and a piggy mask and trek down to the nearest leather bar and do some fieldwork. Or should I go in my football uniform? Then again, a little Freud and a cup of coffee can go a long way. Or maybe I just need a damn shrink? Who knows.
As for Two A Days though, I'm not sure if I love it, hate it, love to hate it, or hate to love it. But oh baby - it hurts so good.