Beverly Hills 90210 was the first teen soap opera. It aired from 1990-2000. During that time, the show took the American teenage experience from a personal, somewhat hidden experience to cultural center stage. The premise of the show centers on a Minnesota family with boy and girl teenage twins who move to Beverly Hills. The show started in the genre of the after school movie. Each episode would show the teenage characters and their families dealing with serious issues and the end of the episode would resolve the problem. After the first season, the show became more focused on the characters close-knit friendships and romantic relationships, while still addressing serious issues. The actors and actresses became teen idols and had great influence over the teen culture of the time. The show influenced fashion, music, and most importantly, people’s values.
The show boldly addressed common teen issues such as divorce, sex, date rape, teenage pregnancy, abortion, eating disorders, alcohol and drugs, domestic violence, gay rights, AIDS, and death. Teen sexuality was frequently woven into the show, as it is in all teen’s lives. I still remember the first time I saw the episode when Kelly, the perfect popular blonde, tearfully reveals the story of her first very un-perfect sexual experience during a game of truth or dare. I remember when Donna tells her boyfriend David that she is a virgin and is not going to have sex until she is married, and I remember when Brenda decides she is ready to lose her virginity. While it was controversial that the show did not have all the girls be virgins, they did show different common choices and the pros and cons of each.
The shows dealing with the characters’ use of drugs and alcohol also affected me. Throughout the show’s run, almost every main character had a problem with drugs or alcohol. Dylan became an alcoholic after his Dad died, David became addicted to methamphetamines and lost his little sister while babysitting, Kelly’s loser boyfriend got her addicted to cocaine, and Donna’s prescription drug use caused her to be fired from her dream job. While the show did show some light alcohol and pot use without consequences, any heavy use of hard drugs resulted in horrible consequences.
Beverly Hills 90210 was a pioneering show that influenced a generation. The 1990’s were a time to break taboos and show human experiences for what they were, not what we idealize them to be. A way for me to watch fictional characters go through things I wanted to experience and things I never want to experience during high school, college and early twenties.
