Blair Waldorf and Chuck Bass of Gossip Girl, and Nancy Botwin, played by Mary-Louise Parker on Weeds, top Common Sense Media’s list of the “10 Worst TV Role Models.” The Gossip Girl duo represent the “ultimate mean girl” and a “drinking, drugging gigolo,” while Botwin “makes consistently terrible parenting decisions, getting her sons caught up in a world of drug dealing, crime, and violence” (that’s only good enough for #3?).
Other’s making the list: Michael Scott, played by Steve Carell on The Office (”so self-absorbed that he can’t see beyond his own ambitions”); Peter Griffin of Family Guy (”watches way too much TV, for starters”); and Naomi Clark on 90210 (”conniving, manipulative, and out for herself”). If kids and teens watch these shows, Common Sense Media suggests parents use the characters on-screen behaviors for discussion. “Even negative role models can open the door to a discussion of what is and isn’t acceptable behavior,” they note.
I’m more concerned by reality television stars. At least Michael Scott is fictional. His behavior is supposed to be over the top and laughable.
I’m not so sure about many of the reality show stars, who seem to be a pretty unsavory bunch….
I could make a case that ALL reality show “stars” are guilty of the same bad role model sin: attention-seeking behavior