Entertainment

Duke University welcomes you to ‘The OC,’ bitches

Taylor Bigler Entertainment Editor
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Duke University, which is considered one of the best universities in the country and costs approximately $56,000 per year to attend, offers a course on the early-aughts teenage soap opera, “The O.C.”

Josh Schwartz, creator of both “The O.C.” and “Gossip Girl” tweeted Thursday, “This is a class taught at Duke! I think I could pass” along with a photo of of the course titled, “‘The O.C.’ and the Self-Aware Culture of 21st Century America”

The series depicted the trials and tribulations  of wealthy and beautiful people living in sunny Orange County, Calif., who were all related to each other in some way or the other and went through more white wine than Ramona Singer. (Pop culture reference! Look it up.)

If you were in high school sometime during the show’s four year run from 2003 to 2007 — which incidentally and awesomely coincided with the popularity of Tivo — you likely spent your weeknights watching Ryan Atwood brood while listening to “Death Cab for Cutie” instead of doing your history homework. The show’s first two seasons were incredibly popular, but waned as story lines became crazier and crazier, as Schwartz-produced series are wont to do.

The course description reads, “We’ll explore the ‘hyper self-awareness’ unique to ‘The O.C.’ and analyze Californian exceptionalism and singularity in history and popular culture, girl culture, 21st century suburban revivalism, the indie music scene, the meta-series, and more.”

The course doesn’t stop there. It also promises to “travel south” to analyze “Laguna Beach,” “The Hills,” and “Real Housewives of Orange County” — monsters that we can all be traced back to “The O.C.”

Look, you don’t need fancy-pants Duke University to analyze “The O.C.” Here is all you need to know: Seth and Summer were meant for each other and will be together forever and ever, Marissa totally deserved to die in the alley in the first season, and Ryan Atwood was always too good for her.

Class dismissed.

h/t Warming Glow

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