Send Your Kids To Camp: The Importance Of Campy TV Shows Towards Tween Culture

Growing up is hard, and it’s even harder once you’re a tween-ager. One of the worst things to cope with as a tween is embarrassment—and at this age, everything is embarrassing. Everything you do as a tween feels awkward, uncomfortable, and it always feels like someone is staring. Parents don’t get it, making friends is more difficult than ever, and the whole world just seems a little bit off. There’s the desire to be older (more freedom, cooler clothes, no curfews), and the desire to be younger (no responsibilities, tons of automatic friends, intact innocence). Being stuck at this in-between stage is weird and different and awkward, and it feels like no one could possibly understand. These early tweenage years are filled with so many emotions, most of which are completely new, and no one has figured out how to unpack them yet. 

Embracing the embarrassment.

It’s important to acknowledge what media tweens are being fed, especially in a time where perfection on social media isn’t just expected–it’s vital. As younger generations grow up, we’re slowly losing the plot on what it means to grow and glow. Social media’s current state is producing ideologies that kids need to look, dress, and act perfect at all times, despite how young a majority of audiences are. The term “Sephora kids” was recently coined online to show how kids and tweens are shopping for high-end, luxury makeup and skincare meant for adults at stores like Sephora and Ulta. Although growing up includes experimenting and trying on a bunch of different hats to see what suits you best, it also includes having an “ugly phase.” Kids should rock Claire’s lip gloss and eyeshadow and sport a Justice matching set (bonus points if it’s neon green with a cartoon of a cookie and carton of milk across the shirt). Wanting to grow up quicker is a common feeling among tweens, but it’s also important to teach them to embrace their youth.

With our adolescent years being so crucial to our development, it’s important to generate good habits that help us grow into who we are. One of the best habits to become comfortable with is being able to laugh at yourself. Embracing these weird and awkward moments isn’t easy at first, especially when you’re not sure how others will respond. The best part of watching campy shows and movies is welcoming the absurdities and appreciating how raw the characters have to be. Shows like Riverdale, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Glee all embrace going against social norms along with the essence of being a little bit weird. Growing up watching shows and movies like this can help tweens feel normal when life gets a little abnormal. 

What makes a television show or movie “campy?”

In order to understand the significance of campy shows and movies towards our adolescent years, let’s first define the category. When a show or movie is described as “camp” or “campy,” it typically refers to a tone or theme of outrageous, unrealistic, or ironic storylines and dialogue. Oftentimes, campy shows and movies have a common theme of, “it’s so bad, it’s good.” Some shows and movies become campy after failing to generate hype for their original intended purposes, and this is typically where the idea of  “it’s so bad, it’s good” comes to mind. The level of camp also varies across shows and movies, and sometimes it even varies within the terms of shows themselves. It’s more common to have shows that have various levels of camp start out with the intention to be well-received, and then gradually lean into their own embarrassment as a way of saying “you can’t embarrass me more than I’ll embarrass myself.” And while some shows and movies became campy accidentally, others dove right into the deep end. 

What are the best “camp” grounds?

A common example of camp is the ever-famous television show, Riverdale. Riverdale was originally adapted from the Archie Comics, a comic book storyline that follows Archie Andrews and his friends through the wild adventures of high school in their small town of Riverdale. The show adaptation loosely follows the storyline while adding their own spin as the seasons progress. What started out as a dark, teen-angst melodrama quickly turned into one of the most popular campy shows on television. Towards the later seasons, the show heavily relies on unpredictable and unrealistic storylines that creates the feeling of “it’s so bad, it’s good.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer follows the same idea; though the campiness behind the show was intentional from the start, it sings the same tune of “it’s so bad, it’s good,” with a heavy lean into low-budget, intentionally horrible horror.

Glee is one of the most profound campy television shows of our generation, and it carries so many important ideologies and iconic one-liners. Glee takes place at McKinley High from the early to mid 2010s, showcasing never-before-seen themes and storylines. McKinley’s Glee Club stars students from all walks of life; quarterbacks and cheerleaders, geeks and mathletes, loners and queen bees. The premise of Glee is to show the audience that no matter who you are, everyone messes up, and everyone gets embarrassed; what matters most is what you decide to do with that embarrassment. It’s so much easier said than done, and everyone experiences embarrassment differently. Allowing yourself to lift the weight of shame lets all of your other great qualities breathe a little easier. The world doesn’t always have to feel so heavy, and these outlets can be some of the best ways to learn how to laugh at yourself and ease your mind.

• campy
• glee
• tv shows
• tweens