Awkward love triangle hangouts at South Coast Plaza, fist-fights at Newport Beach cocktail parties and hiding in model homes eating In-N-Out, “The O.C.” was one of the most popular teen drama series of the early 2000s and infamous for its portrayal of teenage life in Orange County. The four-season show navigates the county’s richest family, the Cohens, taking in Ryan Atwood, a troubled, gifted teen from Chino. Whether you actually refer to Orange County as “The O.C.”, or can’t decide which of your parent’s cars to drive to school (BMW or Range Rover only, of course), as actual students living in Orange County, here is a real-life comparison to see how accurate “The O.C.” is to O.C.
“The O.C.’s” portrayal of wealth and luxury
Branded clutch bags, luxury vehicles and personal housekeepers are the norm for the affluent Cohens and their Newport Beach community. Who better to reflect “The O.C.’s” materialistic portrayal of the community than the Cohens’ next-door neighbor, Julie Cooper? Her lust for money, partly driven by her humble roots in Riverside to a sudden high standing in society, is best displayed through marrying for wealth and then spending that money on the latest UGGs. By throwing her money at whatever problem comes her way, there is a stigma that O.C. is filled with self-absorbed superficialness.
To some extent, it’s accurate to real life. Whether you walk through our school’s parking lot, shop at South Coast, Fashion Island or Spectrum or through your friend’s gated community, you’ll find countless high-end cars, multi-million dollar homes (median house price in Irvine is $1.6 million) and designer brands. After all, Newport Beach is one of the most expensive zip codes in the nation, and Irvine is right behind it.
However, not everywhere in Orange County is just like Newport Beach and its surrounding areas, and this blanket statement of the whole county being upper class doesn’t accurately reflect its wealth. Many communities are working class and diverse, something the show rarely depicts.
Another inaccuracy is a misrepresentation of areas outside the county. Start the show, click the first episode and you’ll notice the number of times the Newpsies (the show’s nickname for Newport Beach residents) look in utter disgust when you say you come from Chino or Long Beach. While it’s true that class differences exist, painting Chino as entirely working-class oversimplifies reality. Census data reports Chino’s $100,000 median household income above state average, and a poverty level significantly lower than the state average. This narrative choice adds drama, which works for television, but the portrayal of these class differences should be viewed with nuance.
Teenagers’ free time doesn’t always mean upscale malls or beaches
Endless beach days and shopping sprees seem to be the O.C. teenage life according to the show’s core four, Seth, Ryan, Marissa and Summer. While partly true, not every teenager maxes out their parent’s credit card every weekend. In Irvine, students frequent The District for boba or Spectrum for the movies. Going bowling at Irvine Lanes, ice skating at Great Park, trying escape rooms or simply getting In-N-Out or Cane’s after those late-night hangouts are activities the show rarely depicts.
An almost laughable exaggeration of “The O.C.” are the teenagers, leaning on their lockers at school holding up two tickets to their unsuspecting crush, saying, “Do you wanna go see The Strokes?” While anyone would love to see these indie rock bands, going to music concerts every other night is unrealistic.
Overall, most free time is spent juggling schools, jobs or extracurricular activities, which the show largely ignores. It does make sense for the show to skip out on seemingly boring parts like Ryan’s physics study group—unless it’s to see him flirting with Lindsay Gardener of course. When it comes to school what “The O.C.” does nail are school events, like beach bonfires and prom dances labeled “Under the O. Sea” (a nod to ASB).
Do people actually call Orange County “The O.C.”
“Welcome to the O.C.”, “that’s how we do it in the O.C.,” and lines in every episode mentioning Orange County are abbreviated to its not-so-realistic nickname. The truth is I’ve never heard any local say “The O.C.”. Yes, O.C. works, but drop the “The.” Take another popular sitcom set in Newport Beach “Arrested Development,” where main character Michael Bluth shuts down the popularized abbreviation— “The O.C.? Don’t call it that.” While “The O.C.” had an immense influence on 2000s pop culture, all you need to know is there’s a truth behind every joke, and this is definitely a truth.
“The O.C.” is available to stream on Hulu and HBO Max.
