Faking It

"Faking It" is, of course, MTV's new scripted teen comedy series, following the unwanted departure of "The Hard Times of RJ Berger" and on the heels of the wildly popular "Awkward." (the best scripted comedy series MTV has put out in the last four years and which I sadly suspect may be on its way off the air and into television oblivion once this new season is up).

Like everything else MTV, "Faking It" is comic, edgy trashiness of the first degree; in the 21st century, comic and edgy trashiness of the first degree is an absolute must for modern television programming, especially when it comes to MTV. And yet, like "Awkward." and "Hard Times," there's something oddly compelling about it, even moving.

Because it's only the first episode, a brief synopsis should be sufficient: life-long best friends - the social-climbing, un-ironically named Karma Ashcroft (Katie Stevens) and her gal-pal, the cynical, straight-laced Amy Raudenfeld (Rita Volk) - are a pair of desperate wannabes looking to fit into their liberal-minded, open and socially accepting Austin, Texas, high school, where even they appear to be outsiders desperately looking to join in on the club.

Before you know it, a series of misunderstandings and innuendos unexpectedly propels both girls into the celebrity limelight, where they are mistakenly "outed" as, and thus decide to pretend to be, lesbians, much to the satisfaction of the openly gay king bee Shane Harvey (Michael Willett), and the detriment of their mutual nemesis and resident mean girl/wannabe queen bee Lauren Cooper (Bailey Buntain), who is also Amy's new step-sister.

My impression from this first episode is that "Faking It" looks quite promising. "Faking It" looks to be an inspired take on the lengths we'll go to "fake it" in order to just fit in, bullying, intolerance, and 21st-century political-correctness. This goes to show that like "Awkward." and "The Hard Times of RJ Berger," and just because it's MTV, it may not be as dumb as it appears to be at first.

To their credit, and to our amazement, "Faking It" looks to do the impossible, and that is to be a scripted MTV teen comedy series that actually says something about our 21st-century perceptions of tolerance and acceptance (that it's even saying something at all is a magical feat in and of itself).

Things are looking good, so far...

8/10

This series is still in its second episode and I find it quite enjoyable, but I don't know whether I should be outraged by it or not.

On one hand, I feel like it could be an attempt at representing the LGBTQIA community (or at least homosexuals) in a show that feels light and portrays an acceptant society; on the other, I fear it might be just exploiting an under-represented group to create humorous situations.

The series itself is fun, its fast pace and short episodes are quite successful at catching one's attention and the situations the characters are put in are a mix of uniqueness (due to the alternative setting they find themselves in) and typicality of teenage drama shows.

Considering the girls are neither actively lesbians (at the beginning, at least - Karma is probably bisexual, Amy COULD be a lesbian), nor too familiar with the queer community, the misconceptions seem to be justifiable, but it worries me that people who don't have considerable understanding of queerness might take them as true.

The story has a lot of potential to become an inspiration to teenagers who are struggling with their sexual identities, but it needs to be developed with caution, considering our society isn't as acceptable as the girls' school.

In my opinion this show (on MTV) is primarily meant for teens. Now i have read some user reviews that find it stupid, offensive, too stereotypic etc etc. . .

Well OK i'm not a teen anymore - in fact it's been some thirty years since i was a teen - but i know that gay/lesbian teens are still as uncertain and uncomfortable with their feelings and emotions as WE were some thirty years ago. Now back in those days we didn't have shows like FAKING IT where we could see that it is in fact OK to be gay/lesbian; that it is just another sexual orientation and that there's nothing wrong with being attracted to the same sex!

So the way i see it, it is very good having this show (although some find it lame or stereotypic or whatever . . !) and i hope it reaches and helps gay/lesbian teens in the difficult process of self-acceptance and dealing with their sexual orientation!

Seriously this show is so entertaining! I saw a random fan trailer on youtube and thought I would check it out. I was surprised just how funny this show is.

The gay guy in it just makes it! All the one liners leave me in stitches every time.

I'm long past being a teenager, but this is still very funny!

I wish I went to a school that accepted everyone for being different and actually made those differences cool!

Check it out! Better yet, watch the whole season in one sitting!

p.s all the other characters (including the parents) just add to the awesome nature of this show!

Let's be honest; nobody watches this show because is deep and meaningful. We watch this show because is full of ships. Allow me to explain.

"Faking it" got out in 2014 for MTV, and it was an "Awkward meets gay" concept. The show revolves around Amy and Karma who are best friends.Karma desperately wants to be popular, and Amy wants to make her dearest friend happy. Therefore, when the whole school believe they are the first lesbian couple on school. The faking it begins and the shipping it as well.

The whole show is us hang on for the next Karmy (Karma X Amy) moment that make us want more. The show is full of drama and comedy. The characters are so charming we cared about them, and we want them to be happy but there are things to complicate to achieve and that's pretty good.

This show is full of LGBT representation and it doesn't make it seems like something odd or unique, it makes it seems normal. Therefore, if you are a teenager afraid of their sexuality, this show will make you see there's nothing wrong with you. Love is love. If you are one of those people who says "People want to make everything gay nowdays" then, this is not your show.