Relationships in Season 1 of One Tree Hill

It was the beginning of the school year and I was looking for a new show to get sucked into. I had already finished Gossip Girl, Gilmore Girls, Pretty Little Liars, and was looking for requests: what could I embrace as my new guilty pleasure? My roommate recommended I start One Tree Hill and since it was on Netflix, I thought why not?

Season 1 of the television show revolves around Nathan and Lucas Scott, two half brothers that share the same father but different mothers. While they did not grow up with each other and have never been friends, they live in the same town (Tree Hill) and attend the same high school. The show begins with Lucas joining the basketball team and Nathan, the star player of the Ravens, being threatened by his brother’s skills. While at first Nathan harasses Lucas in an effort to get him to drop the team, the two eventually overcome their differences and even become friendly.

Throughout Season 1, three main female characters are introduced into the lives of the brothers: Brooke, Peyton, and Haley.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G_NiWmlV5Y

In this clip we see Lucas’ first encounter with Brooke. Brooke introduces herself and flirts with him, instead of waiting for Lucas to come to her or introduce himself to her. 

Brooke is an attractive cheerleader who doesn’t conform to many of the feminine courting strategies of the Heterosexual Script (i.e. acting sexually passive, setting sexual limits) (Kim, Sorsoli, Collins, Zylbergold, Schooler, & Tolman, 2007). As a female, I admire Brooke for her confidence and assertiveness. Brooke is interested in Lucas – who is suddenly on her radar after joining the basketball team - and instead of waiting for Lucas to come to her, Brooke is forward in letting Lucas know she is interested. Brooke initiates their first encounter and introduces herself, and many times after flirts with Lucas and comes on to Lucas. However, Brooke does conform to the Heterosexual Script by also using sex appeal to get Lucas’ attention. Eventually, Lucas becomes her boyfriend! Brooke appears to be rewarded for unconventionally breaking the Heterosexual Script (the reward being Lucas) and she appears to have gotten Lucas to break the Heterosexual Script as well by getting him to commit to her. However, ultimately, as the show progresses, we see that the Heterosexual Script is not to be broken without consequences… It turns out that Lucas is a natural guy after all and he is cheating on Brooke with Peyton, Brooke’s best friend! Brooke is left brokenhearted and betrayed by her boyfriend and best friend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpVC_E4Lj4w&index=93&list=PL3E38D44911234581

In this clip Peyton reflects on her relationship with Brooke and how Brooke has always been there for her since they were little kids. Peyton realizes that what she has done to Brooke is terrible and tells Lucas that things between them need to end. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpSEaNWYfgE&list=PL3E38D44911234581&index=94

In this clip Brooke confronts Peyton about her relationship with Lucas. Brooke feels heartbroken and betrayed.

Peyton is the girl that conformed to the Heterosexual Script by making a sacrifice (Kim et. al, 2007), her best friendship with Brooke, to be with a man. While Brooke is left wondering how could Lucas do this to her, she is more importantly left wondering how could Peyton do this to her? What happened to “hos’ before bro’s”? Brooke was there for Peyton when Peyton’s mom died. Brooke was a long-term best friend and Lucas was just a guy. Peyton and Lucas eventually end their relationship and Peyton must ask herself, was Lucas worth the sacrifice? She is left trying to make amends with Brooke, who after some time of anger, acknowledges that they can work on their friendship but may not be able to overcome this.

Then there is Haley, the best friend of Lucas and the girlfriend of Nathan. Haley is saving herself for the right person and is following the abstinence script: she perceives her virginity as a gift (Kelly, 2010). She does not want to have sex until she is married, and I respect Haley for sticking to her morals and not giving into peer pressure to have sex. While Nathan has had sex before his relationship with Haley and has not been monogamous in past relationships, Nathan feels his relationship with Haley is different. Nathan, who is in love with Haley, is monogamous in his relationship with Haley and respects Haley’s wishes to not have sex before marriage. Haley encourages viewers to only sexually do what they are comfortable with, and Haley’s relationship with Nathan shows women that the “right” man will respect a woman’s wishes. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIcmehJwVXg

In this clip Lucas is upset that Haley did not stick to her morals and wait to get married before having sex. It turns out though, that Haley did. Her and Nathan got married before they had sex. 

So, if media is indeed a super peer, and “young people….turn to the media for information about sexuality” (Brown, El-Toukhy, & Ortiz, 2014), what should young people intend to get out of this season? Well, let’s learn from each of these female characters. First, from Peyton, we can learn the simple lesson that guys are not always worth a sacrifice. Second, from Brooke, we can learn the lesson that women do not always need to abide by the Heterosexual Script and wait for a man to come to them. However, we must also learn from Brooke that some men have the potential to emotionally hurt us. The good news is, from Haley, we learn the lesson that not all men hurt us and the “right” man will respect us as well as our wishes. Furthermore, from Haley’s relationship, we can learn the important lesson that we should never feel peer pressured by a man to do something that conflicts with our morals. Hopefully these will be the important messages that young adolescents are able to take away from this show. 

Works Cited:

Brown, J. D., El-Toukhy, S., & Ortiz, R. R. (2014). Growing Up Sexually in a Digital World: The Risks and Benefits of Youth's Sexual Media Use. In Jordan, Amy B. & Romer, Daniel (Eds.), Media and the Well-Being of Children and Adolescents (pp. 90-108). New York: Oxford University Press.

Kelly, M. (2010). Virginity Loss Naratives in “Teen Drama” Television Programs. Journal of Sex Research, 47(5). In Jordan, A.  B. & Romer, D (Eds.) Media and the Well-Being of Children and Adolescents.

Kim, J., Sorsoli, C., Collins, K., Zylbergold, B., Schooler, D., & Tolman, D. (2007). From Sex to Sexuality: Exposing the Heterosexual Script on Primetime Network Television. Journal of Sex Research, 44, 145-157.