New Laguna Beach Gives MTV a Dose of Reality

Laguna Beach has long been proud of its open-mindedness. It was a well-known hippie hangout in the 1960s, home to LSD guru Timothy Leary. Gays and lesbians are woven into the community fabric and political activism is the rule. The town’s art scene has for decades lured creative and unconventional types seeking the good life.

“When it comes to tolerance of different lifestyles, you probably can’t find a more livable place in Orange County,” said Wayne Baglin, a council member and real estate broker who has lived here 35 years. But “it’s not an environment ... where crotch-grabbing is common.”

MTV discovered this unspoken community standard this week when school district officials canceled plans to allow the music network to film a reality TV show at Laguna Beach High School.

In the wake of the furor over MTV’s Sunday Super Bowl halftime show -- during which a sexually charged dance number ended with singer Janet Jackson’s breast being exposed -- dozens of livid parents showed up Wednesday to successfully persuade school board members to scrap a deal that could have meant $40,000 for college scholarships, plus royalties.

In doing so, this city of 24,589 became a player in the ongoing national dialogue over the values that are inherent in -- or missing from -- today’s pop culture.

And yet, while many here agree with the school board’s decision, other longtime residents say the move underscores changes that have swept through Laguna Beach in the past generation.

What was once an idyllic, isolated bohemian island is today an upscale bedroom community where the median age tops 43 and $1 million will get you a small fixer-upper.

Despite its liberal reputation, Democrats are still a minority here.

“Could it be that there are two Lagunas?” said Chad Nelsen, 33, whose parents moved here when he was a toddler and the pace was slower.

“The demographics have shifted.... There is the old Laguna generation: the artsy, folksy people,” he said. “And then there are the new residents, who tend to be more conservative.”

The downtown J.C. Penney disappeared long ago. Boutiques and art galleries cater to the tourist crowd. With stores renting for as much as $8,000 a month, retailers must have more than luck -- and roots -- to survive.

Hayes Jeweler’s was a fixture on Forest Street for 42 years. Two weeks ago, the founder’s children, Mike and Kelly Hayes, closed the store and relocated to Mission Viejo.

“I see the town changing dramatically,” Kelly Hayes, 48, said. “You can see it in all the new upscale stores coming in.”

Still, for all its poshness, Laguna Beach can still exude a quirky California sensibility.

“That’s a $200,000 Bentley,” said Alan Levy, 44, a mail carrier with shoulder-length hair, pointing to a parked car. “Moments earlier, the guy driving that came out wearing shorts and a T-shirt.”

Down at Main Beach, men and women -- and men and men -- stroll the boardwalk arm in arm. On the sand, Lauren Powers, who bills herself as a “sexy female bodybuilder,” is the subject of a photo shoot.

She is wearing a blue thong and a see-through scarf.

Underneath, she is topless.

“I have nothing against MTV. The kids are going to watch what they’re going to watch,” she said. “What Janet Jackson did was fabulous, at least from a publicity standpoint.”

But to others, the Super Bowl stunt was a crass peep show -- not unlike reality television itself, which thrives on outrageous behavior. And they didn’t like the idea of MTV cameras following their high school students around.

Laguna Beach has a history of being open to new ideas -- the city’s Bob Gentry became one of the nation’s first openly gay mayors in the early 1980s. But when it comes to children, people here, as everywhere, are protective.

“We all know the sort of programming MTV is interested in, and we know what reality shows are and how they exploit the people who are portrayed in them,” said Diane Challis Davy, director of the venerable Pageant of the Masters.

“Sure, we’re tolerant of different lifestyles in Laguna. But we’re not for using Laguna’s young people to depict MTV’s sensibilities.”

When Baglin moved to Laguna Beach in 1969, it was still a freewheeling place. Nudity at the beach was common. A few years later, it was outlawed.

Today, Baglin says, a tour of the city’s art galleries will reveal far more landscapes than nudes.

“We are a rather provincial community,” said Baglin, who says turning the high school into an MTV backdrop would have disrupted education.

“People come here to live their lives and live it in a discreet way. Blending in is encouraged. Taking actions that make you stand out -- that’s not like Laguna.”

Indeed, for years Bruce S. Hopping, 81, an art patron who operates a youth sports foundation, has offered to commission a sculpture at the high school pool that depicts two swimmers -- a boy and a girl, both nude.

“We’re in an art community ... but they say it would disrupt the campus,” Hopping said, adding that he thought the Jackson incident had been blown out of proportion by parents and school officials.

“I think they’re going way off course and sending a message to young people that it’s nasty to show off the human body.... The youngsters don’t have any hang-ups about these things.”