A Closer Look At: One Tree Hill

Television Show: One Tree Hill
Air Length: 2003-2012
Genre: Drama
Setting: Tree Hill (Wilmington), North Carolina

One Tree Hill follows half-brothers Nathan and Lucas Scott. Along with the brothers are their close friends, Haley, Peyton, Brooke and the show focuses on their personal relationships and life in high school and beyond. Throughout the series there are key components that allow viewers to understand and relate to the characters. First, there is the age, race and gender of the characters. Then, each character has a special interest that help define who they are, for example Peyton loves music and Brooke enjoys fashion, and each of these interests give a sense of the people represented in the show. Finally, One Tree Hill deals with many realistic issues such as teen pregnancy, drugs, tragic incidents and relationships that then effect viewers and the characters, giving people more of a sense of who the people are based on how situations are dealt with.

Zeitgeist of One Tree Hill

Zeitgeist Definition: In German it means "the spirit of the age" and would be defined by the intellectual and cultural issues of the time period.

Relating to One Tree Hill:
One Tree Hill's zeitgeist revolves around the high school scene and how so many teenagers are affected by issues such as bullying, sports injuries, family and home life problems, relationships and mental illnesses. Issues like these in high school were shown to be very prominent in the 2000s through television shows like One Tree Hill but the issues also carry on in the past, present and future and help people, like these characters find who they are and where they go in life.

A Look at the Characters

Character: Lucas Scott
Portrayed By: Chad Michael Murray

Lucas Scott was the "boy next door", the shy, blonde boy with soft features who was kind to everyone. Although the picture is of a more adult Scott, you can still identify the loving boy viewers get to know.

Character: Nathan Scott

Portrayed By: James Lafferty 

Opposite from Lucas in looks, Nathan is fairly built, broad and has defined facial features which allow him to come across as the athletic and strong. Although behind this muscular build, viewers come to know a gentle and kind side of Nathan. 

Character: Haley James Scott

Portrayed By: Bethany Joy Lenz

Haley is Lucas' best friend and originally introduced as a sweet and outgoing girl. Her beautiful looks also portray her as the "hidden beauty" who excels in school. As the series continues, she still keeps all these features but becomes much more of a glamourous character, as seen in the photo. 

Character: Peyton Sawyer 

Portrayed By: Hilarie Burton 

Peyton Sawyer is the girl all the boys wanted, her beautiful blonde curls, pale skin and symmetrical features. Although behind her pretty face she had many problems but she was always seen as the character that all girls wanted to be like. 

Character: Brooke Davis 

Portrayed By: Sophia Bush

Brooke Davis is the fashionable, glamourous, outogoing, beautiful and popular girl that girls also wanted to be. She is opposite to Peyton with her olive tone skin, define features and chestnut brown hair but behind the looks, viewers get to know the very special and complicated person that is Brooke Davis. 

Character: Marvin "Mouth" McFadden

Portrayed By: Lee Norris 

One of Lucas Scott's friends, Marvin McFadden, known as "Mouth" is the typical "geek" of the plot line. His spiked hair and collared shirts portray him in the nerd light perfectly.

Character: Antwon "Skills" Taylor

Portrayed By: Antwon Tanner 

Another of Lucas' friends is Antwon "Skills" Taylor. He. along with Lucas play basketball together at the park. Skills is seen as a fit and athletic man but also comes from a less fortunate family and has to work hard to earn what he wants. 

A Look at the Issues

 A large issue in the show and reality is bullying and low self esteem. In an episode of reflection, Brooke puts all of her imperfections on herself to show how bullying effects people.

Another issue seen in society are the use and abuse of drugs. Many of the characters go through a period of time where they resort to drugs due to all of the stress and problems in their lives.

On a slightly darker side of issues in the world today is suicide and depression. When a student brings a gun to school and ends up shooting himself in the end, viewers see the mental illness depression and are able to relate to the show and see ways to prevent tragic outcomes.

After the tragic incident of Jimmy taking his own life, Dan out of rage and spite, shoots his brother Keith since he believes Keith previously attempted to murder him. This event allows the viewers to see how the characters deal with lose and tragedy.

Another example of how to deal with loss was when Peyton lost her birth mother to cancer, which is something almost every person can relate to.

In terms of people relating to the issues in the show, Haley gets pregnant in her last year of high school which again, is an issue seen today and allows viewers to have personal feelings towards these matters and characters.

Approaching a pivotal time in Lucas' life, he is diagnosed with a heart problem that effects his ability to play basketball. Any athlete is able to relate to this, when they get an injury and are unable to play it can be devastating.

A Look at the Interests

Lucas Scott

Lucas Scott is seen throughout the show to be playing basketball, all the time but he also takes a liking to reading and writing.











Nathan Scott

Right from the beginning, Nathan is a determined and talented basketball player. Dan, Nathan's father was a former player and keeps the pressure on Nathan to play which was good and bad but gives Nathan a drive to play.















Peyton Sawyer

Peyton is all about the music, this is seen in her room, wardrobe and since she is always listening to music. Out of the group of characters she is the artistic one who loves to be creative.










Brooke Davis

Brooke is always seen dressing in a fashionable manner and this translated into what she does with her life. Upon graduating Brooke launches her fashion company "Clothes Over Bros" and becomes incredibly successful.

Haley James Scott

 Haley is a multi-talented girl who is embraced in the world of school and education, later on becoming a teacher as well as having a successful music career.

Marvin "Mouth" McFadden

Since the pilot episode, Mouth has be commentating on sports games which then translates into his career of being a sports broadcaster. Mouth goes from being a nerd in high school, to a successful broadcaster!

Antwon "Skills" Taylor 

Just like Nathan, Skills life is full of basketball and by following his athletic dreams, he makes it to the school teams and well as playing in university. 

Each character brings something different to the show and allows the viewers to relate to at least one of them in some way.