February 16, 2005

Sour ‘16’

True or False: MTV’s “My Super Sweet 16” is the most reprehensible show in television history.

I’m sure worse have crossed my field of vision before (“Full House,” "I, Max," and “Mind of the Married Man” come to mind), but '16' is certainly in the conversation. Now I’m quite against the whole “indecency” thing and it’s extremely rare for television to turn my stomach. But this loathsome show has actually done the trick- something must be very, very, wrong when the decision to give a reality show to Lizzie Grubman is only the second most disgusting thing a TV network has done in a particular month.

If you’ve had the fortune of not yet viewing this monstrosity of a program, each week it follows the adventures of a different but equally despicable teenage girl as she plans her 16th birthday party. The subjects are always as independently wealthy as they are un-self-aware and clueless; on one episode one girl suggested they book the shitty but popular MTV band Unwritten Law for the party; “ugh,” replied her friend, “they’re SO not popular anymore.”

But even worse was last week’s episode, which unlike all the others featured a male protagonist, “Hart,” whose own dad had no qualms with procuring strippers for his son’s party. The lowlight was probably when Hart realized that he had scheduled his soiree for the same evening as a school dance, so he did what any of us would’ve in that situation: he gathered a coterie of the school’s most popular girls, bribed them with a clothes-shopping spree, and thus cajoled them into coming to the party. Someday, Hart’s going to make an awesome philandering husband.

This episode led to a great quip from the back-from-Jacksonville Bill Simmons:

Ten years from now, I just want to be in the same room when a grown-up Hart watches the tape of his birthday party on "My Super Sweet 16" ... and tries to swallow his own tongue.
“Super Sweet 16” is the latest outgrowth of what Entertainment Weekly’s Owen Gleibermann termed “the post-feminist princess culture,” a formulation so brilliant I wish Owen would turn it into a book. The culture- whether manifested in “Sex and the City,” Paris Hilton, “The Bachelor,” or Star Jones and her tiaras- seeks to infantalize women by encouraging them to act like little girls. This princess-fantasy stuff is everywhere these days, and its just about the last thing that ought to be encouraged for MTV’s teenage audience.

'Sweet 16' is a show that makes me long for the social insight and class consciousness of "Rich Girls."

Posted by Stephen Silver at February 16, 2005 01:14 AM
Comments

For a show so lame and "indecent" you sure seem to know a lot about it. And what do you have against Full House? Bob Saget is a a great actor.

Posted by: at February 16, 2005 01:24 AM

Yay to Rich Girls! Where are you Ally Hilfilger? I buy your dad's clothes so you can party!

Posted by: A at February 16, 2005 09:44 AM

Hart isn't the only teenage boy to have a sweet sixteen.

Many celeb males probably have.

From Martin Ricca, Jesse McCartey, Alberto, and Bowwow

Posted by: Juliana Perez at July 6, 2005 12:46 AM

Belinda's alberto?

Posted by: at July 6, 2005 12:48 AM

My Super Sweet Sixteen just further glamorizes teenagers being selfish loathesome brats. These kids don't appreciate the fact that their parents are stupid enough to spend on their sixteenth birthday party what it would take "normal" people upwards of 10 years of work to accumulate. These kids are destined to become the types of individuals who have everything they'll ever want but have empty souls and minds. This is quite possibly the worst reality television show I've ever seen. What's next? A show focusing on airhead Kimberly Stewart auditioning pedicurists for her personal entourage? I wish teens would turn the TV off when shows like this came on and send a message that watching spoiled rich children act like monsters is simply not interesting at all.

Posted by: Kristen at August 1, 2005 08:46 PM

"If I don't get my credit cards back, I'm never going to speak to my parents again."
Note the word "my" in front of the words "credit card". I was not aware that something that you never worked for, earned or appreciated could be considered yours. Secondly, if this child never spoke to her parents again over this "crime", how on earth would she afford to live day to day without her Swarovski crystallized cell phone, her toy dog, her Oscar de la Renta gowns and her brand new Range Rover?
Everyone is quick to blame the kids on these types of shows - which is easy enough to do since they are insufferable little twits, but the real finger should be pointed directly at Mom and Dad who clearly have no clue that giving your child everything they've ever wanted may not be the best idea. The parents are to blame for creating these out of control vacuous children. I'm scared for when these kids realize the world isn't about Gucci bags and the latest issue of Vogue. On second thought, that actually could be quite amusing to watch.

Posted by: at August 1, 2005 08:55 PM

Hi my name is Breana Baltrip I am fifteen years old I am from Sandiego California .I have been watching the show my super sweet sixteen for sometime now.All of this time that I have been watching the show I have been wondering if the show is for well established teen girls only. Meaning do you have to be rich to be on the show.I mean would a normal teen maybe some one like me be able to be on the show.I would love to be on the show.It would be a dream come true. I hope that the show would actually give a normal kid a chance to be on the show. Hey, maybe me hopefully. Please give me a responce and remember its my ultimate dream to be on the show. Sincerely Breana Baltrip

Posted by: Breana Baltrip at August 15, 2005 08:08 PM

Hi my name is Breana Baltrip I am fifteen years old I am from Sandiego California .I have been watching the show my super sweet sixteen for sometime now.All of this time that I have been watching the show I have been wondering if the show is for well established teen girls only. Meaning do you have to be rich to be on the show.I mean would a normal teen maybe some one like me be able to be on the show.I would love to be on the show.It would be a dream come true. I hope that the show would actually give a normal kid a chance to be on the show. Hey, maybe me hopefully. Please give me a responce and remember its my ultimate dream to be on the show. Sincerely Breana Baltrip

Posted by: Breana Baltrip at August 15, 2005 08:08 PM

Hi my name is Breana Baltrip I am fifteen years old I am from Sandiego California .I have been watching the show my super sweet sixteen for sometime now.All of this time that I have been watching the show I have been wondering if the show is for well established teen girls only. Meaning do you have to be rich to be on the show.I mean would a normal teen maybe some one like me be able to be on the show.I would love to be on the show.It would be a dream come true. I hope that the show would actually give a normal kid a chance to be on the show. Hey, maybe me hopefully. Please give me a responce and remember its my ultimate dream to be on the show. Sincerely Breana Baltrip

Posted by: Breana Baltrip at August 15, 2005 08:09 PM

Hi my name is Breana Baltrip I am fifteen years old I am from Sandiego California .I have been watching the show my super sweet sixteen for sometime now.All of this time that I have been watching the show I have been wondering if the show is for well established teen girls only. Meaning do you have to be rich to be on the show.I mean would a normal teen maybe some one like me be able to be on the show.I would love to be on the show.It would be a dream come true. I hope that the show would actually give a normal kid a chance to be on the show. Hey, maybe me hopefully. Please give me a responce and remember its my ultimate dream to be on the show. Sincerely Breana Baltrip

Posted by: Breana Baltrip at August 15, 2005 08:25 PM
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