My Super Sweet 16

One of the perils of going on business trips is that you can't take the TiVo with you, and you end up watching (gasp) live TV. Unfortunately, I ended up watching MTV's show, My Super Sweet 16. It was like watching a train wreck and I couldn't tear myself away.

I saw the eposide with a girl named Natalie, who threw a $450,000 party at her dad's nightclub and invited 1,000 people. And at the end, there were a bunch of testimonials from party attendees, all claiming that the party had truly cemented Natalie's popularity. It was all so horrifying because of the sheer cost of the party, for a sixteen year old, in addition to reinforcing that spending a ridiculous amount of money on a party can make you popular. And the girl isn't exactly edited in the most favorable light, so in addition to being a somewhat shallow but probably vulnerable teenager, her vapidity will be immortalized and broadcast to the nation. Everyone is so awkward and impractical at that age; it just seems mean-spirited to exploit that for a TV show.

Reality TV show participants know (or should know) that they may be portrayed less than favorably, but I'm not sure if sheltered fifteen year olds know what they are signing up for.

- nyanko