Apparently this conflict between LOST and Teen Moms is going to continue for me. Because I watched the season premiere of LOST, I didn't get a chance to watch the reunion show of Teen Moms until last night. I probably could have watched it Tuesday night, but I needed to watch LOST repeatedly to understand it.
Anyway, it shouldn't surprise me but in a way it did. MTV is going to have an entirely new season of Teen Moms. Not that there is a shortage of teen moms, but in my opinion making this a show that airs every season is glamorizing teen pregnancy. Watch a season of the show. It is more about the conflict between the mother and father and other familial relationships rather than waking up all night every night to feed the baby. Will teens want to get pregnant in order to be on the show? I hope not, but then I didn't think there were people like Nadya Suleman in the world either. I do know this much. If a teen finds out they are pregnant I bet they think about calling MTV to get on the show. They think it will make them famous. Some people get famous through sex tapes and now this last group of moms are becoming famous for being pregnant.
That is the part that worries me. If any of the first cast become tabloid cover people then I will worry that teens might think about getting pregnant for fame or they might think about keeping the baby instead of giving it up for adoption just so they can be on the show.
They are unable to offer the video in my region. :(
ReplyDeleteshe looks like Jamie Lynn Spears.
ReplyDeleteyou are so right in that Enty. MTV has ordered another season of 16 & Pregnant,which will be Teen Moms once they give birth. Honestly, I thought they would follow the first 5 couples for a few seasons...but no. 5 new pregnant teens. Kids are so desperate these days for some kind of fame or 15mins that they would consider this.
i think you are right Enty and Jax. one would hope that the kids watching would view their struggles with their boyfriends, parents, babies, school life and heed the warning - sadly, with a new crop of teen mom's and the MTV marketing machine, it will probably send the wrong message to many girls.
ReplyDeleteUm I strongly disagree. Those girls are all so miserable the entire season- if girls are smart they'll do the opposite.
ReplyDeleteEnty is on the money here. I am a reality TV producer (for a show that actually does good for the world) and am appalled by the Fame Monsters (sorry, Lady Gaga) that this genre has spawned. People like Nadia Suleman, Balloon Dad & family, the White House Party Crashers (and yes, I am certain that production company DID know what they were going to do.) Tila Tequila, Heidi Montag, and on and on and on. A whole generation of entitled idiots who think is is THEIR BIRTHRIGHT to be famous.
ReplyDeleteWhat's scary is that pregnancy and young motherhood has already been uber glamourized for teens by the young women whom they choose to idolize - Nicole Richie, Ashlee Simpson, Jessica Alba. They all give magazine interviews about how being moms has fulfilled their lives, and they look so beautiful and glamourous and content - no mention of the nannies who actually do the parenting work.
Now this show - I think you're right, Enty - I think there will be girls hungry for fame who see this as a possible way to get there. Like most reality shows have become, it will be another American Idol for the talentless but overly fame hungry.
Being from Massachusetts and not that far away from the site of the "Pregnancy Pact" story, things like this really steam me! We are glamorizing teen pregnancy and for girls who think this is the only way to make their mark, they will end up with 15 minutes (or less) of fame and a life-time of challenges. In a time where the teen pregnancy rate has jumped up significantly, I think MTV is being irresponsible (yeah, I know that’s their shtick but…) These Jersey Shore creeps and OC creeps are relatively harmless but when you send the message that getting pregnant at 16 will get you a show on MTV, then I think we’ve gone too far.
ReplyDeleteMy 19 year old daughter had a baby last month and is living with us. She has not had contact with the dad, so she's doing this "on her own". On her own = we're supporting her while she figures things out.
ReplyDeleteMy 13 year old daughter and her friends think it's just like Teen Mom. At first that meant it was cool but after a month, they realize there's really nothing glamorous about it at all.
At one time, you weren't even allowed to say the word "pregnant" on television, or show couples sleeping in the same bed together, or allowed to swear, or allude to drug use. While this is obviously unrealistic, the pendulum has swung so far the other way it's difficult to believe that programs like this are even on television. The glut of "reality" programming has resulted in a plethora of shows whose quality decreases over time ("Flavor of Love?""Daisy of Love?" "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila?"--all of which should substitute the word "sex" fo "Love," anyway) but creates a desire for young people to become "famous" for entirely wrong reasons. Our educational system has become a laughingstock, and when teen pregnancy becomes something accepted as casually as getting a low score on your SATs, we're in deep trouble. "Hey, guess what? I'm pregnant! Get MTV on the phone!" Kids approach this like they're getting on a game show--"You're knocked up? Come on down!"
ReplyDeleteA few days ago, I overheard a young mother (not out of high school) talking to another young mother (same) about eight other teens that were pregnant or had babies at the same time she did. Scary!!! And sad...
ReplyDelete@ Robert - I don't know whether to laugh or shake my head about "You're knocked up? Come on down!"
i stumbled onto 'teen mom' the other night while channel surfing. i didn't even know about this show. let's see.....we had ONE girl who was smart enough to know she wasn't ready to be a mother and placed her baby for adoption. another one who hits her morbidly obese boyfriend but 'loves him to death.' my favorite was the one who wants to go out with her friends and not have a time limit placed on her by her poor mother, who's stuck at home with the baby. how DARE her mother expect her to raise her own child. 'I'M A TEENAGER!!'
ReplyDeleteit was gut turning. it's disturbing enough that it's on TV. it was the rapt faces of the girls in the audience that troubled me the most.
jeez, and i thought 'the real world' was bad.
I agree with Bloghopper. Not everyone is a dumbass. Not all kids are famewhoring rednecks hoping to follow in the footsteps of Snooky & teen moms. Most kids & adults see this crap for what it is: cheap entertainment & trainwreck reality tv. My own 15 y/o agrees. I have faith that *she* is the new generation, not the likes of this shite.
ReplyDeleteHunter, you took the words right out of my mouth. *clap*clap*!!
ReplyDeleteI totally disagree. Teen girls have been getting pregnant since the beginning of time and i dont think a show influences them either way, to abstain or get pregnant. Its just more accepted therefore more in the spotlight. Should we go back to sending young unwed mothers to group homes?
ReplyDeleteboston_gyrl_34,
ReplyDeleteDo you know what happened to those girls, like a "where are they now"?