# MTV Sweet Sixteen - is this fucking show for real? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 11, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657 "2005-08-11T23:12:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657/61 "2005-08-12T22:06:47Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Forgetting the “what it’s really like” part, in what way is 16 a major turning point in anybody’s life? In some states you get a learner’s permit to drive, but what the fuck did I miss? 16 is when these spoiled brats get sold to rich oil sheiks to become their fifteenth wife and start pumping out sheiklets. What? ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657/62 "2005-08-12T23:34:38Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Nickelodeon should do a show about the parties parents throw for their two year olds. > > We had 150 people three ponies and clown. Of course it was all catered. Some of the first birthday cakes I’ve seen at friend’s babies’ birthday parties have been more elaborate than my WEDDING CAKE. And our wedding cake was pretty funkily-decorated (is funkily a word?). I’m not sure I get the whole ‘going all out for a one year old who won’t remember shit’ for a first birthday, but I’m starting to realize that it’s all about outdoing your next-door neighbors. It’s not about the kids, it’s about getting a leg up. E. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657/63 "2005-08-12T23:36:51Z")
> [@Elza B](#): > > I’m not sure I get the whole ‘going all out for a one year old who won’t remember shit’ for a first birthday, but I’m starting to realize that it’s all about outdoing your next-door neighbors. It’s not about the kids, it’s about getting a leg up. The kids, when they’re older, do sometimes get into that as well. It’s embarassing. ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657/64 "2005-08-12T23:42:34Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > The kids, when they’re older, do sometimes get into that as well. It’s embarassing. I hope my kids are the kind who enjoy the fake Kate Spades from Chinatown/funky home decorating items from Target/hand-me-down-or-garage-sale furniture that their mom and dad love (okay, Dad’s not into the purses…I hope…). Of course, they probably will inherit my love for continuous Broadway, electronic gadgets and souped up computers, but they can use mine until they can afford their own 😃 . Eh. Having not been to birthday parties for children for a very long time (we’re finally at the point where close friends and family are at that stage in life), it just kind of shocked me. One kid had a giant, fondant birthday cake with four tiers, decorated with all kinds of zoo animals made out of sugar paste. It probably could have fed 300 people, as opposed to the 50-75 of us that were there. E. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657/65 "2005-08-13T00:32:39Z")
> [@](#): > > by **Beagledave** > You made a claim (without any kind of evidence) that the show probably provided all of the expenses for the party. What, you think they’re going to trumpet it if they are doing it? > [@](#): > > I provide a cite that the parents are the ones who “lavished” the gifts and whatnot…and you’re questioning my cite? Okay… That’s not a “cite”. That’s a marketeer’s blurb. It’s not evidence. Look, I think the show is a total farce and is intended purely as entertainment. Viewers are meant to envy, dream, or hate what they see, and the producers are only filming these families because they’ve agreed to air their “spoiled brat.” They know what the producers want because the producers told them how to act. And think about it: there’re only two motives that make sense here: 1. _“I’m so rich I deserve publicity.”_ O.K., this is plausible. Still, I don’t see all of these families being that easy to find. What are the odds that even MTV could find that many rich, tastless idiots fine with airing their lack of class on national TV, and showing the world how big a jerk their children are? 2. _“I get to throw a wild party and my face on TV, and I can act like a jerk the whole time!”_ Sorry, but option (2) seems a lot more plausible. ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657/66 "2005-08-13T00:41:19Z")
One of my friends had a big party for her one year old. She admits it was because everything that first year was a big deal, especially since it’s their first child. It was still the good kind of big party-- catering by costco, two pinatas from the corner market, bunches of kids playing in the bounce castle (rented for thirty bucks), the whole neighborhood was invited and all were told gifts weren’t necessary. The closest thing to a pony was the donkey they were pinning tails to. Growing up, a few kids had parents who did the birthday extravaganzas. The parents’ interest in providing them year after year tended to wane well before the kid left grade school. Sort of like how my photo album is chock-full, but my little sister’s is two pages of polaroids and a shoe box containing her school pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657/67 "2005-08-13T01:14:48Z")
Several brokers I know have told me how often they are astonished by how quickly someone can blow through an inheritance. If these girls aren’t careful, their money may soon disappear. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657/68 "2005-08-13T03:27:53Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > And the price of these parties is almost certainly being paid out by the show. You think MTV spends money on its shows? How quaint. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657/69 "2005-08-13T03:33:29Z")
> [@Elza B](#): > > IOne kid had a giant, fondant birthday cake with four tiers, decorated with all kinds of zoo animals made out of sugar paste. It probably could have fed 300 people, as opposed to the 50-75 of us that were there. 50-75 people at a child’s birthday party? ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657/70 "2005-08-13T04:56:16Z")
> [@VegemiteMoose](#): > > Man I hate when the batteries in the remote die, forcing me to “happen” to watch several episodes of whatever’s on the last channel I clicked to. Can’t even turn the fucker off! Damn!! Sometimes you want to turn the channel, you want to read the paper, pick up a book, go for a walk… but it’s so awful, so outrageous you (well, er, I) keep watching just because the mind is boggled so. I watched a half-hour infomercial about spray-on hair once, just because I couldn’t believe it was a real commercial for a real product. Boggled, I was. ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657/71 "2005-08-13T14:01:51Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > 50-75 people at a child’s birthday party? Yep. If you’re doing a :dubious: , imagine what the rest of us were doing. I didn’t even get near the ‘Baby of Honor’ at this party. E. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657/72 "2005-08-13T14:24:05Z")
> [@](#): > > You think MTV spends money on its shows? How quaint. Admittedly, I may just be overestimating the human race here. ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657/73 "2005-08-13T14:52:53Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > 1. _“I’m so rich I deserve publicity.”_ O.K., this is plausible. Still, I don’t see all of these families being that easy to find. What are the odds that even MTV could find that many rich, tastless idiots fine with airing their lack of class on national TV, and showing the world how big a jerk their children are? Finding rich tasteless idiots to parade around on TV…slim odds, eh? I’ll pass your observation along to Paris Hilton & Nicole Ritchie…and Nick & Jessica Simpson…and Hulk Hogan’s family…and Ozzy Osbourne’s family…and, well you get the picture. Yeah, real hard finding that. I still note that you’ve yet to offer ANY evidence that MTV pays all of the costs. What the hell, I’ll throw out [more cites](http://www.thedailyaztec.com/media/paper741/news/2005/02/03/Tempo/sweet.16.Without.Drugs.Or.Daddys.Money-850719.shtml). > [@](#): > > With the debut of MTV’s new reality show “My Super Sweet 16,” viewers are treated each week to a new spoiled brat **exploiting her parents’ money** in the hopes of having the coolest birthday bash ever. > [@](#): > > In the first episode, millions of viewers tuned in just to watch 16-year-old Lauren whine about the cost of having singer Beyoncé perform ($500,000 for one hour), and act unimpressed when her dad tells her he is booking Unwritten Law to play at her party.\*\* “I’m not sure how much we\*\* are paying them, but it can’t be that much. They’re not that big,” she tells the camera. More you say? [Okey doke](http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050225/COLUMN0101/502250349/1066/NEWS) > [@](#): > > “My Super Sweet 16” is a train wreck. It chronicles 15-year-olds **spending hundreds of thousands of daddy’s dollars** on their parties – Wednesday’s episode had the dad pegged at spending $450,000. This is not a case of the haves and the have-nots. This is conspicuous consumption squared and depthless superficiality beatified for adolescents to absorb like sponges. More you say? [Okey doky](http://www.abqjournal.com/news/yes/296708yes01-25-05.htm) > [@](#): > > In early October, a film crew returned and stayed to document the preparations for the big party and the event itself. More than 250 people showed up, though only 100 of them were friends Jacque invited. The rest were family and friends of **her parents, who footed the $12,000 bill. And, her parents presented her with a new car— a 2005 Ford Mustang.** > That’s right. Her “Super Sweet 16” was also super expensive. More you say? [Okey doky](http://www.partypop.com/Forums/Birthdays/m149650.htm) > [@](#): > > Hi. Is your name Chrisitna? I am glad to here from you. How old are you turning on your birthday? If you are interested in being on the show My Super Sweet Sixteen reply to this message with an email I can send an application to. Remember My Super Sweet Sixteen is a documentary style show. **Which means MTV does not help plan your party or fund it in anyway.** If you have more questions you can call me directly at my office at MTV. > > Megan Galloway > 310.752.8199 > Associate Casting Producer > MTV Networks This would be the point in the thread where you retract your claim. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657/74 "2005-08-13T15:47:50Z")
> [@Ashes](#): > > Sort of like how my photo album is chock-full, but my little sister’s is two pages of polaroids and a shoe box containing her school pictures. Try being the sixth kid. Add to the fact that it was my dad who was the photographer and that he TDY to Alaska most of my first year and when he got back the camera was broken. Our next door neighbors have more baby photos of me than my family does. (TDY means temporary Duty (yonder), military thing) ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657/75 "2005-08-13T16:39:46Z")
> [@Megan Galloway](#): > > Which means MTV does not help plan your party or fund it in **anyway**. I just threw up a little. ---
**Author:** ![ScoobyTX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@ScoobyTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScoobyTX)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657/76 "2005-08-13T16:48:16Z")
> [@Savannah](#): > > I watched a half-hour infomercial about spray-on hair once, just because I couldn’t believe it was a real commercial for a real product. Boggled, I was. I know people that worked on a MTV show (_Austin Stories_). The universal opinion is that MTV is cheap as hell. The actors received very low pay, and signed away any right to residuals. There’s no way MTV would lay out 6 figures for some spoiled rotten princess’s birthday present. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657/77 "2005-08-13T17:19:53Z")
What I want to know is what is the mailing addresses for these families that are obviously burdened with way too much money? Maybe I’ll just send them some letters asking for some of it to help them out. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657/78 "2005-08-14T14:33:36Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > I think we need to declare a moratorium on this type of reply to threads with people complaining about tv. Yes, we all know that you can change the channel or turn it off. Yes, we all understand that you can vote with your remote. That doesn’t change the ire that some shows generate in people; enough ire to actually go to the trouble of posting a rant about it. > > No, nobody has to watch it, but they don’t have to make it, either. ] They do make us watch it! The TV sits right in the middle of my living room and my two couches are pointed towards it. It is not my fault! I blame Ikea. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657/79 "2005-08-14T17:12:37Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > 50-75 people at a child’s birthday party? The rule in my family was always “N” guests, where “N” was how old the child was becoming. A five-year-old can’t deal with more than five guests. A thirteen-year-old will have just enough friends that 13 guests forces them to make tough choices on the last two or three guests. Oh, and once they’re old enough to have a job, mom provides hot dogs, soda, and cake – any additional entertainment is on the guests individually or on the birthday kid. My 13th birthday party was a cake brought down into the dugout at a Little League game I was playing. I’m 27, and my birthday party this year was four of my good friends going out for dinner after my Systems Engineering exam and having a nice night out. ---
**Author:** ![auRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@auRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auRa)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657/80 "2005-08-14T17:29:00Z")
I actually watched an episode of this show because of this thread. This proves how dumb I am. :smack: That being said, at least I’m not one of those girls. Once the glamor of “I’m on TEEVEE!!!111!!” wears off, they’re just “That really, really, really bitchy girl whose parents should be shot” to most people around them. I would hate to have something like that jump up and bite me on the ass five years down the line when I’m at a job interview or meeting the parents or something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-sweet-sixteen-is-this-fucking-show-for-real/316657.md?page=5)