Mods, this is really more of a Great Debate, IMO, but because it involves a TV show I wasn’t really sure. Please move it if you think it needs moved.
One of my guilty pleasures is that I enjoy watching the MTV show “Teen Mom” with my wife. It’s kind of a sequel to the “16 And Pregnant” show they had on before. It follows four or five girls and their boyfriends/fiancés as they deal with being teenagers and having a toddler. It really makes my wife and I feel better about the job we’re doing raising our own 1-year-old!
Anyway, one of the moms on the show got scammed when she tried to sell her car on craigslist. The dick who replied to her ad sent her a bogus check for $8000: the selling price of the car plus $3k. I guess at that point he convinced her to send him the 3 grand through Western Union, and she, being a teenager after all, withdrew her own money to do so. Now she’s almost broke, facing credit trouble that could follow her for years, and trying to take care of a little girl while convincing her bosses at the pizza place to give her enough hours to get by.
Now, my question is this: should the producers of the show have stepped in and stopped her from sending that check? I know they didn’t have a legal obligation to do so, and it makes for better TV if they stay quiet, but knowing that the mom’s little girl also depends on that money, wouldn’t the decent thing to do have been to say something?
I doubt they would do anything to help that poor girl not make a huge mistake- makes for better television. But they *will *have no problem doing an extreme closeup when she starts crying.
But think of the ratings! :rolleyes:
I have a feeling the show quietly paid the money behind the scenes.
I haven’t seen the episode in question yet (though I do watch the show) , but this is hardly the first time the producers (or even crew) of one of these shows could have stepped in to stop the show’s subject from doing something stupid, but didn’t.
The ethics of filming a show like this in the first place are probably up for question, but assuming that we’re going to let extremely young parents allow their lives to be the subject of a pseudo-documentary, those young parents know that they can’t count on the producers to keep them from being idiots.
The producers probably didn’t even think twice about letting her send the money. They also don’t stop that same girl from walking into another room while leaving her daughter on the bed alone (she fell. I totally called it).
But yeah, I love that show but I hate it all the time. I get so annoyed with the people on there but I can’t turn away from the train-wreck. Especially the scammed girl. She keeps talking about how she needs to find herself a man. Bitch, worry about taking care of your kid first and then get a boyfriend.
The decent thing would be to compensate the girls enough for their participation in the show (which the producers are no doubt getting handsomely compensated for) that losing that bit of money wouldn’t have been such a big deal. But then I guess it wouldn’t be quite as “real” if the teen mom wasn’t really struggling.
I felt bad for a minute but to be honest, out of all the girls on that show, she’s the one I dislike the most. I hated that she was yelling at her kid while she was on the phone, as if an infant can understand when is and is not a good time to, y’know, be a baby. And then she left the baby unsupervised and it fell off the bed!
I’m assuming the moms get paid for the show. I remember that in the True Life documentaries that they don’t interfere unless it’s a life or death emergency so I could understand why the people in this show also chose not to interfere. It’s not like the camera crew is going to be around forever making sure she doesn’t make any mistakes in life.
I’ve been burned enough by reality shows that I no longer take for granted that anything we see on screen is accurate. For all we know, the guy who scammed her was one of them, if she was even scammed at all.
And there’s no reason to believe they aren’t going to be compensated later, but can’t for now for ratings. Heck, there’s no reason to believe they weren’t coached to be stupider than they really are.
In short, there’s no reason to take any of this seriously.
I’ve never seen this show (and frankly it sounds appalling), but going from the description n the OP…
I have a hard time believing they aren’t getting paid for being on the show, and all reality shows are pretty much staged, but if the producers really stood around and watched this girl get scammed, then that strikes me as pretty unethical. Would they watch passively and film if she was being robbed with a gun?
My first thought was the scammer was probably a person on the show.
And if it did actually happen, ask yourself this, people everyday get scammed, do you care? Do you care about the homeless guy you pass everyday going to work? Do you care about the millions of people who are looking for work and can’t find it?
Why should you get upset at his and feel completely comfortable ignoring other people. I guess those people don’t count or don’t matter somehow? Or perhaps you only got so much empathy to go around?
That’s not meant as a rap necessarily, it’s just how it is. One thing I learned about compassion, like anything it can be misplaced.
You made a huge assumption there. Talk about painting with a broad brush. :rolleyes:
I get your point, but what sort of criminal mastermind would rob someone being followed by a film crew? Only someone also being filmed by a reality TV crew could be that stupid.
I would bet those kids are getting paid for their appearances, all the other reality show stars do get paid. And ain’t Farrah’s Mom a piece of work?
I feel more sorry for Catelynn (and her unmotivated slacker boyfriend), her Mom is pyscho, possibly a drug or alcohol abuser imo. The kids gave up their baby over a year ago and their Parents(immature losers) are still throwing that guilt in their face.
I wonder if, while the guilt trip was being laid on, just yelled, “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you volunteering to pay for everything. Where’s my 10 grand check for you for this child’s future college?”
I ended up having to do that for my wedding. My mom especially kept trying to bring people and so I finally just said, “You can invite them if you pay for them. Otherwise, hush.”
Who said anything about being upset for her? I’m hoping they take her kid away.
One thing that occurs to me is that, setting aside the issue of this particular mom getting scammed, the portrayal of the incident can educate others about this kind of scam. I wouldn’t be surprised if some portion of the show’s audience will benefit from learning about this.
It was probably scripted. I also don’t doubt for a second that the participants of the show are being compensated.
Last night they showed Tyler’s dad going to rehab for the 8th time. Tyler and Catelynn talked about how lucky they felt that their daughter was “out of the loop” and that they had chosen to break the cycle with her. It was a very poignant (possibly scripted) moment.
I go back and forth on Tyler. Sometimes I think he is really smart and shows a lot of maturity, but other times I want to smack him. They made a really tough decision, but I do think it was the right one, in their case.
Maci seems like a really good mom to Bentley. Just by the cars she drives, I assume she comes from a family with a decent amount of money, which has afforded her some privileges that not all the other “Teen Moms” have had.
Gary and Amber make me want to scream. Gary is a real piece of work, very manipulative and controlling, IMHO.
Or stop her from leaving her alone sitting in a sink full of water, so she could turn on the faucet and burn herself (which she did; poor thing).
I wondered if they were going to warn her too, but I could see her thinking anyone who warned her was full of it, and sending the money anyway.
Keeping in mind I’m a couple of episodes behind, I was surprised to read this. I’d say Amber is the nasty piece of work in that relationship.
Ohh, I smell a plot for a reality show! Stolen Away.