I have been following MTV's Sweet 16 show for a while and I have come to the conclusion that MTV is marketing greed and envy to young girls. With the popularity of celebrity culture growing, more and more teenagers want that celebrity lifestyle.
That's were Sweet 16 comes in. The show centers around affluent teens planning their Sweet 16 party's but these are not ordinary birthday parties. The parties average in cost of thousands of dollars including the parents giving gifts of expensive cars such as Jaguars and BMWs. Each episode is more elaborate than the last.
The problem I have with the show is it makes it seems as though this is the norm when it comes to Sweet Sixteen Birthday parties. Another problem, I have is it make it seem cool to be spoiled, mean, and self-centered. Most parents in America can not afford parties like these but that hasn't stopped some teens from getting their parents to foot the bill for such elaborate parties and going into debt in the process.
Shows like this that are geared towards teens are not in the best interest, because the ones who can not afford these types of parties feel that they don't measure up or feel that they need to have big and expensive parties to be popular or to impress others.
The only episode that showed the teens in a good light was the first episode which showed two girls planning their party at the Hard Rock Cafe. Instead of the party being all about them they turned the party into a fundraiser by charging their guest a fee.
Is this ethical to market these types of shows to teenagers? Let me know what you think.
5 comments:
I have seen some of these shows and these girls are seriously over the top. MTV does this because it is shocking and basically makes good tv I just hope that the girls that watch this do not take them too seriously.
I have seen this show a few times and I have to say that I think it is a fun show seeing the party planning and the shopping etc is all entertaining so I guess MTV is doing its job I mean plenty of people watch this show. However the girls are often rude and moody and the parents are complete walk-overs. But hey its only tv! (SORRY TO RANT)
The first season seemed okay but now it just seems like they are acting for the camera.
I have seen younger girls wanted to have parties like this.
Megan you make some interesting points, because I really don't think MTV thinks about what watching shows like this will do to young girls.
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