My Super Sweet 16 – Messing Up and Spoiling Kids For The Next Generation
For those who haven’t seen it before, MTV’s “My Super Sweet 16” is one of the many things in television pop culture today that is seriously messing up the minds of kids today, leading them down the path of excessive consumerism and obsession with wealth and entitlement. The MTV reality TV show follows and documents the 16th birthday celebrations of upper class teenagers. Now these are no ordinary birthday parties. We’re not talking about a day at Dave and Busters or the bowling alley. On this program we have stretch Hummers, horses, live dancers, famous rap stars, decked out ballrooms, and budget rolls in excess of $300,000. Everything is paid for in cash or with quick obligatory swipes of the parents’ trusty Amex Black Cards or Visa Black Cards, indispensable and exclusive tools of the trade. You won’t see any “paltry presents” like Apple iPods or Gap clothing here. Instead, the doting parents of these spoiled rotten kids prefer to give them top of the line BMW’s and Land Rover’s, capped with red bows on top to quench their material thirst. The show, although quite entertaining, proclaims the non-stop need to spend, spend, and spend to the utter collective delight of all luxury car dealerships and luxury boutiques everywhere.
Spoiled Bratty Kids Come In All Sizes
The show features spoiled teens of all race, nationality, and even sex – black, white, Persian, and even shockingly, a few teenage boys among the mostly teenage girls. The show follows the same template, tracing the excitement and expectation of throwing a “sky’s the limit” 16th birthday bash. We get to know the teen as she brags about her wonderful lifestyle and how much she owns in the way of material possessions. The majority of these “daddy’s little girls” stomp their feet and pout until their rich dads buy them the dream party that they want. The mothers that usually accompany these prissy little girls are no different – encouraging and stoking their behavior. In one episode, one mother even ended up trying on the same expensive dress that her daughter was trying out, sending the daughter into an angry and competitive tail spin tizzy of materialistic proportions.
The Excessive Lavishness Knows No Bounds
The show always starts with an elaborate ceremony usually complete with stretch limos and servants to hand out the official decorative invitations to chosen members of the teen’s high school in a manner befitting a royal coronation. The party usually takes up an entire decked out ballroom, with servers, dancers, and show-stopping celebrity singers. $75,000 jewelry and dresses line their wardrobes, adding to the excessive opulence. Throughout each episode, the birthday girl’s teenage guests scream and “woohoo” about the historical nature of the event and how it will go down in history as the best party ever and how everyone will always remember this – to the collective eye rolling of every single television viewer in the United States, myself included.
The end of each episode is never complete without the mandatory birthday girl walking outside with her guests in faux both-hands-to-the-cheek amazement at the ridiculously expensive luxury car awaiting her. While the girl drives away in her birthday present, her throng of friends and guests are left hollering and cheering her on with lavish love, admiration, and envy at her fortune.
It’s Really Entertaining But Also Really Sad
The alarming thing is not that these teeny boppers expect to be thrown lavish over-the-top birthday parties, but it’s that their wealthy parents are so boastful and encouraging of such a superficial lifestyle. The show proudly shows off the birthday teen’s opulence and extravagance, seemingly suggesting that such actions are perfectly normal. There are never glimpses of the ordinary masses, as the birthday teen’s friends and guests are almost always all filthy rich as well, with material throngs and possessions of their own. We never see any bitterness or ridicule by the guests or outside observers as the critics have all been effectively filtered out.
The show is admittedly quite entertaining, but not for necessarily the right reasons. It instills the wrong values in children and younger viewers today, particularly those approaching their 16th birthdays. Rather than preaching hard work and dedication, the show encourages feelings of material entitlement in the nature of “if you loved me you’d buy this for me”.
However I must admit, My Super Sweet 16 is terribly funny and interesting to watch. But when I laugh at the foot stomping, pouty girls in the show, I am doing so in the same manner that I would while watching a celebrity train wreck such as the salacious paparazzi antics of Britney Spears or Paris Hilton. I laugh because it’s so stupidly funny, but at the same time I feel sad for them – for the type of persons their own parents have groomed them into one day becoming.
As for my own 16th birthday way back when, I got an ice cream cake custom baked by my mom. I rented a few Nintendo games from Blockbuster, invited 4 close friends over for a video game sleepover party, and partied like a rock star at home. I grew up just fine, although getting a luxury sports car as a present would have been nice. 
January 6th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
I think I got $20 and a homemade cake from my parents for my 16th birthday.
I always felt deprived growing up, and shows like this made me feel horrible. But now that I’m older, I appreciate my parents so much for giving me what they could afford to give me. Shows like My Super Sweet 16 totally turn my stomach. I’m beyond grateful that I didn’t grow up like those brats. I may not have had a sports car in high school, but I’m confident that I have stronger values and better life skills than those kids.
January 7th, 2008 at 3:29 am
Every birthday growing up, we got to choose what we’d like for dinner. I’d usually pick shrimp or crab (trying to milk it)! And a homemade cake. I felt on top of the world for that one day and have the best memories from it. We didn’t have much money and having a special day with special food was a delight. The problem is nowadays, few things are special. Kids have so much excess around them, it’s difficult to decipher between needs and wants.
To the kids on that show, they ‘need’ to have the hottest rapper/popstar/rock band perform and have a new car. One of the them I saw the kid got a Jaguar. I didn’t know anyone under 50 drove one of those =P
January 8th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
When I turned 16, my parents took me out to a very very nice restaurant. It was a special treat because we didn’t go out much.
And I got to have my best friend over for a sleepover.
It would have been an awesome and satisfying birthday, except that it was two days after 9/11 and the world was a very scary place at that time. On the other hand, I was so grateful for having two parents and not having lost anyone.
January 13th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Thanks for participating in this week’s Carnival of Family Life, hosted by Karen at Write from Karen! Your post is a great contribution. Be sure to stop by tomorrow and check out all the other wonderful submissions for this week — we have a wonderful selection of articles from some very talented writers.
Considered hosting the Carnival? You can review the schedule at Colloquium and then drop me a note indicating the week you are interesting in hosting!
January 14th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
I hate the very term “sweet sixteen.” What’s that supposed to mean? To my understanding, it has a sexual connotation. And I can tell you, as the mother of an almost 16-yo who already regularly gets taken for 18 or 19, you’d better keep your sexual connotations far away from my daughter or you’ll be dealing with one PO’d momma bear!
My daughter, despite all my best efforts, has somehow bought into the cultural fairytale of a Sweet Sixteen birthday party. Although she knows she won’t be getting a car, that doesn’t stop her from wanting one. I know that no matter what we do for her upcoming birthday or what we get her, she’s going to be disappointed. There’s no way to avoid it.
I do have faith, however, that in a few years she’ll recognize that her disappointment was caused by her unrealistic expectations of what turning 16 would be like and not because her parents somehow let her down.
January 15th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Yeah…I think sweet sixteen is meant to suggest some type of innocence but with the influence and material inundation by today’s social media, is there much simplicity left in today’s kids?
Elizabeth, I hope you daughter eventually learns that owning material things isn’t everything in life and eventually understands “the meaning of Christmas” so to speak.
January 16th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
I’m so-o-o-o-o-o-o old I can’t even remember my 16th birthday so I’m guessing it didn’t involve a car, famous people or anything above $300,000. Heck, it probably didn’t involve anything above $50.
February 9th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
The kids on sweet sixteen are spoiled brat instead of blaming the kids you have to look at the parent because their allowed their kids to act like that and its not just rich kids who have a sense of entitlement its all kids in today time its sad but its true all kids want a the new phone the new clothes its up to the parents to set limit and to teach kids that to be happy you have what you have because their kids who does not have that much mtv is just entermained and its just a show so if your kids are being spoiled brats it ur fault not mtv
February 20th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
First off, thanks for participating in Patience Therapy! Interesting article…it’s sad how many kids are probably watching this without their parents knowing the message it’s sending, Just goes to show how “quality” tv is. Cheers!
April 28th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
my 16 birthday is June 5 and im lookin 4 a rapper to come to it but im having no luck im bout to say forget it
May 4th, 2008 at 2:42 am
for my 16th i am haveing a hummer limo take me and my closest friends to a nice restraunt to eat…then i get my present from my mom!!!
(i told her i wanted a hummer or a cadillac escalade…n she said that she knows ill be so happy when i see da present!)
May 6th, 2008 at 6:06 am
i’m english and turning 16 isn’t celebrated over here as a huge landmark, my super sweet 16 is absolutely hilarious simply due to the extravagance of these partys, possibly more so to me, because of that. the funniest thing is, does anyone care about the birthday girl/boy on the night? no, they’re too concerned about having a good time. they’ll get more attention on the run up to the guest list being revealed but once they know they’re invited then thats it. i turn 16 in july, and a friend & i are sharing a party which’ll cost probably £150. no extravagance for us, but at least we’ll have on good night.
May 10th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
I feel extremely sorry for these girls who are in essence victimized by their parents upbringing of extreme superficiality and blatant empty-headed materialism. After their graduation and reality swims up and bites them in the ass their lives will be hollow and empty because they have no real world life skills. Hard work is something these kids will never know. Their voids in their life will become so unbearable that all they do is fill them with material crap and it will be a never ending cycle
May 25th, 2008 at 1:38 am
i didn’t even celebrated my birthdays. my parentsdid give me presents, and they told me they love mebut that was it. and i’m greatful because they don’t spoil me – they teach me that i have to earn what i want.
May 31st, 2008 at 4:07 pm
i love this show so much
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:22 pm
I just watched a Super Sweet Celebration compilation that showcased birthday parties for several girls in one show. I honestly felt like choking each and every single one of them. It is despicable how some of these girls treat their parents and how bratty they are. These girls set a horrible example for the current generation of teens. Seriously, don’t these TV execs know better? I understand that most of them do and are concerned with TV ratings mostly but that’s just plain wrong to go about the way they do.
August 27th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Must be nice to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on a kid for one night when there’s millions of less fortunate people out there with nothing. Some of those kids think the less fortunate is jealous of them. No we’re not jealous, if I had the money to throw a party like that I’m sure I would, but not as materialistic and flashy or for status, and I won’t talk to my parents like that, because if I did throw a tantrum over a dress, car, jewelry THE $3,000 CENTERPIECE I didn’t get, I wouldn’t be here right now, I would be dead. I don’t understand the parents. They let their kids run over them letting their 16 yr olds dress like strippers when their are perverts out there. Next thing you know they could end up missing. AND allowing other kids to grind on eachother on the dance floor so other parents can throw a fit. I hate the quote that I hear in many of the episodes, “If I don’t get this car, dress, celebrity, my party will be ruined.” and parents say “No, budget give her whatever she wants.” The parents really need a reality check and say NO! You want a big party go get a job and throw it yourself. I’d love to see an episode with the kid doing all the work on a budget and I bet the party would be just as good. Just because (Sweet 16 show parents) you got the money, doesn’t mean that you should spend it like that, not saying that there’s anything wrong with a party, tomorrow is not promised to you or your family anything could happen. I wonder if any of those kids can survive as an average American, walk in our shoes for a day, no, month. Think they could do it?. I can’t imagine what their wedding would be like. Bridezilla’s all of them! I’m only 24 call me old school if you want, I don’t care, I know how to have fun without all that going on and I’m happy.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:14 am
they crazy
October 15th, 2008 at 6:13 am
Them girls are just greedy little Bitches and milk their parents for every penny to spend on themselves . They never give their parents the benefit of a chance their so mean ! I hate the way that they cry for every little thing they don’t get or what goes wrong with their party arrangements . For my sweet sixteen i had a cinema day with my friends and then a little party in my house afterwards them girls go way over the top with their crazy roman and egyptian themed parties . Each and everyone of them deserve a slap across the face their so bad !
October 18th, 2008 at 2:52 am
Well i ca n speak for all the teens out there when i say that i am disappointed with all you people out there bashing these kids out there for trying to have a good time on their 16th.. i mean you only get to have one in your whole life time.! and another thing what you dont realize is that these kids will never HAVE to work..
For my 16th i will admit that i got a new Honda ridgeline.. but i have had to work to pay for gas and insurance… so shame on you all! you are just mad because u had to learn the hard way the value of a dollar
October 25th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Just cause you cant afford shit like that
dont mean that you can go around and saying shit
wanna bet you wouldnt complain if your parents had money?
and wtf
why do you people feel sorry for us
and are greatful that you dont have money
we have everything we want
so why esactly do you feel sorry for us?
shouldnt we feel sorry for you
October 28th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
I dont understand this. if you have money that is good for you. do what you want with it like have a big party and go shopping!!! i would love to be able to do that!!!! but i cant and thats okay and they can and thats okay!!!! i dont think it is right to be bashing these kidds. i actually think everyone of you are jealous of them! i think it makes you feel good to try and tear these teens down just so you can feel better about your life. well get a grip! its not their fault their parents have a lot of money. so what they get what they want thats their life and you should have no input on it!!!! all you people who got a lot of money and who have awesome parties good for you!! your living your life to the fullest and your taken whats given to you and using it to your advantage instead of letting it sit their!!!! and everyone else just shut up cause no one likes listening to you complain about your lives and bash someone elses!
November 5th, 2008 at 4:20 am
I once saw this program in MTV and felt funny about it because here in India i’ve never heard or seen any party of this sort being thrown for their Kids at their 16th birthday. I’m aware that the Kids & teens in countries like US are thought the value of money as they earn it from thier part time jobs. But here in India this trend has started but still teens are not compelled to take up a part time job unless their family is poor. Yet Kids of the wealthy and not so wealthy grow up knowing the value of the money because they are not pampered like these Sweet 6Teen’s until they Graduate. Now i see my friends who are brought up very wisely by their parents earn good, they spend their money sensibly and also save for party’s. But me on the other side have been pampered and got all that i’ve demanded after foot stomping and crying, sometimes i got things easily from my parents. I dont balme my parents because they were helpless, they loved me so much. But after growing up and getting a decent job i’m facing the consequence because what i earn is not enough to satisfy my growing needs and sometimes i doubt if i could live a good life without my parents financial backup.
I feel bad for those kids who are pampered and spolied because life aint bed of Roses, anything can happen tomorrow and they arent prepared to face that. On the other hand shows like Sweet 6Teens create a negative impact on the kids who watch them.
November 13th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Why in the name of fuck is it surprising, no, shocking, that boys are spoiled little shits too? Boys are raised with an automatic sense of entitlement because they have penises.
December 25th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Experience is right. Anything CAN happen tomorrow and they’d not know what to do with themselves. I don’t feel bad for them, they can spend whatever they want to. They keep the economy running, even if its crappy right now. They can also pout and stomp their feet and hell, throw away diamonds here and there. But if they’d ever act like that with me, I’d fuck them up. So yeah, let them be. If one day they get dropped in the hood or mommy and daddy made a wrong financial move, I’ll just be laughing.
December 27th, 2008 at 9:59 am
I do not blame the kids but the parents. I’ve heard of families that led extravagant lifestyles, never thinking that anything would go wrong, now they’re on welfare, they never gave to charity, helped communities, or remembered that it’s not their money in the 1st place. God blessed you with it for a reason if you didn’t/don’t use it wisely HE can take it away from you. DON’T EVER FORGET THAT! There is nothing wrong with enjoying your riches, just remember your blessings are a gift, use it wisely!
January 27th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
A LOVE MY SUPER SWEET SIXTEEN
I GOT A LINKS OF LONDON BRASLET AND MUCH MORE FOR MY PARTY
February 10th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
” For my 16th birthday, I got an ice cream cake custom baked by my mom. I rented a few Nintendo games from Blockbuster, invited 4 close friends over for a video game sleepover party, and partied like a rock star at home. I grew up just fine, although getting a luxury sports car as a present would have been nice.”
You spoiled son of a witch! For MY 16th birthday, my parents gave me half a cookie crumb! And I grew up just fine! See? SEEE!?
February 18th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Our family didn’t make a big deal out of my turning 16. Why should they have? It’s not an accomplishment, it’s something that is going to happen anyway. I don’t feel deprived in any way. If anything, I’m glad my parents didn’t sugarcoat things and prepared me for the real world by teaching me the value of hard work and dedication. Some parents need to wake up and realize that their job is to prepare their children, especially their teenagers, for the harsh realities of life, instead showing their love by spoiling them rotten. The real world isn’t going to treat them that way, resulting in a huge unwelcome wake-up call.
March 6th, 2009 at 5:51 am
I agree with what has been said, I watch the programme and wonder how the parents have actually brought their kids up to be like that.
Even if someone was rich they could still be a nice person overall, but the ones on the programme seem so spoilt i don’t think i’d even want to be their friend. Especially if i got told i couldn’t go to the ‘biggest party ever’ because i was ugly. It’s quite ridiculous, but certainly entertaining to watch…and laugh.
April 7th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
WTF is all of your problems
I’m 17 I had my sweet sixteen last year and it was big I got a bmw from my dady and range rover from my step dady all of u are just so jelouse get over your selfs stop being jelouse I feel bad for u guys who have no money you don’t get to do all that crazy stuff and are u all that stupid I now I don’t get to see my dad thats why I’m so wealthy he’s always working so he’s never home and I love it !! Party 24/7 and wow u say your sorry for us I feel sorry for u guys its so sad how your sweet sixteen was just a cake your moms made that most suck haha I love being rich
April 9th, 2009 at 8:20 am
hello dadysgirl i was just woundering if you could add my email its flopsey07@hotmail.com. and talk to me about what you did for your super sweet sixteen. my daddys rich but he works all around the world and gets me whatever i like but its my 15th birthday soon and i told him i wanted a party like my super sweet sixteen because i just so love the show but he said why and wont let me get one until i tell him a propper ansew. so i was asking if you have any ideas to get him to plan me one
April 10th, 2009 at 11:46 am
Super sweet sixteen: I know you’re sheltered from capacity, but humour me if only for the duration of this open letter written in response to the worst thing I have ever seen on a television. (And that’s saying something.) Sometimes I wonder if sometimes you wonder how we live in the shadows of privilege. These socials may be ‘clutch’, the bland cameos ’sick’, but I swear, I’ve had better nights than you could ever imagine with a bottle in a playground. And it makes me reconsider what this pursuit is; the ceaseless demands of ‘where’s my larger slice’? A material quest for superficial conquest then a trickling down of glitter and infantile screams for those desperate enough to forge your acquaintance? But I have an inkling that, for all the chatter of aspiration (supplemented by inherited acquisition), the objective here is exclusivity; and the logical corollary is that, once the quota fills, the gates create the criminal. Triumph over the trivial, but your need is their needs; your satisfaction parasitic on their desire, and now this enterprise is insidious. Your cutesy well-wishing and paper hearts mask a hatred that will never content itself with anything less than broad strokes of malinformed, dick-eyed rhetoric. You want us to both drown and die of thirst. The problem for us all is the power. Because each action of social domination has an equal and predictable reaction; were you raised at all? The barn seems like a privilege you missed. Didn’t you sleep through those years on the laurels of your dead ancestors, equally vapid parents replicating their empty mores via compromise, armed with a chequebook and stomach-pump? Fuck. You made me care in a whole new way.
April 10th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Paige,
Are you some sick pedophile or something? Or are you seriously a kid reaching out to get more info on how to plan a sweet 16 party? So many sickos on the Internet these days…making me hyperviligant and paranoid!
Abhorred,
That’s incredibly deep…not sure these kiddies on this blog post are really understanding your philosophic musings though….too verbose for them!
April 28th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
hello im
english from england for a start in the uk we dont make a big deal of 16th we have 18th abd 21st , can i say daddys girl
lol your a stupid american not all americans are stupid just ones like you who are spoiled brats i am one a bit but im planning to go to norway for mine but ive got work experince on my birthday so no school !! and my birthday is december too
April 30th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
I was watching an episode with this bitch named Marissa. And this bitch had to be the most spoiled girl on the show ever. She kept bragging about how hott she was but she was ugly as shit. She was so obssessed with pink that she had her dogs colored with pink. And she was so upset when she didn’t get the band that she wanted. Talk about a spoiled bitch!!!!!
May 1st, 2009 at 4:55 am
xxxxIHateThisShow,
I totally hear you on your annoyance at these My Super Sweet 16 Girls…but you’ve got to admit, it’s such fun entertainment.
I wish there was a way to fast forward the MTV show into the future for us to view how these 16 year old girls all turned out 10 and 20 years down the road when they’re all 26 and 36….I wonder what type of adults they turned out to be…oh wait, we already can….I think the show’s name is “Cops”.
May 7th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
i having my sweet 16 this year
im sorry for all you people who cant afford famous artists such as Paramore, Jesse McCartney, 3OH!3 and much more
these girls have a lot of money and can spend what they want with the money
what else are you going to do when you have so much excess money
May 24th, 2009 at 4:54 am
It’s just capitalism.
If someone worked hard enough to earn that money they deserve it.
So jeez everyone quit being jealous socialists, and get up off your asses and work so you treat your kids like this.
Idiots.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
bob and PARTY totally missed the point. It has nothing to do with jealousy and everything to do with teaching children personal and financial responsibility. Even if I had all the money in the world I would never raise my kids that way. I would rather spend my money in investments and charity rather than flush it down the toilet with some spoiled 16 year old.
July 6th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
am haeving a super super super super super sweet six teen in you you you you you you you you you you you you you are all coming its going to be better then all of u’s’s’s’s’s
July 15th, 2009 at 12:16 am
“It’s just capitalism.
If someone worked hard enough to earn that money they deserve it.
So jeez everyone quit being jealous socialists, and get up off your asses and work so you treat your kids like this.
Idiots.”
Hey bigger idiot only idiots like yourself trat their kids like this regardless of their income status.
July 15th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I actually got a band for 16th, but it consisted of paying a buddy 50 bucks to bring his band and play, and honestly it was great
August 11th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
i LOVE this show!
:’)
i get up at 11am on wednesdays and watch it constantly :] i think they are spoilt but the show is fantastic and really entertaining, i would LOVE a party like that! those girls are really lucky to be able to afford that! i was watching one with a girl called stef the other day and i think she was incrdibly lucky, she was diagnosed with cancer a while back and got a sweet 16 for free! (not because of her cancer) but she thought it was impossible to have one because of her cancer, but then she did
i wonder what i will get for my sweet 16th!
August 18th, 2009 at 3:20 am
I can’t really say anything about it because it’s there money what they do is up to them, i don’t feel sad or jealous for/of them because they wanna party like that there gonna do it. all i can say is i don’t get the concept because you turn 17, 18, 19, 20, etc. once so why is sixteen so special? i know you get to drive but other than that…I mean my best birthday was sitting at home with my girlfriend watching movies thats about it and that wasn’t even my sixtenth birthday. anyway the only thing is one day there parents won’t be able to pay for everything for them and when it happens it’ll be a really big change when they can’t afford that big honda or jaguar or whatever.
August 26th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
You guys are just poor little losers. You have no idea the advantages that money have. You just slate these kids because you jealous that you could never afford it or because your parents could never afford. I am getting a car when i turn sixteen and yeh i will have a HUGE party because i can and i want to show my friends a good time.
September 23rd, 2009 at 12:26 am
So you CAN have a huge party and show your friends a good time AS LONG AS YOU REMEMBER WHO IS PAYING THE BILLS! If you think people are losers, please know that you are the naive one who thinks world of money can satisfy the big ego that YOU apparently have at such a tender age.
October 13th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
i’m going to have a sweet 16 party that is going to be the best in the world
October 25th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Super Sweet 16 is an obscene concept, yet it is merely a reflection of an even more obscene USA culture.
The show is predicated upon the reality that America has transformed itself into a highly indebted, consumerist nation, that produces mostly worthless financial instruments and utilizes US dollar hegemony to compel other nations to produce the various goods it greedily consumes.
MTV created Super Sweet 16 in order to encourage conspicuous consumption among the newest generations of up and coming consumers.
The kids are not to blame for their vacuous inclinations to overindulge. Not even the parents, who themselves are victims of a longstanding Big Media brainwash machine, that attempts to suggest that material things are the only avenue to happiness.
No, the real culprits are corporate America and advertisers in cahoots with Big Media to promote shallow icons and misguided ideals. The true culprits are the political puppets who allowed America to export its production capacity offshore, leaving the country as little more than a large populace of insatiable consumers incapable of producing most of the goods they now covet.
MTV is at the vanguard of the great American brainwash machine, attempting to convince us each and every hour what should matter in this world. MTV defines what is “hot,” sending zillions of repetitious messages of what we should think is beautiful or desirable, in everything from body forms to music tastes.
Naturally, MTV favors rap/hiphop as a music genre since it is that music that specializes in sending endless consumerist messages to buy bling-bling in every manner, shape, and form. The advertisers love rap/hiphop more than any music genre since it generally reveres conspicuous consumption as the ultimate good.
With many millions today losing their homes, unable to afford health care insurance, and finding it more difficult to feed themselves, naturally, Super Sweet 16 embodies all that is wrong with the society. It is far past time to fix an American Empire that is in rapid decay, thanks to the worst priorities and ideals.
The public needs to protest loudy, not to the political puppets who work on behalf of corporate America; rather they must make their voices heard on Wall Street, which is where the true leaders of the nation reside. A massive protest is necessary, sooner than later, in order to let corporate America know that we will no longer passively accept this very corrupted and immoral status quo.
November 6th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
I especially like that the people who claim to have received expensive cars, are having big parties and think that others are jealous of them clearly do not know how to spell nor do they know how to write a complete sentence. So instead of worrying about what you do and do not receive for your birthday, try asking someone to buy you a dictionary, so you know how to spell. So when your parents are broke due to the bad economy you know how to write a resume when you need to get a job and support yourselves.
November 21st, 2009 at 5:31 pm
you ladies might be rich, but you’re definitely dumb as fuck.
hell, jealousy much and daddy’s girl can’t spell shit. yes, daddy is spelled with TWO D’s.
you kids are gonna grow old, spoiled and dumb. i know i know, you’re rich, but i don’t think you’re gonna be smart enough to function in this world.
January 6th, 2010 at 12:04 am
This is to all of you spoiled, rich, little brats. All of you chlidren have no sense of reality you receive everything you want throughout your life, you have no sense of money and you expect everything to given to you, and if you don’t then you act like your getting screwed over, honestly i laugh because they’ll never know how to function in this world.
for example i’ve seen a 6 year old boy get a brand new laptop for no reason at all, he did absolutly nothing yet received a new laptop? Give me a break, im 16 years old and i actually have a job, i mean ok i make 100 a week (which is while working minimum wage) and i actually have to save up my money to buy a laptop
These “rich kids” believe that money makes everything better, and anyone more poor than them or “below them” is just jealous of them and their wealth… news flash to all rich people … Money can’t buy you happiness, sure it can buy you your fancy sports cars and have yourself a big party for no reason on a yacht or in some luxurious mansion or estate, but thats not happiness, and to the teens who have never worked a day in their lives and think they never will, Mommy and Daddies trust funds wont always be there for you forever and when they run out your actually going to have to work and your gong to have no clue as to what to do when you work , and if u keep those spoiled “i get what i want attitudes” your gonna be fired so fast its not even funny…
Ok maybe it is funny lol
Honestly it’s because of the spoiled, rich, snobby people such as yourselves that so many foreign cultures hate America, they think all of us Americans are like you and quite frankly i take that as an insult. If most of you weren’t such Smug, Money Hungry assholes then maybe most of the world wouldn’t hate the Americans
And one more thing, i’ve noticed that a large number of wealthy Americans”, despite popular belief, are actually friend-less, those “friends” aren’t friends with the person, just their money, and if by some miracle that money runs out what happens? Oh My God most of the “friends” left.. shocking
I for one abhor the Upper class of America, I love being middle class because i actually have to work for what i want and in the end i feel accomplished, what do wealthy people feel when they are finally able to purchase that “thing” they wanted for a long time??
The Answer? They Don’t, in fact they don’t do work at all
Please any “wealthy” people reading this, Feel Free to leave a response, I’m always up for a discussion with the wealthy, near-illiterate youth of America
January 8th, 2010 at 9:05 pm
im a guy… i am 21 i had a HUGe sweet 18 valued over 3 million dollars. my dad don the 57 million dollar lottery. i knew that my fortune wasnt going to last very long so i did the party more than 100 people came and it was great. but i still havent forgotten i have to still work and develop some kind of work ethic. i still know and value that im like a normal person live everybody else and and im no better than the person next to me.
February 16th, 2010 at 11:38 pm
Haha, I do concur. That show is entertaining and sad at the same time. Being 16 and grew up in a rags-to-riches family. I’ve been on both sides. I’m sure I could of hassled my poor, hard-working mother into having a large, superficial ceremony on my behalf, but honestly, even if I come from a bit a wealth, I hate the idea of spending such money on something so insignificant? Yeah? Digits changing? That actually pulls at one of my fear strings, because I’m a step closer to reality. Save it for something better. I feel so sorry for today’s generation of kids, because they have no idea what’s really ahead for them. it’s okay though, the uncertainties and ramifications of being nurtured by doting parents will come back to bite both in the ass as they waste more money. Meaningless consumerist bullshit. I forget sometimes I come from a somewhat wealthy family, that I actually am a bit jealous of these kids, but I remember I have what I need and I couldn’t ask for more.
February 18th, 2010 at 2:15 pm
MTV is simply a network managed by imbeciles, producing shows created by imbeciles, catering to an audience of imbeciles. It is a paradigm of lowest common denominator entertainment, endlessly pumping mind junk into the population, and it is undeniably a key contributory factor to the dumbing down of the population.
In the old days, when great men of vision and morals controlled the Hollywood studio system, they would refrain from placing certain lowbrow entertainments in front of the public because they believed that there should be minimum intellectual and cultural standards in all that they produced.
But there are no more standards in Hollywood today other than the standard of making a buck, no matter how crappy the entertainment concepts happen to be. Someday, historians will probably examine this point in American history and describe it appropriately as a cultural Dark Age, despite the paradox that it appears to be a Golden Age in terms of technology. It is certainly a very interesting paradox that, as Americans become increasingly literate regarding computers, genetics, robotics, etc., they are becoming increasingly stupid regarding humanities, history, languages, and social sciences.
Anyway, if there is true justice and Hell in this Universe, then all MTV execs and producers will be forced to spend the rest of eternity, each and every day, viewing the abject sh-t they purvey on their idiot network, no matter how nauseated it makes them.