Oh Baby! MTV’s “16 And Pregnant” Premieres
Posted by: Simcha Whitehill
Filed in:
news, video
11:15AM, Friday June 12th 2009
Last night, MTV premiered its new reality show “16 And Pregnant.” And the Juno from the premiere, Miss Maci from Chattanooga, was like a Babyzilla pounding her fists for attention and whining to her BF and the cameras non-stop. Good thing MTV was there to validate the importance of her feelings!
Considering there has been a scary spike in teenage pregnancy, does exploiting nervous soon to be moms make for good television? It’s like rubbernecking a bad traffic accident—you can’t help but watch in horror as the former cheerleader admits she texted her mom the big news, switches schools to get her diploma early, and goes dirt-biking at eight months of pregnancy. Red-headed teen terror, Maci, was a classic, crazy, reality show character in an even more extreme situation.
As far as premises go, it’s a fascinating predicament fraught with many issues—finances, body changes, and a pain in the ass baby daddy. For Maci, there is much at stake. In fact, if you go to MTV.com now, you can help her sort things out by voting on whether or not she should stay with the baby’s father, Ryan.
But isn’t an entire series about teen pregnancy potentially going to glamorize it? Just like the “Rock of Love” skanks have now made showbiz careers out of their bad behavior, shouldn’t we fear the same about impressionable teens? Hey kids, wanna get on MTV? Well, all you have to do is not use protection and you could be our next star!
Maci admits her friends are already jealous that she gets to move out of her house and into her own apartment with her boyfriend—and now she’s on television. All this and a baby! Dreams do come true? With series casting demands being what they are, will some savvy/stupid teen take it one step further and become the teenage version of the Octomom or Kate Gosselin? But will anyone want to watch?
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delovely
wrote on June 12 2009 @ 11:21 am: [report]
This is just disheartening.
jojo32
wrote on June 12 2009 @ 11:27 am: [report]
^^^^^ Agreed.
Jessica Wakeman
wrote on June 12 2009 @ 11:43 am: [report]
Wow, he’s “pumped.”
Ginger
wrote on June 12 2009 @ 11:50 am: [report]
I love how MTV found a girl with a very southern accent for this show.
CheeeeEEEEse
wrote on June 12 2009 @ 11:57 am: [report]
Can we abort teenagers?
jimnist10
wrote on June 12 2009 @ 12:27 pm: [report]
As my BFF who is 28 and the mother of 2 adorable little girls (2yrs and 5 mos) said to me after being up with her baby 15 times in one night and having her 2 year old hit her baby sister in the head with a book while she was finally sleeping the next day, “I love my kids. They’re the best things that have ever happened to me, but sometimes I just want to smack them or abandon them and get drunk. The difference between me and a 14 year old is that I will not actually do that. If highschoolers realized what actually happened when you have kids, they wouldn’t even have sex.” Too bad this show will just make it “cool” be get knocked-up at such a young age. Disgusting.
retro chic
wrote on June 12 2009 @ 12:29 pm: [report]
Cheese, YES, PLEASE, haha. But, maybe all you’d have to do is dump most of these teen Reality TV show productions in middle of the ocean. Tremendous loss of life. [slurp]
Naneenya
wrote on June 12 2009 @ 12:32 pm: [report]
@Ginger. I noticed that too. That’s the reason why people from the south get such a bad rap. Thanks, television. Some of us Southerners are actually intelligent (and own condoms)
Perceptible
wrote on June 12 2009 @ 12:39 pm: [report]
Raising a baby is HARD! And I’m 39! I can’t even imagine doing this in my 20s, let alone as a teenager. It’s not even just the sleepless nights, it’s doing the right thing so your child can develop emotionally without any of your hangups and issues. What wisdom and self-restraint does a teenager have to offer a child? Clearly nothing on the self-restraint front or they wouldn’t be a teen parent in the first place. It’s so sad because it’s highly unlikely that they will make even decent - let alone good - parents, and the cycle is likely to continue.
@Cheeeeeese, oh I wish we could!
retro chic
wrote on June 12 2009 @ 01:17 pm: [report]
@Perceptible, I think this is very sad too, but also because of the misguided sense of attention pregnancy/parenthood they think they’ll receive if in the same, but IRL scenario. The cycle won’t end, or to very well, as you said.
redheadmiss
wrote on June 12 2009 @ 02:28 pm: [report]
I would not call Miss Maci a babyzilla, poor thing was basically doing all the baby stuff on her own while the dad did whatever he wanted.
I think MTV’s idea of getting the “bad” out there for teens to see on teen pregnancy is a good, but the presentation was not. I wish they would show someone who is past the baby stages and have them tell the honest truth.
I should know. I’m 24, had my child when I was 17. Miss Maci still doesn’t know what’s coming. I wish I could tell teenagers the truth, without added reality drama.
bittermelon
wrote on June 12 2009 @ 02:50 pm: [report]
Wow, did we watch the same show?
I didn’t think it in any way glamorized being pregnant at that age. While it showed Maci being excited with her new apt and her friends being jealous of having her own place, It also showed Maci’s sacrifices, having to drop her activities and spend barely any time with her friends to be a more responsible parent when her boyfriend doesn’t man up. It also showed how having the baby affected their relationship and how her boyfriend admits that they wouldn’t still be together if it weren’t for the baby. Maci had expectations of her boyfriend that were not met at all, her boyfriend was shown being out with his friends all the time and not helpful at home when he was home while she shouldered the majority of the responsibilities. Even though they were living in the same apt, all they did was fight if they talked at all. Her friends weren’t around much either once she actually had the baby and the hard part of raising the child started. In fact, she looked very lonely as the show concluded.
Her parents were somewhat supportive but were also forcing her to deal with the situation. She was in school, working part-time, taking care of an infant…If anything, it showed how much harder it was than she expected mainly because her boyfriend didn’t take much responsibility. How is that glamorous?
I have to disagree and say that the teens who watch this will get a realistic perspective of how difficult it is to have a child at that age, that even if you get engaged, it may not mean you’re getting married, it’s a lot of sacrifices even with supportive parents, and that it’s a lot harder than they think it’s going to be.
AbbyUNC07
wrote on June 15 2009 @ 08:11 am: [report]
Too bad they can’t make a show about teenagers going to the doctor and getting birth control. That would be awesome!