Tuesday, June 23, 2009

MTV Has Lost Its Collective Mind

A friend of mine just told me she saw part of an MTV reality show called "16 and Pregnant". I begged her to tell me she wasn't serious, but unfortunately she was. How can they do this? Is there no one on staff at MTV with children of their own? There is no doubt in my mind that this little girl is keeping this baby because it gets her her fifteen minutes of fame.

This is disgusting by any standards. We have enough teenage pregnancy in this country without glorifying it. Another welfare case on the way. Does this child have any idea whatsoever what she is doing to her own life, much less the life of the child yet to be born? And I would truly give a lot to know what was in the minds of the MTV execs when they picked up this abomination. I can see some of it now. Jackass #1 picks up the phone and calls Jackass #2: "We've got a live one! Photogenic, sixteen, and pregnant! We can ride this pony all the way to the finish line if we can convince her to keep the baby and do a reality show."

Jackass #2 to Jackass #1: "You've just been promoted. What a great idea for a show! Sixteen year old spreads her legs and gets herself pregnant. This is great. This will trump that new drama about the same subject on that other channel, because this one will be real."

And the young female exec, married with two kids of her own, who was the lone voice of dissension, is now clearing out her desk to make way for Jackass #1. And people will watch this show, I guarantee it, which will justify all to the powers that be.

Let me tell you something, MTV: you have sunk further than I would have believed possible. The disgust and contempt I feel for you right now is beyond what mere words can convey. There are women out there who love children, who truly want to be mothers, and can't have them for whatever reason, and a program like this is a slap in the face to every one of them. What you have produced is a travesty. What you have done makes me want to vomit. There is no way that MTV will ever appear on a television screen in my house ever again. What kind of woman, especially one with a daughter of her own, wants that trash viewed by that daughter? Most of us are trying to convince our daughters that sex is something they should reserve for the men they are going to marry. Granted, that may be expecting too much in this day and age, but I will be damned before I encourage my daughter to watch the filth in your programming.

3 comments:

  1. WOW Stacey - I applaud you strong views - but greatly disagree. I actually called my 14 year old into the room when ‘16 and Pregnant’ was on and had her watch it with me. We discussed how HARD it was for the girl, I pointed out that her boyfriend was nowhere to be found, she was doing this on her own – that she was completely dependent on her mother to go anywhere because she did not have, nor could afford a car. That she was working some low paying part time job and had to quit the cheerleading squad and drop out of high school because of all the gossip of all her ‘so called’ friends.

    I pointed out to her that after the baby was born, she asked her mom if she would help with the baby in the middle of the night, and mom said, “No, I need my sleep”.

    The episode I saw was a great example of the ‘down side’ of being 16 and pregnant. The young lady said she always thought her lack of sleep would be due to all night parties, or cramming for finals, not feeding a baby several times a night. They showed a few friends coming over and getting ready to go out, but she couldn’t go – she was too tired and had no sitter.

    I don’t think that is glorifying pregnancy at all, but showing the reality of how you have no life, when your teenage years should be fun and carefree, not full of midnight feeding and diapers.

    As you said in your blog, it is the parents’ responsibility to teach our children to keep their legs closed. I completely agree. My girls KNOW how I feel about the situation, and shows like ‘16 and Pregnant’ are excellent teaching tools…they can see that the hardship these girls go though and not just take mom’s word for it.

    Great blog – keep it up - I enjoy reading it!

    Kelly

    ReplyDelete
  2. There was also a special on ABC Last Night- same theme Teenage Pregnancy. There was no glorification- definitely the downside of the whole thing.

    My RAGE comes from the parent who jumps right in and takes over raising the child as their own. The pregnant teen gets all the celebrity and none of the responsibility. That was the case in one of the scenarios on the ABC show last night! That teen also was attending- Celibacy Rallies while pregnant and was embraced by the religious right mentality because she didn't abort, didn't give the baby away- NO she had mommy to raise this child at age 50, and now she was going to be a GOOD GIRL... yeah right... no consequences and she'll get bored and have sex again!

    I have a friend my age- 54- who is raising 3 granddaughters. The bio-parents are her son, and his GF both heroin addicts. The state paid for all of their care previous to the adoption and now the adoption is subsidized. The bio-parents have WAT TOO MUCH access to these children who were removed from their custody. This "couple" had a son subsequently - last November who they were allowed to take home with them. Her with Methadone in her system.

    I don't know what the answer is... Certainly there are moral, ethical, and long-term consequences on society. It's SICK... I don't know if having specials about it on TV is helpful or detrimental ultimately. BUT if these kids want attention they are getting it and their babies are NOT getting it because they are too immature to be selfless enough to raise a child properly.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks ladies! I can see your point of view, Kelly. I think on the one hand it's good for the girls to see the downside of doing this on their own as teens, but, hell, they can see that without having it on television! I definitely don't mean to belittle anyone else's views though!

    ReplyDelete