Reality Shows are a rage on television, everyone is aware that people love to see other peoples lives, with all its warts and all. The ratings of such programs are consistently high and its proved that humans are inherently voyeuristic, and popularity of such shows reflect on the obsession and the basic human satisfaction that is derived from living on the experiences of others. Reality Shows are here to stay, and once such show catering specially to teenagers is Music Television’s ‘MySuper Sweet 16‘.
MySuper Sweet 16 is a reality show centered around the lives of teenagers in the United States of America who are from extremely wealthy families and are preparing and throwing an extravagant, lavish and generally excessive coming of age celebrations. The coming of age parties are not just limited to the age of 16 as such but also the coming of ages for different cultures and societies like 15, 18 and even 21.
The excesses portrayed in the celebrations sometimes take the ‘reality’ out of the reality show, but as it is catered to children from the age bracket of 13 to 24, these become more like fantasies for them. Which child doesn’t have a great fantasy, and hence the popularity of the show.
From its first broadcast in 2005 the show has spawned, several spin-offs which were generally localized versions of the show like a UK version and a Spanish language one. Another spin-off reality show was introduced by the makers called ‘Exiled’ where the parents of the child who had the party sent him/her off to a remote countries to see how they would keep themselves up in strange and harsh situations and conditions. The franchise also made movies, which are: ‘Super Sweet 16 – The Movie’, a teenage slasher movie called ‘My Super Psycho Sweet 16′ and a sequel to it.
The show has covered some of the coming of age parties of young celebrities like Aly and Aj, Soulja Boy Tell Em, Bow Wow, Sean Kingston, and Chris Brown. There has been a lot of criticism for this reality show as it has been claimed that such excesses have been presented as aspirational for the young children who watch it. The producers of the show however vehemently deny such actions and rather say that all they do is show what happens in such parties to the general public and that If there is to be any blame attached for sending wrong social messages, then it is the parents who indulge their children with such lavishness who should be blamed.
Whatever the controversies or the criticisms, it is undeniable that this reality show, MySuper Sweet 16, is still popular among its target audiences, with the producers of the show now selling the format for other countries to broadcast it. Also they are using the power of social networking sites to promote and cover coming of age parties globally. Being a teenager is tough.
My Super Sweet 16
Reality Shows are a rage on television, everyone is aware that people love to see other peoples lives, with all its warts and all. The ratings of such programs are consistently high and its proved that humans are inherently voyeuristic, and popularity of such shows reflect on the obsession and the basic human satisfaction that is derived from living on the experiences of others. Reality Shows are here to stay, and once such show catering specially to teenagers is Music Television’s ‘My Super Sweet 16‘.
My Super Sweet 16 is a reality show centered around the lives of teenagers in the United States of America who are from extremely wealthy families and are preparing and throwing an extravagant, lavish and generally excessive coming of age celebrations. The coming of age parties are not just limited to the age of 16 as such but also the coming of ages for different cultures and societies like 15, 18 and even 21.
The excesses portrayed in the celebrations sometimes take the ‘reality’ out of the reality show, but as it is catered to children from the age bracket of 13 to 24, these become more like fantasies for them. Which child doesn’t have a great fantasy, and hence the popularity of the show.
From its first broadcast in 2005 the show has spawned, several spin-offs which were generally localized versions of the show like a UK version and a Spanish language one. Another spin-off reality show was introduced by the makers called ‘Exiled’ where the parents of the child who had the party sent him/her off to a remote countries to see how they would keep themselves up in strange and harsh situations and conditions. The franchise also made movies, which are: ‘Super Sweet 16 – The Movie’, a teenage slasher movie called ‘My Super Psycho Sweet 16′ and a sequel to it.
The show has covered some of the coming of age parties of young celebrities like Aly and Aj, Soulja Boy Tell Em, Bow Wow, Sean Kingston, and Chris Brown. There has been a lot of criticism for this reality show as it has been claimed that such excesses have been presented as aspirational for the young children who watch it. The producers of the show however vehemently deny such actions and rather say that all they do is show what happens in such parties to the general public and that If there is to be any blame attached for sending wrong social messages, then it is the parents who indulge their children with such lavishness who should be blamed.
Whatever the controversies or the criticisms, it is undeniable that this reality show, My Super Sweet 16, is still popular among its target audiences, with the producers of the show now selling the format for other countries to broadcast it. Also they are using the power of social networking sites to promote and cover coming of age parties globally. Being a teenager is tough.