{"id":2206,"date":"2008-08-25T10:44:11","date_gmt":"2008-08-25T10:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/idolchatter\/2008\/08\/exiled-in-teenville.html"},"modified":"2008-08-25T10:44:11","modified_gmt":"2008-08-25T10:44:11","slug":"exiled-in-teenville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2008\/08\/exiled-in-teenville.html","title":{"rendered":"My Super Sweet 16: ‘Exiled’ in Teenville"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"sweet16forIC.jpg\"<\/span>Many years ago, when the first episode of MTV’s “My Super Sweet Sixteen” aired, I thought that the network had taken a daring step by reflecting this generation’s craven consumerism<\/a> and narcissism<\/a> back at them with the depictions of half-a-million dollar birthday parties and teens with no concept of the value of money or hard work.
\nOK, so the reflection was subtle, but it was there in the editing; a knowing wink directing our attention to the ludicrousness of the lifestyles of the rich and pubescent, and the parents who indulge it. But instead of being a learning experience, the first season spawned six more seasons of one-upmanship with flashier gifts and bigger musical guests. (I’ve only seen one episode in which the three gals celebrating asked their guests to donate to a charity in lieu of gifts.)<\/p>\n


\nSo, imagine my surprise when I saw that the producers of “Sweet Sixteen” have revisited some of the worst offenders and have, in conjunction with their parents, decided to send them to poverty-stricken parts of the world to see how the other half lives in a show called “Exiled<\/a>.”
\nI applaud MTV for finally taking the other tack and showing some socially responsible spine. Of course that social responsibility will be mixed with sensationalism; previews indicate that the teens will be called “lazy” and “rude” by their hosts and that teens, like kids, will say the darndest things–Cee-Lo’s ( of Gnarls Barkley) daughter Sierra asks before her trip to Africa, “Why do I have to live with a tribe? Why can’t I stay with rich people?” But that’s what makes for good reality television and that’s what will keep people watching, and hopefully, learning.
\n“Exiled” premieres tonight at 10:30 p.m. on MTV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many years ago, when the first episode of MTV’s “My Super Sweet Sixteen” aired, I thought that the network had taken a daring step by reflecting this generation’s craven consumerism and narcissism back at them with the depictions of half-a-million dollar birthday parties and teens with no concept of the value of money or hard…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"\nMy Super Sweet 16: 'Exiled' in Teenville<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2008\/08\/exiled-in-teenville.html\" \/>\n<meta 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