"Big problem! There is glitter all over my dress!" - Lauren, stricken by her inadvertently sparkly dress
My Super Sweet 16: Seasons 1 & 2 DVD Review
By A.J. Carson
Boy, do I have a headache. It could simply be sinus pressure, but more likely it's from watching way too much My Super Sweet 16: Seasons 1 & 2, MTV's reality series in which privileged princes and princesses throw themselves lavish birthday parties to celebrate stepping a little closer to old age. All the shrieking and whining will do that to you.
Take Lauren and Jackie. They are bff, so close that they even decide to throw their bash together at the Hard Rock LaJolla. (For some reason, they think that Hard Rock is the height of classiness. I guess Applebee's was booked for the evening.) Storm clouds gather when they both pick similar dresses, but they decide to put aside their differences. After all, this isn't just a party-the duo decides to charge $10 a head to raise money for breast cancer research. This momentous decision is made while they are simultaneously negotiating with their parents to hire the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beyonce, or Guns n' Roses as the party's house band. The going rate? A cool half a million. But hey-imagine the money they'll raise for a worthy cause.
Hart wants to be the best at everything...except school...and is perfectly happy to mooch off of dad's money. That's why he wants to throw the world's best sweet sixteen party. He insists that sweet sixteen parties are "not girly at all," but dude, if you have to say it, then you're just trying to convince yourself. Hart's party also has a charity aspect of sorts. It is scheduled on the same night as an important school dance, so Hart bribes chicks into coming by giving them free blouses from his stepmom's boutique. Hot-headed dad-who constantly reminds Hart who's footing the bill-is afraid that the venue his son has chosen is too "white trash." Shortly thereafter, he takes sonny boy into New York City to hire exotic dancers for the event. Way to avoid white trashiness, Dad!
Some of the parents presented here are just benignly bad, trying to buy their kid's love and allowing their most piggish, bratty behavior to be taped and broadcast on TV. Jacque's boozehound mom is actively terrible, sneaking around behind her daughter's back and deliberately buying decorations she knows Jacque will hate simply because she finds this sort of conflict fun. Jacque is predictably devastated by this betrayal. Mom's solution? To offer her sixteen year-old a shot. In a highball glass.
I fought a potentially fatal illness, but my life is nowhere as difficult as Ava's. She flies off to Paris to look for a dress only to discover that Dior is closed for the season. She only has time to run up $8,000.00 in charges before mommy cancels her credit card. The four shirtless hunks hired to carry her into the party on a chaise nearly drop her. Worst of all, her parents decide to set limits-they don't give her the car promised on her birthday. Instead, she's forced to wait for her new Range Rover until her party.
Lila and her pals fly off to Vegas to shop for dresses. Klassy! Mom doesn't like any of the dresses...except for a cape she finds for herself. Three hundred of Lila's closest friends are given a silver trinket inviting them to the shindig. At a pre-party photo shoot, Lila and her posse wonder "why are we so hot?" Ummm...you're not. Security is so tight that Lila can't even get into her own party. But all of the trouble is worth it. After all, as Lila says, "I've been dreaming of this my whole life." All fifteen years of it.
I won't get into the other revelers, like snippy foster kid Jazmin and flaming fashionista Bjorn, but they're all fabulous, too. And by "fabulous" I mean "pathetic."
My Super Sweet 16 is at its core a horrifyingly comic tribute to conspicuous consumption. The teens have an outrageous sense of entitlement while their clueless parents cater to their every whim. Everyone displays a naked neediness-the teens need to feel superior to their friends, while the parents try to buy their kids' love. Notice, for example, the number of parents who seem to be using these parties to compensate for broken families.
As gross as the series can be, it is also extremely entertaining on many levels. Teens might take the show at face value, empathizing with the way that their peers on the show treat every development (in the planning of a party, no less) as life altering and of supreme importance. Older viewers will get a laugh at how the series subtly-and not-so-subtly-makes its subjects look foolish.
Wealthy parents most certainly have the right to pamper and dote on their kids, but these parents don't seem interesting in teaching their children respect either for themselves or others. It is no surprise that many of these girls mention Paris Hilton-a talent-free heiress mostly known for partying and getting arrested for drunk driving-as their role model. This is a shame. Surely their parents did something to earn their wealth. Wouldn't they be better role models?
The 13 episodes included in My Super Sweet 16: Seasons 1 & 2 are divided onto two discs. The discs are housed in a standard-sized keepcase with the discs attached to the interior front and back covers. If you are looking for your favorite episode, you'll just have to take a chance since there is no episode guide included.
The menus are simple and functional, mimicking the show's opening credits sequence. Viewers can play all of a disc's episodes or choose an individual one. The episodes are divided into chapters.
," a skimpy featurette (1:58) that would never get an invite to my party.
