Teen Mom....ugh

I gave into a moment of weakness and watched episode twelve, season two, of Teen Mom 2 on January 12th on MTV.com under the urging of my girlfriend. I normally try to avoid reality shows(or anything on MTV for that matter) as much as possible, but we only have one tv so I was doomed. This episode was not my first Teen Mom rodeo. I had been drug through these trenches a few times before and I would be lying if I wasn't  curious about this episode. This episode follows four teenage girls as they struggle to raise their children(obvious, I know).

Newly single parent Leah and her twin daughters.

Leah is the first girl this episode focouses on. She has recently started into a divorce with her husband after admitting that she had cheated on him for the second time ten days before their wedding. The episode follows her as she goes through the divorce, struggles with custody issues, reclaiming her property, and her move into a new trailer. There are also the occasional 'candid' filmed conversations between Leah and her sister and mother that have a suspiciously scripted and unnatural feel to them. A lot of these conversations seem to be very one sided where her family would ask her a question and she would answer, but there would be very little feedback from the family member, leaving only her side to the situation.

Janelle rehabing it up.

Janelle is the next girl that the episode follows through her rehab process. Prior to this episode she had been arrested with her boyfriend for breaking and entering and possesion of marijuana. After the arrest she decides to dump her boyfriend(partly due to a non-association order order filed against her after her court appearance and after a domestic violence charge that she had filed against him) and attend an inpatient rehab in California. Her daughter has been in the custody of her mother throughout the season, and she has been inconsistent in living with her and the amount that she watches her. She goes through the rehab process and finds out that she may have a bi-polar disorder along the way. She is released and "rehabilitated" by the end of the episode, and returns home to live with her mom and son.

A very orange Chelsea and her super-cool ex-boyfriend.

Chelsea is the next girl in our illustrious lineup. The episode follows her as she takes her initial GED test, gives her dad money for the first time after paying all of her bills since her pregnancy(rent for an expensive-looking house, a brand new jeep, ect), and "tries" to resist the urge to get back with her dirtbag ex-boyfriend after her mother's "advice" against dating him. The episode wraps up with her passing her initial GED tes, and getting a ride in her ex-boyfriend's super-cool truck, and even cooler crotch rocket as the scene closes with a heart framing the shot.

Kailyn and Jo with their child.

Last, but certainly not least in this episode is Kailyn. Early on in the series she had cheated on her boyfriend, and baby daddy Jo, who subsequently broke up with her and kicked her out of his parent's house. From there she moved in with the guy she had cheated on Jo with where she had lived until this episode. She began having Jo over for court appointed visits, and ended up having sex with him after two visits. She eventually told her boyfriend about said sex, and tried to pass it off as if she was the victim, but he still ended up packing up his stuff and leaving her. So, she had now been left by two different guys for cheating on them. Winner winner, chicken dinner.


  Analyzing this train wreck: The attitude of this show is what concerns me the most. Everything in this show seems to be written to cast some sort of rose colored glow on these girl's situations, when a lot of them are setting themselves up to be in potentially disastrous situations in the near future. The show seems to really try hard to target teenage girl's urge to turn everything into a love story, or to try and pull romance where there is potential, or eventual tragedy. The monologues and "candid" interviews are written with the uncalled for optimism and ignorance of a high schooler's Facebook post. They are almost always some sort of one sided personal reflection of the situation with little scope of the possible disparity of these girls situations. Everything seems to be written to draw teenage audiences in with an antagonist, or hurdle that is eventually overcame with blissful optimism(urgent optimism maybe?).
    A good case in point is the situation between Chelsea and her ex-boyfriend. Throughout this series he has consistently cheated on her, insulted her and their child, and has displayed a general pattern of douchebaggery. Chelsea had vowed never to return to him, and was constantly distraught at the thought of not being with him, yet she would get all giddy at the first thought of him calling. Later, when he calls and tells her that he wants to see their child for the weekend she initially refuses because his parents are away, and she is afraid that he will get drunk and leave the child unattended. She then decides to have him over to see the baby after a short giddy "lecture" by her mom, who tells her not to go with him, but conveys otherwise with her giggly schoolgirl attitude. This visit turns into Chelsea going on a ride in superdouche'sdamnit if I'm not" grin. This shot ends with an animation of a pink cartoon broken heart being mended with a question mark floating out of it. Later on she goes on a ride on his crotch rocket(he allows her to ride without a helmet and in flip-flops and a tank top at dusk, real good guy move) and the show brings in the sappy ass teen love song to frame the shot as some love triumphs all scene, completely ignoring this girl's blatant plastic stupidity of her own screwed up situation. This kind of mindless sensationalism of mediocrity and ignorance is the main overtone that is obviously apparent throughout this show.
     This show is neither unique, or different from the usual MTV drivel that seems to be the gold standard in shaping early adults world views.


  Interpreting the embarrassing:   Rarely do you hear any mention of the children themselves. This show is almost completely centered around the melodramatic ups and downs of these teens lives, with the exception of the children themselves. Every one of these girls can be placed into the stupid young teen stereotype that most of our parents probably placed us in.  There is never any real reflection on the seriousness of these girls situations, other than the occasional "oh my gaawd" or "that is like, seriously messed up"  moments with their friends.
     The commercials in this episode seemed to be more associated with the cosmetic industry, but there were a lot of pregnancy test and baby product(diapers, baby wipes, ect). Most of the cosmetic commercials were focused toward younger women, which was no surprise. I think that the typical demographic for this show is probably 10-25 year old women, and young mothers. The commercials for cosmetics would probably be especially interesting for young mothers, as this show paints glowing, bright futures for the mothers on the show, and what could make your future brighter than some new Covergirl products!
      If I were a tourist or newly transplanted American I would watch this show with some feeling of "Shit, I moved to the wrong neighborhood". I would also think that the majority of Americans were ignorant and reckless(probably true).

Evaluation(why god...): This show's one big strength is that it is edited in a way that really draws viewers in to stick around for the next show. I would be lying if I did not want to continue watching this downward spiral of mediocre glam. They keep you drawn in with the typical reality show "ooh, what's going to happen next" reveals and commercial breaks. This show is an enabler to all of the high school aged girls who watch it in the fact that it provides an unrealistic view of teen pregnancy. The show seems to consistently ignore the real implications of these girl's situations, and anything other than the best case scenarios.
   Reviews were just as I would have thought them to be. The IMDB ratings show that teen girls love the show, while everyone else considers it to be garbage. The amount of bad ratings by teen girls may be a product of how many teen girls watch the show compared to how little older women watch it, but I still consider the data to reflect the maturity of older viewers, and the fact that they can realize the quality of the show.

The future of Teen Mom viewers?

Conclusions: My first reaction to hearing that my girlfriend watched this show was "oh no, not you"  as if she was one of the bitten in a zombie movie. My first reaction to the show was just as I though it would be. I probably had a lot of bias about the show before I ever watched it, but the show spoke for itself and never really had me second guessing my prejudicial thoughts about how worthless this show really was.

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