The Good
If you want train wrecks and horrible behavior, this show is for you.
The Bad
I don’t know what’s worse… that the subjects on these discs can behave this way or that reviewers like myself have to watch it?
My Super Sweet 16: Seasons 1 and 2 documents the goings on of a bunch of girls for their 16th Birthdays. We see the buildups, the fights, the guest lists (who is and isn’t coming), awful behavior on the part of kids who have it all and just about everything else. I think that it is shameful that kids are allowed to be this way. While I can understand parents wanting to give their children anything, wouldn’t watching their behavior on these DVDs make them realize that their brand of parenting just isn’t working. From kids complaining about their credit cards being cancelled, to the shear opulence of their parties… I was in awe from the moment this two season set started. Whether it was a Coming Out party, a Quinceanera, you name it these kids are acting in ways that they should hopefully be embarressed by when they review these episodes 5 years from now.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
While the children who are the focal point of these episodes will most likely try and claim youth as being the cause of their idiocacy, I think we are sadly seeing people who don’t know how, or are not cognizant of the myriad of ways to mask their behavior. My Super Sweet 16: Seasons 1 and 2 is something that should be watched and watched again, if for no other reason that to teach children how not to act.
Features
Sneak Peek from the Set of Super Sweet 16: The Movie
Yes, they are crossing over and entering the movie realm with this film although I believe it is in the straight-to-DVD capacity only. We find out that it got made because of the popularity of the show and apparently it actually has a plot. It looks at “friends growing apart” or some other such theme, and the actresses, especially the ones who were on the reality show, talk about being excited to be on their first movie set. I can’t say that this featurette really made me excited to see this thing, but apparently having Aly & AJ taking part in it is going to make it the OMG! event of the summer.
Bonus Episode of My Super Sweet 16 from Season 3
Video
Full Screen. This show is shot on video so I actually expected things to look a lot crisper and brighter than they do here. For some reason, I thought the video looked faded but that might have something to do with the way the the episodes were compressed. Considering that this two disc set contains two entire seasons of this show, it sort of seems like making the episodes in this release look as good as possibly got lost somewhere. Whatever the case, the audience for these DVDs probably doesn’t care. However, since most of them probably have state of the art, HD TVs (and players?), they just might.
Audio
Dolby Digital. English Stereo. The audio on this release was good. I do not know how MTV does it but they really can get every piece of audio that is recorded for these things. No matter what the situation, no matter how many people are around, no matter what… none of that matters. While this show is filled with bubbly teen music that is sure to get people’s attention, I couldn’t help but feel like I was watching one of those image conscious movies that takes place in a perfect movie world. The fact that what I was watching was reality (or, so they say) wasn’t ever lost on me.
Package
They have packed up this DVD so that the front cover looks like a gift. There is a mix of gold, white and purple colors. The back maintains this look while offering up a Special Features listing, a description what this show is about, four pictures from some of the episodes and technical specs. Since I have reviewed so many DVD box sets that contain a lot more discs, it’s a bit harder to take this two disc, two season set seriously. However, it is what it is…
Final Word
I don’t come from money but I didn’t grow up poor or wanting for anything. However, I learned early on that if I wanted something, I had better save up my own money so that I could make it a reality. When I was 13 I was given a Bar-Mitzvah and it went like this: There was a service at a synagogue, we all went to this nice prime rib restaurant (probably not kosher), and I think I amassed about $2000. Now, that is a windfall that many kids will never get at that age and of course most of it went into the bank. Watching these kids here, I don’t think what I got would be enough for them. So much of this is about keeping up appearances, parents competing against other parents to put on a bigger show, and the fact that these kids are so young and are getting so much… it really seems quite ugly in today’s world. It just seems like the haves have so much more and the have nots have so much less.
If you are a fan of this show you will no doubt be happy to own My Super Sweet 16: Seasons 1 and 2 (heck, you can buy it with some of your birthday money). If you haven’t ever seen this show, or your in your 20s, 30s or higher… take this with a grain of salt but TV Land said it and it bears repeating, “15 Year Olds Are Idiots.”
My Super Sweet 16 was released .
