When I was a teenager and Mtv began, I was addicted. I loved music and delighted in the “Men at Work” videos. I thought A-ha’s “Take on Me” video was going to change the world. We were a perfect match.
But over the years, I changed and Mtv changed. We grew apart. Irreconcilable differences, you might say. MTV, instead of being a music video channel, became a culture channel. It became the top profiteer of the “industry of cool.” It was extraordinarily liberal, even hedonistic and I gave it up.
Now, I’m an incessant channel changer so I breeze through everything. That’s my way of telling you I unwittingly stumbled across a show on MTV. And I stopped on it because there was a kid being lectured to by a man about taking responsibility and being kind. And he even mentioned…God?!
Now, I’ve watched two and a half episodes of an MTV show called “The World’s Strictest Parents” and I’m feeling those ol’ good feelings for MTV. When I saw the title of the show I figured that it was a show about outrageously strict parents who have to be set straight be liberal hippy dippy kids. But it couldn’t be further from that.
In each episode two teens are committed to the care of ‘the world’s strictest parents.’ In the episodes I’ve seen the kids come into the house and bristle at all the rules. They roll their eyes. They yell. They scream. They even run out of the house. But soon, changes begin to occur through a mixture of discipline, respect and nurturing. And it’s actually kind of wonderful.
By the end of the episode the parents have made a connection with the kids and the kids don’t seem so unmanageable. It often becomes clear that these kids are desperate for strong consistent and nurturing guidance. And then the children’s parents come to the house and are amazed at the change in their child after just a few days.
Pretty amazing show for MTV. Now, I’m going to try “Sixteen and Pregnant.” Wish me luck.
It’s not that I’m jumping back into my relationship with Mtv. But…you know…we have a history together. And it really seems to be trying to change and meet me halfway. Maybe with a little counseling and some trust building exercises…
December 29, 2009 at 3:39 pm
My wife and I have seen this show before, and think they should change the name from "World's Strictest Parents" to "Good Parents". Setting boundaries with real consequences for violating them? Man! What will they think of next!
December 29, 2009 at 3:58 pm
It's not an MTV production (it actually originated (and is still produced) on CMT) but I'm glad to see it played out on MTV. More kids glued to that crap channel need to see shows like this to show them how to really live.
December 29, 2009 at 6:12 pm
It's a bit formulaic, but still watchable. Every time it comes on I turn to my kids and say "I balme the parents". I'm not being sarcastic. I really do. The parents failed in their DUTY to raise the children they were given. They failed to be the leaders that their role as parents require.
16 and Pregnant is a very good show. It's now about the moms since the babies have been born, Highly recommended.
December 29, 2009 at 7:10 pm
So while the "world's stictest parents" are busy straightening out somebody else's kids, whats being done to straighten out the parents of the little darlings?
Yeah, too much to ask for. Sorry.
December 29, 2009 at 7:26 pm
You know reality TV isn't real, right? It's scripted…a bit looser, but still scripted.
That being said, this is a better model of a script for kids to watch than anything else on that channel. I just can't get that warm fuzzy feeling about watching the kids "change" and "make connections" when I know it's not real.
December 29, 2009 at 8:13 pm
I, too, came across an incredibly surprising show on MTV — a look at the lives of two men whose lives were being destroyed by porn addiction, and a woman desperate to succeed in the porn industry. It was pretty intense in terms of the level of openness the featured people had to give about their struggle, but there was nothing explicit, and the production was effective in maintaining some level of tasteful restraint even as it spoke the brutal truth about the effects of porn on peoples' lives. There was nothing defensive about it, just a simple exposition of the reality people entangled in the production and consumption of porn really face. And I was genuinely moved by the show… people being brutally honest about a brutal reality. I was grateful to MTV for airing it; who'd have thought it possible?
-Nick Blaha
December 30, 2009 at 3:13 am
16 and pregnant is pretty good. They are following three girls: two who kept their babies and one who gave hers up for adoption. The father of the adopted-out baby is getting a lot of flack from his father for not keeping the child. I was really shocked that this man would want his son to raise his child at the age of 16. Their relationship is so strained that the boy had to move out of the house. They're not sugar-coating a whole lot. I hope that some kids are paying attention.