Reality shows aren't exactly known for their authenticity, and My Super Sweet 16 is no
exception.
According to at least one former Sweet Sixteener, the price tag is just about the only thing
genuine in this series.
You're invited to watch us unwrap all the behind-the-scenes details, and lies, about
these big birthdays.
First cars
From Cadillac Escalades and Hummers to custom Porsches and Mercedes-Benzes, are you even
worthy of being on My Super Sweet 16 if your parents don't buy you a fancy car?
“Oh my god I so want a Range Rover !"
While most of us were borrowing our parents' minivan or taking the bus, the kids of My
Super Sweet 16 were having meltdowns over not getting the specific sports car they wanted.
What 16-year-old kid really needs a BMW?
Some of the parents on My Super Sweet 16 totally agree, and the fancy cars they gift their
kids may be staged by producers.
In an interview with Special Events, Stacy Zeigler, who worked for a catering company
that assisted with an MTV birthday bash, spilled the beans that
“[The birthday girl] really got a Honda or a Toyota.”
...even though cameras showed her getting a BMW X5.
In other words, some of those whips may be just for the cameras, unless you're Lil' Wayne's
daughter.
In that case, you get a BMW and a Ferrari.
Party crashers
My Super Sweet 16 makes distributing invitations a full-on spectacle, and there are always
disappointed kids who don't receive a coveted invite because, well, what's an exclusive
party if everyone can come?
But parties get crashed, and sometimes MTV producers are in on the drama.
Rapper J. Cole famously crashed one of MTV's My Super Sweet 16 parties while he was a college
kid, and way too old to be attending some kid's 16th birthday party.
The big bash was for Aaron Reid, the son of famed music exec L.A. Reid, and Cole said
he was hoping to rub elbows with some famous faces in the music industry.
Looking back on that moment years later, Cole told MTV that he totally faked it for the
cameras, and the cameras knew the whole time.
"I was like no no no I don’t know him.
And the girl’s like it’s ok, it’s TV.”
The dramatic entrances
Dramatic entrances are the cornerstone of My Super Sweet 16.
As it turns out, the real-life party may be even more dramatic than we see.
Those grand entrances are supposedly shot over and over and over again.
According to Nikki Cain, whose sweet 16 was featured in a 2009 episode, many moments were
replicated multiple times to produce the perfect material.
Cain claims she had to walk in and out of a room repeatedly so the small film crew could
capture different angles.
The team also allegedly made her repeat her very best lines.
She told Babe,
"If I would say something funny or that they thought was dramatic they would ask me to
repeat it, which is annoying because then it's not the same.
[...] It sounds kind of fake."
The teens aren't mean
My Super Sweet 16 has had its fair share of divas and meltdowns.
Where there's money, there can be privileged kids who don't understand the word "no."
“Mom.
Dior is like, closed.”
From tantrums over birthday gifts to publicly shaming best friends over petty arguments,
the teens in this reality show would fit right in with Regina George and her pink-clad Plastics.
At least, that's what MTV would like us to believe.
Of course, those teenzillas are just ramping it up for the cameras.
Party guest Lauren Hillin told the Houston Chronicle that the star of the party she attended
looked "really mean" on the episode,
"[But] in real life she's just worried about what everyone's going to think about her.
She's scared everyone's going to hate her after this."
This notion of acting salty for the cameras but sweet behind the scenes was corroborated
by caterer Stacy Zeigler, who told Special Events that her client was actually very nice.
Mild-mannered teens apparently just don't make for good TV.
Behind the scenes manipulation
Admit it: You aren't very pleasant when you're tired.
If the teens on My Super Sweet 16 look like actual nightmares, a huge part of that cranky
attitude could be attributed to lack of sleep.
That's right: MTV might be manufacturing divas through sleep deprivation.
According to former Sweet Sixteener Nikki Cain, MTV didn't allow her enough downtime
to get a good night's rest.
She told Babe that
“[MTV filmed] from waking up to falling asleep.
[…] I would get three or four hours of sleep at the most."
Sleep deprivation triggers intense emotions — the kind that might contribute to a spoiled
teen's very public party meltdown.
It's their birthday and they'll cry if they want to.
Not exactly a 'documentary'
My Super Sweet 16 is framed as a documentary — an authentic depiction of the lifestyles
of privileged teens on their milestone birthdays.
“This is rapidly getting out of control."
That's the reason one Houston Chronicle reporter claims they were barred from an MTV birthday
bash.
Apparently, the network thought it wouldn't be "real" if press attended the bona fide
"documentary" shoot.
MTV may be tossing around that documentary lingo loosely.
As Nikki Cain told Babe,
"It's all fake.
Everything is scripted.
You have to sit in a room and read off a script for like eight hours.'"
As fun as it is to watch, this series probably won't be earning a Pulitzer Prize for its
groundbreaking realness anytime soon.