The News Sentinel ran this story Sunday about a Knoxville mother who threw her 15-year-old daughter a birthday bash that resembled the parties featured on the controversial MTV show, "My Super Sweet 16."
The MTV show features rich, spoiled teenagers who plan extravagant celebrations for themselves with their parents' money.
The price tags - and the drama - run high on the show; most of the bashes cost six figures, and the teens' attitudes are self-indulgent, unappreciative and egotistical.
The West Knoxville party, apparently, wasn't much different.
Below are some of the highlights of Brittany Gibbs' 15th birthday party:
Silk Indian paper invitations, costing $400 just to ship them to the United States.
A male college student and model to deliver the invitations with Brittany and a dozen or so of her friends in a stretch Hummer limousine.
Five high school boys wearing jeans, pink bow ties and glitter on their bare chests to carry in the birthday girl. (The boys, according to the article, were self-proclaimed eye-candy.)
Professional male dancers who shook their backsides to the song "Sexyback." (Both mother and daughter received lap dances.)
A menu that included 300 mini chicken-salad croissant sandwiches 260 Thai spring rolls, 80 pounds of chicken and an 80-pound, four-tier birthday cake.
A musical performance by rapper Bubba Sparxxx.
To top off the party, Britany received from her mother one final gift: A 2006 BMW Z4, retailing at about $45,000.
The News Sentinel article did not include a price tag for Brittany's party (poor reporting), but my rough calculations put the bill at more than $100,000.
The controversy in Knoxville since the article was published has centered on two questions:
(1) What kind of mother throws a party like this for her 15-year-old daughter? and (2) What were the News Sentinel editors thinking when they devoted two-and-a-half pages to this story?
What do you think?
6 comments:
Shame on the paper for reporting on this event. I am wondering if they were paid by the mother??
My first reaction: "Who cares?"
It's kind of like the Marked Tree paper that reports "so and so slept over at so and so's house this weekend."
Amy
I have to admit, I watched this show once and it is like watching a train wreck...the kids already have EVERYTHING before the party and then they spend $250,000+ more on the party. The kids are so ungrateful, it makes me appreciate more the old car that my brother and I shared in high school. This show (and the article) are so sad. The article makes it sound like the mom was having more fun than the daughter....akk!
RIDICULOUS! I hope the mom also has a lot of money set aside for counseling, because her kid will need it one day. I don't know about you, but it makes me appreciate things more when I have to actually WORK for them. It sounds from the article that the mom is about as mature as her 16 year old.
This issue hits close to home. My little sister is only 6-months away from her 16th birhday and she watches the show. Surprise! She wants/is demanding a very extravegant party. I don't evny my parents...but who knows what societal pressures will face me when my girls are teenagers...please pass the Valium!
I had a manutante ball when I turned 16.
We had manwich, a cake shaped like a doorknob, 13 pistachios, a couple jars of paint strippers, dancing dogs called the "Lab Dances," 15 feet of twine, two balding kittens, a handful of rice pudding and a guessing jar filled with one bowling ball.
For entertainment, dad whistled "Hot Buttered Popcorn," and Liza Manelli sang a medley of "Dude Looks Like A Lady," "MacArthur Park" and "Sweet Child O' Mine."
Total cost: $42.82.
Really though, I don't have a problem with the paper covering the spoiled girl's birthday. It definitely is a story of unusual nature. I thought Tennessee parties consisted of banjos and river rafting.
By the by, I have totally trademarked "manutante ball."
Post a Comment