The Real, Real World

Other commenters note the lack of actual cultural exchange. Josephine, the daughter of Amanda's host family, and her peer, is gracious, warm and heartbreakingly generous toward Amanda, but whether she will be able to come to America is never mentioned. "I wish they followed up on Josephine," Geogirl writes. "Did Amanda invite her to America? What are her dreams that Amanda encouraged her to pursue? How did Amanda's visit change Josephine, or did it?"

More discomfiting than watching some indulged teenagers briefly face up to reality is the enduring plight of the host families. In the show's second episode, another "Sweet 16" vet, Ava of Beverly Hills, Calif., gets sent to Thailand. Her host, Ladee, asks to come Beverly Hills to visit. Ava agrees, through gritted teeth and a condescending smile. If viewers log on to MTV.com and watch the deleted scenes, they will discover that Ladee speaks English because she spent her childhood in an orphanage: her family was too poor to take care of her. But as soon as Ava is back in America, she laughs about how she will continue to buy Gucci and Prada and Christian Loboutin because, "I love my bags and shoes."

Several posters noted that the host families on the show seem like props. "The show falls into the theme of using other countries and cultures as teaching tools for people in the U.S." says feministing.com blogger Miriam Peres. "These people are being used as a teaching tool for mostly white, privileged girls. Why was this girl honored? Because she stopped crying after a few days? She was offensive. She wasn't appreciative."

Latoya Peterson, blogger for Racialicious.com, has a similar objection. "They're taking these extremely spoiled kids and going, 'OK, what's the worst thing we can do to them? Send them to Africa!" she says. "That's a terrible mind-set to have. It's the First World balking at the Third World." But Peterson is encouraged by the kind of comments the show is generating. "For every comment that was like, 'Aha! They got what they deserved,' there are a lot of others from people who are hungering for a real, deep conversation."

Executive producer Dave Sirulnick says the show's purpose is to encourage an awareness of the other cultures. "People will see the dignity they have, the wonderful cultural traditions they have, things that they wouldn't otherwise see, especially on MTV," he says. He points out that while there's only so much you can do in a half-hour reality series, the people selected to participate have benefited significantly from the experiences. "Amanda has … I think 'changed' might be too deep a word, but her outlook and perspective is different now." (Sirulnick wasn't sure how the participating host families were compensated for their role, and at MTV's press representatives have no so far been able to provide that information.)

Politics aside, the show's stories of transformation, whether they're long-lasting or not, do seem to have real appeal to an audience that usually snacks on a diet of superficial dating and makeover shows. And the word is spreading: "I'm gonna tell everyone to watch this show just so u can get ur ratings up and stay on air so u can send more kids to third world countries to get a better understanding of humility and appreciation," writes Gerald Mizzle on MTV's message board.

Sirulnick says that the network is talking about doing some sort of sequel where Josephine and the other host families are brought to America. Maybe other networks will pick up on the thirst for substance. "Gossip Girls" in Ghana, anyone?

© 2008