MiniCap: 16 and Pregnant

Recaps

By CathodeTube | Wednesday, April 25, 2012 | 10:28 am | 13 Comments
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in: 16 and Pregnant, MiniCaps, MTV, Recaps

What. The. Hell.

I suppose I’ve met people sort of like Jordan’s mom Kelly. Luckily, I haven’t had the misfortune of meeting any from whom I couldn’t run fast and far away. I’ve seen a number of them on “reality” TV. On scripted TV, attempts are made to make them more sympathetic and interesting.

I don’t believe Kelly’s problem with babydaddy Tyler is that he’s white. I think racism is easy to understand for the viewing audience, moreso than dangerous sociopathy. It’s a little that he’s unattractive, even creepy-looking if you’re going to be mean about it, but dude’s 17, he needs to grow into his girth and get a proper hairstyle. It’s a little that he’s essentially weak-willed, and Kelly knows this, because people like her need/love to make people like him miserable. It’s a little that she doesn’t want anyone dividing her daughter’s attention and loyalty. She owns Jordan, she essentially says.

It’s a little that Kelly’s jealous because no man will stay with her, although between one and four deigned to impregnate her. And it’s a little that she’s only programmed to destroy. But I don’t believe things would have been fundamentally different if Tyler had been black. Kelly’s methods to hurt him and maintain control of her daughter would have taken a different form. But her goal, and likely the end result, would have been the same.

At the beginning of the ep, Jordan is living with Tyler’s family, who are totally okay with supporting her. Tyler is excited to have the baby, by this show’s standards, and he doesn’t appear to be on any of the hard drugs. Kelly doesn’t let Tyler in the house, and she never did, even before he knocked up her daughter. You hope the baby will melt her heart and turn her around (if you’re naive).


Genetically, I’m one quarter asshole, but I’m still adorbs.

Jordan makes a brief reference to changing her life tactics, so she doesn’t keep getting what she’s gotten. This means moving out of her mother’s for good (in theory), and taking the crib that Tyler bought with her. Kelly leaves a pissed-off and curse-laden voice mail in response to this, but she sounds like she’s smiling when she does so, which for me is the scariest part.

After not hearing from Jordan for some time, Kelly claims to have changed her tune and gets Jordan to move back home. But her beliefs and attitudes remain the same, she just decided to catch her flies with honey instead of shit. And everyone ends up essentially becoming what she says they are, because when you deal with someone this crazy, it’s easy to become crazy yourself. Tyler ultimately lets everyone down, yes, and maybe he was destined to be a disappointment, but in a different situation with an undisturbed grandparent, I think he could have at least been goaded into some babysitting in the early years. With no baby help, Jordan drops out of high school, which is apparently fine with Kelly, or at least we don’t hear otherwise.

At least Matt from last week can get himself to rehab. Kelly is a type of deep-in-the-bones crazy that there’s no way to fix.

CathodeTube

CathodeTube has wanted to be a recapper ever since she read the MightyBigTV interview with Sars and James Van Der Beek. She lives in Chicago with her husband and baby son, and adores hip-hop, cop shows, competitive reality TV, and all foods involving melted cheese. She used to copyedit made-up blogs for the "reputation management" of people who got themselves on The Dirty or Mugshots.com. Turns out google-bombing doesn't work anymore, so now she writes product copy, is much happier, and still wears stretchy pants at all times.

13 Comments

  1. 1
    Stephanie
    Posted April 25, 2012 at 10:40 am

    This episode was sad and your psychoanalysis was right on. Tyler really seemed like a good guy and we could see that he wanted to be involved in the baby’s life. Jordan was too naive to see what her mom was really doing and she let her mother take charge, just like she wanted/planned all along. Tyler was set-up to look like the bad guy and the victim here is poor, little Chase. I was enraged at the end of this episode!! Kelly is a crazy bitch!

  2. 2
    dallasboo
    Posted April 25, 2012 at 10:50 am

    Jordan’s mother is just evil and extremely manipulative…….finally we have a boy willing to step up and be involved- but all she can do is be a racist, curse at her daughter, fake an aplogogy and push the poor boy out of his baby’s life.

  3. 3
    ash1
    Posted April 25, 2012 at 11:48 am

    Threatening to withhold the epidural is nucking futs! Look, I think knocked-up teens are largely morons, but Jeebus!!!! They should get to decide on the epidural for themselves. Mama IS bat shit crazy, but Tyler’s mom was dumb with her “Well Jordan just all of a sudden changed her mind…” Um, yeah, they’re KIDS, that’s what they do! Your son and his gf couldn’t figure out a condom between the two of them, and now you’re shocked that they’re acting like flaky teenagers?!

    I totally agree that cray-cray mama would have found something equally classy to insult babydaddy about if he had been black. I’d be more concerned with the fact that he looks like Cro-Magnon Man, but, whatever. You can’t really fault Tyler for avoiding that house like the plague, with cray-cray upstairs and the brothers guarding the staircase like bouncers. Well, another one for the courts…ah, young love!

  4. 4
    wow
    Posted April 25, 2012 at 12:53 pm

    This mom really takes the cake and we’ve seen some bad grandma’s on 16 and Pregnant before. I am frustrated that Tyler’s parents gave up so fast and totally agree with you Ash1 that it was ridiculous that they seemed to take it personally that Jordan changed her mind once her mom said Tyler could come in the house. That crazy nut is the only mom Jordan’s ever known and I’m sure the prospect of being a teen mom without her own mom was terrifying, despite the fact that her mom is a horrible wench.

    I also agree that she will probably have an issue with anyone who Jordan is with. Another sad episode esp b/c that lady is NOT changing without some serious help.

  5. 5
    Faye
    Posted April 25, 2012 at 7:16 pm

    If the situation was reversed and a white mother was treating a black teenager that way and saying those things the next day she would have been unemployed trashed all over the internet advertisers pulling from the show .. we all know the drill. I was just hoping captain caveman had proved her wrong and stepped up but I suppose I expect too much out of life.

  6. 6
    Karen
    Posted April 26, 2012 at 7:39 am

    I agree with Faye, if the situation were reversed we would have hung the mom and everyone would be screaming racism….where is the white peoples million man march on this issue….isnt what we just saw reverse racism??? And please do not start with the whole oh we were repressed for years blah, blah…YOU weren’t repressed at all your ancestors were! I am Irish but I don’t harp on me starving from bad potatoes! This lady should make an apology, that is what a white member would have had to do if this show was even aired in reverse!!

  7. 7
    ash1
    Posted April 26, 2012 at 7:50 am

    There is no such thing as “reverse racism.” Racism is racism, and racists come in all colors. This is a show that consistently represents uneducated, ignorant, illogical parents and children, so lose the shock and awe.

  8. 8
    CathodeTube CathodeTube
    Posted April 26, 2012 at 8:54 am

    Update: Jordan and Tyler are engaged! Yay?
    http://www.facebook.com/Jordan.Howard.16andpregnant

  9. 9
    wow
    Posted April 26, 2012 at 11:11 am

    I agree ash1.

    The people that usually cry “reverse racism” are the first ones to accuse minorities of playing the “race card” when the situation actually is reversed. You can’t win with them.

  10. 10
    Classy Drunk classy drunk
    Posted April 26, 2012 at 11:23 am

    Aww the ole you weren’t repressed your ancestors were. People always seem to forget this guy named…sigh…it slips my mind…national holiday…has a monument in D.C…fought for african american civil liberties…sheesh…why can’t I remember the name…in the 60′s which is the same or only one generation removed from most of the people on this site…oh yeah…Martin Luther King, Jr.

    I always forget all the stuff that guy did for civil rights. I guess because it was sooooooooooo long ago.

    potatoe potahtoe

  11. 11
    Reilly
    Posted April 26, 2012 at 3:10 pm

    Well, that’s promising, if it means Jordan wised up and got away from her mother!

  12. 12
    ash1
    Posted April 26, 2012 at 4:09 pm

    They seemed a genuinely good match, age and stupidity aside. If Jordan can set some boundaries with her mom, I think they could actually make it.

  13. 13
    Faye
    Posted April 27, 2012 at 12:14 pm

    Thanks for the agreement Karen but I think my comment was lost in translation. What I meant was baltant racism should not be tolerated no matter which way it’s directed and from whom. As far as me “getting over being oppressed because it happened to my ancestors and not me” I have a picture of myself and my mother in front of a “coloreds only” sign sooooooo yeah that happened to me.

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