Reality TV.

The show Teen Mom 2 on MTV symbolizes something more powerful than what one would first think. It’s not just a guilty pleasure as most would assume. A friend of mine thinks Teen Mom and this vein of reality shows displays a money-making ploy where these girls are seeking validation and attention for the poor decisions they’ve made – and an audience that seeks this vicarious drama. No, no, no. Regardless of how they ended up in this situation, it puts an important issue on the world stage which is teen pregnancies and how these families handle the challenges. It’s truly beautiful to see how these new moms get the strength to raise these beautiful children and the maturity of their decisions and the responsibility is beautiful to watch. Of course, there are the moments where you could say, their age is showing, but I think that’s true of anyone regardless of age.

One scene that was particularly poignant for me was seeing one of the most stoic Southern gentlemen ever, Corey, approach his daughter’s potential nerve damage with positivity. Corey uplifted his wife Leah, and made sure he was strong for her and took off work to be there for his family during Ali’s MRI. When Corey and Leah said goodbye to Ali at the door for her to get her MRI, Leah just broke down and cried against the undiscriminating white hospital walls. Corey came and comforted her and hugged her, and let out tears of his own. After multiple episodes of no emotion, he showed more emotion than Leah from bottling it up inside, and it just touched me to see two people supporting each other by being absolutely vulnerable. It’s such a scary thing to want so much for your child, a normal childhood, and to be met with so much resistance since birth. It was really a beautiful scene that no scripted show could match. That scene touched my soul.