Good news for Farrah Abraham could spell bad news for the Teen Mom franchise. Built on the premise that documentarians are following teenage moms to get a real-life look at their lives, the MTV series has taken a lot of heat for turning "regular" teens into tabloid stars. But it's what the 20-year-old mom to Sophia has been up to on her own that could successfully kill the concept that she's just your average teen mom struggling to get ahead.
As a result of her fame, the culinary school student and sometimes model has just landed not one but two gigs linked 100 percent to who she is. The first and bigger of the two is a starring role on ABC's revival of Charlie Angels, premiering this September with Minka Kelly (girlfriend to Derek Jeter and star of the recently finished Friday Night Lights), Annie Ilonzeh, and Rachael Taylor as the angels. According to Abraham's official Twitter, she went on a casting call, and she GOT the part:
YAY!!! I MET GREAT people at a casting. & im going to be in the New Charlie Angels movie! Good luck to the other amazing Casties :).
Couple that with a new job as the official celebrity mom blogger at site MomFinds (disclosure, I once wrote for the site and retain a friendship with its editor), and it's pretty clear Abraham has transitioned from the Iowa teenager trying to get by on waitressing jobs and fighting with her mom about how much time she spends with her daughter. Granted the current season of Teen Mom was taped several months ago, leaving time for Abraham's story to play out onscreen, but what's made this show watchable, made it defensible, is that it's been a harsh dose of "reality" for American teenagers.
Watching Farrah suck it up and call her late ex-boyfriend's family to get DNA testing done, enabling her daughter to get Derek Underwood's Social Security benefits, watching her make stupid mistakes like getting scammed out of her car, watching her learn to pay attention to Sophia's needs, those were real moments. They were moments that enabled us to feel like the show could actually scare other kids out of getting pregnant in their teen years.
Seeing these girls grow up and become successful is good in the human, "I want to see teens get past their mistakes, these babies need stable lives" sense. But a starring TV role, a celebrity spokesmom job, these are the last things America's parents want their kids thinking come out of teen pregnancy. If this moves forward, it may be time to kill Teen Mom.
Would you continue to watch a teen pregnancy show with Farrah Abraham, the network TV star?
Image via MTV