The video: If MTV's "My Super Sweet Sixteen" and its assorted spin-offs aren't over-the-top enough for you, TLC has gone further, and younger, with its new show "Outrageous Kid Parties." The show premiered Monday, and set tongues wagging, with an episode that featured a 6-year-old's birthday party with a $32,000 price tag. Watch a clip below.
The reaction: American families are losing their homes in record numbers, and still there are "revolting people who haven't gotten the memo and don't know that conspicuous consumption in these times encourages conspicuous contempt," says Linda Stasi in the New York Post. What's the motivation here? asks Maureen Cairns in the Examiner. "Children do not need big expensive parties to be happy. Cake, ice cream, presents and friends are enough for their joy to shine through!" And these lavish parties make the cacophonous animatronics of "Chuck E. Cheese seem like a breath of fresh air," says Victoria Leigh Miller at Yahoo! See for yourself, below:
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