Bristol Palin to appear on 'The Secret Life of the American Teenager'
| Washington
Bristol Palin is going to be a professional actress. The daughter of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (who herself will appear on Jay Leno next week) will make her small screen debut this summer on the ABC Family series “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.”
Ms. Palin will play herself on an episode dealing with the consequences of teen pregnancy.
Palin may be the most famous unwed teen mom in the US. What kind of message will her appearance send to the rest of her age cohort?
As we told you earlier, she may be part of a trend. The use of contraceptives may be declining among some segments of teens, leading to an increase in births to teenaged parents.
And US celebrity culture is sending mixed messages about this trend. It both decries and glamorizes young parenthood.
Thus, Palin has talked openly about the struggles she goes through in raising her son, Tripp. But she looks great while she does so, and now she’s got a Hollywood career, as well.
That said, we bet Palin in her acting debut will try to talk other teens out of following in her footsteps. And the tale of Tripp’s father … what’s his name? Oh yeah, Levi-something … is classic in the sense that it shows how little one can know about your partner when you’re that young. Which means, wait.
(He’s posed for Playgirl, in case you haven’t heard.)
Now to the second important question: What does this mean for Sarah Palin and her plan to possibly, or possibly not, run for president in 2012?
Time will tell. But Bristol appears to have inherited at least one of her mom’s savvier instincts: economic shrewdness.
Sarah Palin may be a populist, but our roundup of her economic advisers showed them to be pure establishment gold.
Here’s hoping Bristol gets a decent payday. At last report, she and Levi were fighting in court over child support.
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