Jersey Shore

[Pamela]

[Pamela]

Warning: long, rambling post about the show Jersey Shore. Feel free to avoid!
Ok, except for 8 years in school I have lived in New Jersey my entire life. And I love the shore and go there as often as possible. I am even living at the shore for the summer – got really lucky and found a house where I could bring my cats. But my experiences at the Jersey shore isn’t even close to those depicted in the show. Does anyone on the forum watch it? What do you think?

I have to be honest – watching it was like watching a train wreck. I got sucked in and kept thinking I would stop after the current episode (I was watching season one On Demand) but they do a good job of editing the shows so that I would want to watch the start of the next episode to find out how things turned out. The scariest thing is that Snookie was a veterinarian’s assistant and wants to be a vet. Lord help any vet school she gets in! I can’t believe I kept watching even though the show made me feel like I needed to take a shower and by the end I felt like I needed lemon scented brain cleaner to scour my brain clean. My observations of the show:

Supposedly the 8 people in the house were working shifts at a T-shirt shop on the boardwalk in exchange for staying in a really nice house right on the boardwalk. Angelina said that “selling T-shirts is beneath me – I’m a bartender.” Really. This attitude bugs me. When I was in college I worked as a janitor in one of the dorms and did have people asking me how I could do that job. You know how? It paid better than most other student jobs, the hours were flexible, my boss was great and my maternal grandfather worked for years as a school custodian. I figure if it was good enough for Pop pop it was good enough for me. I don’t understand people who think they are too “good” to do a job. And Angelina eventually got fired – she didn’t show up for a shift or arrange coverage. Good riddance.

The amount of alcohol consumed on the show was disturbing. The roommates went out every night to bars to drink. And they routinely drank until they were throwing up – especially the women. A favorite Snookie comment: “I’m not trashy unless I drink too much'”

Then there was the tanning. Mike “the Situation” talked about how it was important to go to the gym, then the tanning saloon and finally the laundromat every day so that he could look good to go out at night and pick up girls. I guess he never heard about skin cancer. Not to mention he was living right on the beach and could have gone out and sat on the beach and gotten some sun that way. (Although if he did that I would advocate him wearing sun screen to prevent tanning/burning). They let it slip that he was 27 – his attitude toward life was what I would expect from a teenager not someone in their late 20s. Kind of sad.

But the worst two things about the show (and why I am ashamed I watched it and may have added to their ratings) is how they talked about women (and men) and how they portrayed violence. The guys and even the girls referred to girls that came up and made out with the guys in the hot tub as whores. They were also unflattering to the girls that the guys would pick up in the bars. What did that make the guys? And Snookie kept talking about looking for a Guido. And towards the end they were talking about juice heads and gorillas. So across the board the roommates were completely shallow, judgmental and stereotypical in referring to other people. Not to mention the episode where Mike brags about doing a “robbery” where he takes a woman away from his friend. And the friend’s reaction was that Mike got his “sloppy seconds'” Really nice.

The absolute worst part for me was the violence. In one show Snookie gets punched in the face by a guy. They blacked out the actual punch and had a PSA on the screen about domestic violence and how wrong it is. But then the very next show they showed a fight between one of the women and a couple of women in the bar. And in another show Jenna (I think that is her name) gets angry at Mike and attacks him and back punches him in the mouth. And the other guys are laughing! Evidently it was ok to show those fights because they were “cat fights” which are a turn on for many people, But any violence is wrong. They should have treated the girls fighting the same way they treated Snookie getting hit. It has always bothered me when books, movies or TV shows have a woman slap a man on the face and that is ok. If a man slapped a woman everybody would be up in arms. They should have the same reaction when a woman hits a man – it is not ok. (I am NOT talking about self defense – if a man attacks a woman she absolutely has the right to defend herself. I’m talking about if a couple is arguing and the woman slaps the guy in the face.) The culmination was toward the end when Ronnie punches a guy on the street and knocks him out so Ronnie gets arrested.

Looking back I am ashamed of watching as much of the show as I did. I got sucked in and didn’t really think about what I was watching until later. Has anyone else ever done that? Watched something and then realized later that it was completely against everything you believed in? I guess the only bright spot is now when I put down the show I know exactly what I am talking about rather than just hear say or what I saw on commercials. But I won’t be watching season two. And I just heard that the cast is going on strike to get better contracts – I’m going to hope the MTV doesn’t cave (although they probably will) and cancels the train wreck.

[PhoenixTears]

We all have guilty pleasures honey, so don’t feel badly! As for this particular reality show, no, never watched it. I have seen the cast on various talk shows in appearance, etc. IMO, they perpetuate a stereotype and exaggerate it at that. I’m a native NYer and am use to having people pass judgment on me before even knowing me. Tried an experiment (several times), going out and talking the way I normally do, but then also going else where (same kind of environment) and really turning on the NY accent that comes out in me when I’m tired or angry (like rest of my family). I am terribly judged when I sound regional. Mind you, my actions were the same in both scenarios and I held myself well, but some people just can’t get over accents as if thats the marker by which to be judged.

Shows like Jersey Shore perpetuate that stereotype that people from Jersey are like this cast. Other than the usual trivial yet friendly rivalry NYers have with Jersey folk, I personally do not know anyone that acts like they do on that show (not that there aren’t any). Course again, I don’t judge people on their accent. But I’m not exempt from judging actions. Takes a great deal to push my buttons otherwise I’m a live and let live type… just don’t hurt anyone and especially never lay a cruel finger on an animal cause then, no matter who you are (family included), I’ll kick yer butt. Sorry, got a little NY on ya!

I have my reality addictions (Survivor, BB… not the VH1 types but the regular network ones, but only a couple or so). You’re not alone ddvm. Sometimes I *be-otch* (I’m not allowed to use the other word & it’s edited to read female dog- :eye roll: ) and moan at the screen and I’ve been asked why, if I hate it so much, do I continue to watch. I think it’s some kind of release. But I like the shows that are competitions (not the Real Worlds), where I’d be like, hells no I can’t do that! And give props to competitors who are out there living off the land and playing a mental game. So Jersey Shore would not be for me, and from the snippets I’ve seen of it, it would drive me bonkers, and would be one I’d yell at the TV, for several reasons.

“Fate whispers to the wolf, you cannot withstand the storm; and the wolf whispers back, I AM the storm.”

[Katherine]

I have never seen that show, but I have seen the cast members on interviews, and just by the interviews, I could tell that I would hate to meet them in person, so I have never liked the show. I read that they were getting a MUCH HIGHER paycheck this season, and it made me angry. Ugghhh….I hate reality shows in general. People become so cruel to each other on them. Well-in real life too, but people will be 10x more dramatic on a reality tv show.

[PhoenixTears]

I have a theory that if they remove alcohol from reality shows, then the shows would be ‘boring’, or the withdrawals would cause the drama. Alcohol is the biggest character on each of those shows (which most of them allow, save for Survivor except during rewards but it doesn’t seem to affect the players there like it does on other reality shows). Remove the booze, and the shows would go down in flames. Any logical person knows that when a camera is mounted or following you around, you either consciously or subconsciously alter your behaviour. It’s highly doubtful these people are exactly like they are on TV, though I’m not saying the idiots are not losers in person. Those really nasty ones. Sorry but just don’t have it in me. I’ve seen those scenes and were it me, my blood pressure would blow a gasket, whether I was acting or not. Reality shows have long taken over, and are getting worse, bumping actual good television. If those ratings are truthful, then what kind of world has this become, that we get off on watching that kind of stuff?

“Fate whispers to the wolf, you cannot withstand the storm; and the wolf whispers back, I AM the storm.”

[siberakh1]

Huh. I never knew this was a ‘reality’ tv show, but I have never seen it or knew what channel it was on. I’ve heard of it, but thought it was a regular tv show (ie. scripted like Law & Order, CSI, etc.) versus being another ‘reality’ show. Glad to know I’m not missing anything. I’ve only recently gotten back to being home when evening TV is on, but after several years without evening TV, I don’t find myself really finding much of value on anyways. I guess I’ll just stick to my anime, history, discovery, classic movies, travel channel, etc. 😳 I guess there is enough drama in real life, in the media, and in politics that I don’t really feel compelled to want to watch created drama for entertainment. 😛

Real reality tv would be truly disappointing. It would be a couple of people sitting around the table in the morning, eating breakfast, reading the newspaper, then paying bills, weeding, mowing the lawn, taking kids on errands, going to work, coming home, etc.

Don’t worry ddvm. I think it’s kind of like watching a train wreck situation. Even if someone knows something is bad or someone finds something distasteful, many people just feel compelled to keep looking or watching. Very good observation points made regarding the show though. *nods*

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