Jersey Shore Controversy

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The New Jersey Community: The Jersey Shore Controversey Nikki Di Maria Communications 110 Professor Henley March 20, 2013 In December of 2009, the acclaimed television station known as MTV broadcasted a commercial for one of their new and upcoming shows, known as “The Jersey Shore.” The show is based around eight housemates staying in a beach house in a town called Seaside Heights in New Jersey. The initial reaction was positive coming from NJ residents, part of their beautiful state was to be shown on national television! MTV is known for producing some of the most famous shows and this was to be no exception. However, this excitement didn’t last very long as the TV show aired and these…show more content…
The throw-around use of the word Guido to describe the cast members immediately prompted New Jerseyians to shower MTV with criticisms regarding their marketing technique with the term. For example, few of the promotions for the show read as, "eight of the hottest, tannest, craziest Guidos," while another misleading advertisement stated, "[the show] exposes one of the tri-state area's most misunderstood species ... the GUIDO. Yes, they really do exist! Our Guidos and Guidettes will move into the ultimate beach house rental and indulge in everything the Seaside Heights, New Jersey scene has to offer." The term “Guido” is a historically racial slur coined against Italian Americans, especially those who reside in New Jersey. With every race there are ethnic slurs that are a part of the societal norm that one shouldn’t say out loud. The difference here is that this slur is being spewed all over national television liberally as if it’s not a historically racial slur. This is one of the main points for there even being a controversy, because of the fact that the cast members throw the term around loosely and refer to themselves as Guidos and Guidettes. On a side note, most of the cast members are not even Italian which adds more fuel to the fire that they use these terms…show more content…
An academic periodical titled “The Franchises” sheds light on the subject giving readers a different view of the New Jersey controversy. The article takes the other side of the argument in saying the Jersey Shore actually contributes to growth in popular culture, which is actually a good thing for the state of New Jersey. The article writes that “the MTV show has transcended pop culture because everyone knows what it is.” (“The Franchises,” p. 3) This gives New Jersey a boost in recognition for being the home where a different form of popular culture was created. MTV also responded to the controversy by stating in a press release, “The Italian-American cast takes pride in their ethnicity. We understand that this show is not intended for every audience and depicts just one aspect of youth culture." They do make a valid point in saying that they are depicting only one group of random people and that does not mean society should take that as a negative representation of a whole community. As much criticism that came from the production of the series, people still wanted to tune in and find out for them selves what all the fuss was about. New York Daily News television writer, Cristina Kinon, said the show benefited from people wanting to tune in and see

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