Proud To Be A Guido: MTV’s “Jersey Shore” Returns!
Thanks to a bit of controversy, this season of MTV’s “Jersey Shore” has gotten more media attention than any of Paris Hilton’s many engagement rings. More media attention than Jon Gosselin giving Ed Hardy a bad name. More attention than the desperate-to-stay-famous babydaddy of Sarah Palin’s granddaughter (almost) showing his Johnston to the world. After MTV billed the show as having the “hottest, tannest, craziest Guidos” who “keep their hair high, their muscles juiced and their fists pumping all summer long”, the firestorm began.
Sorry, But If You Pose Like This, You're A Guido.
Italian-American service organization UNICO National immediately got their collective panties in a twist over the show, stating that it “relies on crude stereotypes and highlights cursing, bad behavior and violence in depicting renters at a New Jersey beach house”. When the young men on the show proclaimed their pride over being ‘Guidos’, UNICO persisted, with President Andre DiMino responding that, “No ethnic group should be treated this way. Just because these young people refer to each other this way [as 'Guidos'] doesn’t make it proper.”
The Marketing department at MTV probably sent UNICO National a basket of mini-muffins and a selection of flavored coffees for this.
Just as “The Sopranos” represented only a small percentage of Italian-Americans (criminals, lovable criminals), and just as “Growing Up Gotti” represented only an even smaller percentage of Italian-Americans (the spoiled spawn of Mafia Don John Gotti), so does “Jersey Shore” represent only a small group (guys proud to be ‘Guidos’).
Did the powerful Jewish Lobby rally against “Shalom in the Home”, in which fame-hungry Rabbi Smuley Boteach claims to solve all family problems within 30 minutes? Did NOW seek blood when skanky women willingly vied for the love of hip-hop troll Flavor Flav on “Flavor of Love”…three times? People choose to go on these shows, seeking fame and fortune by making fools of themselves on television.
If there was an advocacy group for idiots, then they would have every reason to jump into the fray, but those folks can’t seem to organize.
Viewers tune in to “Jersey Shore” not to see proud heritage shown in a favorable light. They tune in to see a bunch of walking stereotypes spike their hair, iron their wife-beater tank tops, drop f-bombs, and hunt for specific Guido-seeking Italian-American women in bars.
Cast member Mike Sorriento eloquently explains: “I just happen to be 100 percent Italian, I happen to be in very good shape and my hair happens to be spiky,” he told MTV. “It’s not necessarily a stereotype; it’s just how it is. In New York and New Jersey, that just happens to be the style.”
Had UNICO National not responded, “Jersey Shore”, season 8 (or whatever) would have passed by our collective consciousness virtually unnoticed. But now, legions of folks who have read about the controversy will tune in to see how a proud ‘Guido’ behaves.
And they’ll love it.