The Elephant in the Room

                                Snookie from MTV's Jersey Shore (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).

Fist pump. Two words that MTV viewers young and old are getting to know too well. MTV’s Jersey Shore has launched controversy, buzz, and all kinds of salacious gossip. The season having recently just come to an end, has probably made a few people happy, and not just about that silly dance.

Along with the show documenting these 20-somethings, mostly Italian-Americans, summer fun, it also has caused uproar from the traditional folks. The older generations and some Italian-American groups don’t like how these “kids” are representing Italians. Throwing around what is considered a racial slur in the Italian community, the term “guido”, is used as every day dialect for the cast.

Admittedly, I have never watched the show myself but having viewed a few clips I can see the Jersey Shore cast means no harm. To them, being “guido” is a complement. They define it as an attractive looking, usually tan individual.

This is an all too familiar scene being played out. All races in America have an ugly immigrant past, where derogatory terms were thrown at them for being different than the status quo. African-Americans, Chinese- Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Latin-Americans, etc. have all had their fare share of disrespectful discrimination and racism.

According to a Time online article, the Italian-American group UNICO National, which works towards the betterment of Italian-American’s image and promotes the heritage, simply does not like term – however it may be used. Coincidentally, the Italian-American service organization is located in New Jersey, making this not only a matter of preserving and respecting heritage but also a homegrown thing as well. Italian-Americans from the state can now be branded with that stigma.

Whether or not the show exists, this stereotype would have existed. I am no expert, but as long as we allow race to play a major role in how we view people, people are going to make generalizations about certain individuals based on their backgrounds. Now, is this show very reminiscent of the previous Real World series on MTV really that bad? Imagine the potential controversy that would have arose, should the producers have chosen the slightly more tender wound of our country’s minority groups.

Does this mean it’s perfectly acceptable to pick on Italians? Are they picking on Italians? You tell me.

I want to see some comments.

Grazie,

Nancy