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I've felt like explaining why Jersey Shore is awesome for a while. Why? Because so many people I notice and I have found themselves enchanted by it and it seems mysterious, like it's casting a spell to get people hooked. So I want to dig in to what it's doing. It’s rather more complex than what many people might imagine to be a “hipster ironic” sort of thing. I label myself as an existentialist which to me partly means that whatever I just feel, what seems harmonious, my whimsies, are all genuinely relevant and meaningful. I have an attachment to the show so I might as well try to determine why, instead of trying to convince myself I shouldn’t like it or believe arguments of that point of view. There are always counter-arguments anyway.
I initially heard of Jersey Shore from my favorite sports/pop culture columnist Bill Simmons (The Sports Guy), who attached to the show right off the bat, he was super excited about it. And then there was the hilarious Cracked article by Daniel O’Brien. Both of them have continued to follow it. So I had to check it out (or else I would not understand like half of The Sports Guy’s references at the very least—MTV should really be paying him or something for all the advertising he does for them). Of course it lived up to my expectations in being hilarious to watch/make fun of/come up with jokes about. The slang they continually come up with is fantastic for a start. That got me to keep watching and paying attention. It’s why I’m sure most people started watching and still why I recommend it, or at least the attitude I recommend starting with, because it won’t let you down (whereas expecting it to go somewhere for you/be the amazing show that it is to me is probably hit or miss, just know that it’s possible).
So what happens, as Simmons or his guest Dave Jacoby, who he calls his Reality TV Czar, (I forget who said it) put it in one podcast, is that you start out watching thinking they are going to be clowns, that you are just going to laugh at them, but then you don’t even notice that after the first season, if Mike “The Situation” said he needed a place to stay for the weekend cause he was dropping by your town, you would totally offer your couch (or even give him the bed). They became people who could be your friends, or at least real people, to you. But how does this happen?
The way I came to view it is that the cast operates and has chosen to live in basically a society or world that has totally different social norms to what most of us are used to and some different (and some similar values). So judging them through the lens of customs I follow is rather pointless. Pauly D may have suitcases of hair gel and a tanning bed in his house, but do any of those really say anything about him as a person? In the world he chooses to operate in, they are valued or at least might convey status or provide favorable social opportunities or enhance the prospects of social opportunities in that society. Sure they seem frivolous but I consider much of what I and many other people do frivolous as well. What is really different in that than having progaming swag/autographs, sports jerseys or collecting achievements in games, or having stylish clothes, high heels, or anything. There is no substantive/functional content in any of it other than feeling better about yourself or having other people feel better (or sometimes worse) about you. It all just depends on what world you want to be accepted in. So watching this totally alien world is actually fascinating (and not necessarily in a “it’s a horrific spectacle” way).
What makes me believe this particular show and world have struck gold? Well the most basic thing is that the people here for the most part just love fun. How can you not have a fun show with such a fun-loving crowd. It’s also very accessible, yet there’s so much there to think about, about each of their individual personalities, about what their society is about, about how it interacts with “real life”, about their relationships with each other, and especially how stuff like that is both governed by the unfamiliar social norms of their world, and the familiar norms of human interaction we generally think of. Situation, for example, displays some distinctly aggressive style for picking up girls at clubs, both in the sense of being forward, but also in a lack of regard for the boundaries other men would expect him to respect. He introduces us to “The Robbery” and will explain himself by saying that’s just how it goes at the Shore. It’s fascinating to see in what ways their behavior reflects that familiar norms/unfamiliar norms dynamic, and then to think about what it says of whatever our normal “non-Shore” construct for a situation is.
Similar things could be said of any documentary about another culture, but beyond the humorous twist on that style of documentary created by the play between our preconceptions of the Shore type people and them being Americans or basically belonging to our western society and their behavior seeming so odd that we have to study them like a totally foreign culture, there is even another level. They are not, in general, following traditions set by elders or anyone else. I forget where I heard this, but I heard that the main directive given to the cast recruiters initially was to find people who were the most unapologetically themselves in that scene. They basically paved their own way, created their own Jersey Shore house culture from the start. And now they are without a doubt the most famous and influential of the self-proclaimed Guidos and Guidettes ever, so it’s all following their lead. With not very many limits placed on them, we are just sitting back, seeing what gets built, how the norms of their own creation operate, and possibly shift and grow and interact occasionally with reality.
The capacity for this sort of growth is really what has elevated this show above almost all of its reality peers though. There is really a sense with Jersey Shore that no one involved—the creators, MTV, the cast, etc.—none of them had any idea where the idea was going when it first started. It was like, “well we have this outrageous idea for a show with these outrageous people, lets put it together and see what happens.” This gives it a purer, more unstructured feel that has really stuck with it. There’s not a plethora of rules governing the characters’ interactions, there isn’t drama manufactured by having them compete with one another, there’s no elimination other than someone choosing to leave the show, it doesn’t feel like there’s some overriding structure that gives a feeling of being controlled. Here’s the playground, go play, that’s what it feels like the directions given were (of course no one really knows the extent of directorial manipulation). This has let the charisma and watchability of the cast be the driving force, rather than other gimmicks. When the show initially hit the public eye, there was a sizable outpouring of disbelief, derision and outrage, yet the unflappable good humor and even playful self-mocking of the cast really endeared them to us and allowed the show to take off. And following them has been a great reward thus far.
This is another factor that separates it from most reality show, the fact that the show has really stuck with this cast that built what the show is, their own world and allowed them to grow. We get to see them live in the world they created. After season one, Simmons and Jacoby speculated on whether that season was a one hit wonder type of deal that galvanized us for a bit but could never be recreated. The show answered them by demonstrating that it wasn’t just a phenomenon, but that following these people was continually rewarding, even after the novelty and propulsion given to it by media controversy/mass exposure were over. You got their most obvious and most made-for-display personality aspects in season one, but by continuing, you get a window into the driving forces underneath, which is something that hasn’t been done much by reality shows. Sammi, for example, is a totally different person to me now than at the end of season one (when I saw no value in her really, I honestly thought she was scum). But she’s a complex person, so issues and things that were going on in season one took until just now in season three to come to some sort of head and now possibly spur growth.
Snooki makes a bad first impression to both viewers and her housemates, but is now among the most loved. She seems genuinely cool to me. Vinny gets a chance to show himself as he grows into the show (he is not very prominent in season one). I’m not sure if I like him, but that might be insecurity about him having a bigger penis than me (apparently it’s huge, lol). Pauly D’s steady coolness takes a while to really impress you because the really impressive thing is how consistent it is, he’s literally cool in every situation (maybe that one punch early in s1 excluded). And he also delivers entertainment almost constantly. We see the long term toll of Angelina’s constant posturing and dramatics, and how hers differs from Situation’s based on what’s behind it. Mike is really one of the most intriguing and fun people to follow. His personality is to big to be contained. Jenni/JWOWW’s is also big (along with some other things ^^) and fantastic and displays many sides and even something like sophistication at times while being the most wholly indecorous at others or at the same time. She’s actually the most real to me, like she’s often a great friend but she has a lot to learn too. In truth I would be incredibly attracted to her if not for the awful fake boobs. And Ron, we’ve watched him transform into basically a different person because of a relationship, and wonder along with him who he really is, as it’s something that obviously perturbs him to a growing extent as it goes on.
Honestly they feel like my friends now, and the amazing part is that they aren’t written constructs like in a drama, made for that purpose. I’m concerned about the effect that the Ron and Sam saga has had on both of them. I’m inspired by how they’ve all made this family construction work and come together so genuinely at times despite drama at every turn. I want Sam to stop sabotaging herself, I want Snooki to find something or someone lasting and satisfying, I want Jenni to be part of my life. And I’m going to keep trying to get to know them more, keep letting their depths unfold until they stop letting me in. All of this from people I took to be clowns. That’s the magic of Jersey Shore.
It's probably a doomed relationship because eventually the cast's fame is going to add too many obstacles, but it's amazing right now.
Comments: thoughtless hating not appreciated, if you don't have a new criticism that's interesting/uncommon or a good response to something I brought up, don't bother.
Any other discussion of the show is cool though. Or Simmons/Jacoby reality TV podcasts (bottom of this page) which are like my new favorite thing next to State of the Game.
 
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Australia8093 Posts
I hate the show. I've seen 2 episodes and that's all I could stand, they're a bunch of gaudy arseholes and I don't understand how anyone can watch the show apart from to laugh at them.
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On February 03 2011 23:01 Scaramanga wrote:
I hate the show. I've seen 2 episodes and that's all I could stand, they're a bunch of gaudy arseholes and I don't understand how anyone can watch the show apart from to laugh at them.
I agree. The characters on the show are not quality human beings. I can't stand watching it.
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I fucking love that show. The best kind of degrading that TV could find, it's truly one of the gems of television today.
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Show is so degrading lol, I'm from New Jersey and when i recently moved to Texas. People ask me where I'm from and i say New Jersey. THEN THEY START FIST PUMPING T.T thats what New Jersey is known for now lol
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On February 03 2011 23:01 Scaramanga wrote:
I hate the show. I've seen 2 episodes and that's all I could stand, they're a bunch of gaudy arseholes and I don't understand how anyone can watch the show apart from to laugh at them.
Ya i saw the first episode and around the time of the fire works i got the impression that they weren't actually having fun but just pretending to enjoy themselves. At rarely seems like anything they say is genuinely backed with feeling but rather instead is just said becuase its part of their social game. These people are really fake and i guess this might be attractive to those who want to learn how to fake there way into friendships.
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On February 03 2011 23:06 r33k wrote:
I fucking love that show. The best kind of degrading that TV could find, it's truly one of the gems of television today.
So are you prepared for Italy next season (I notice your location tag)? I don't know what's going to happen, Europe is really going to clash with their style and ideas I feel like.
On February 03 2011 23:24 puppykiller wrote:Show nested quote +On February 03 2011 23:01 Scaramanga wrote:
I hate the show. I've seen 2 episodes and that's all I could stand, they're a bunch of gaudy arseholes and I don't understand how anyone can watch the show apart from to laugh at them. Ya i saw the first episode and around the time of the fire works i got the impression that they weren't actually having fun but just pretending to enjoy themselves. At rarely seems like anything they say is genuinely backed with feeling but rather instead is just said becuase its part of their social game. These people are really fake and i guess this might be attractive to those who want to learn how to fake there way into friendships.
What exactly is fake about them? The thing is, if you judge on the first episode, people always put on some sort of front when they are just meeting new people/put in a new situation. I do, and so does everyone I know/notice. That's why it feels natural, because it feels like that sort of growing friendship, it's tentative, but then becomes more relaxed and more of each person shows through as it progresses. And I don't see how any of it looks like fake fun, they are so into it, and so into this world.
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http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=120339#1
From Task #1:
There is a popular American Television Show called "Jersey Shore." Your task will be to take several screenshots of a character on this show named "Pauly D". All screenshots must be from actual episodes of the show -- they cannot be from promotional images. I removed this requirement. Image hunt away.
To add to the difficulty, I will not tell you where to find full episodes of this show.
Screenshot Pauly D:
1. At the beach
2. At the gym
3. Talking on the duck phone
4. Dancing with a girl
5. DJing at a club
6. In the hot tub
7. Tanning OR doing laundry
8. At work (selling shirts)
9. Eating
10. Kissing a girl
Once you have obtained all ten screenshots, write your username somewhere on each image, and post all of them in this thread. The first user who successfully posts these ten screenshots will receive a beta key.
Good luck!
Never forget.
EDIT: looking back on that thread it's such a goldmine what staff made everybody do for beta keys (Pokebunny's parents asking for a beta key for him LOL)
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On February 03 2011 23:28 ZapRoffo wrote:Show nested quote +On February 03 2011 23:06 r33k wrote:
I fucking love that show. The best kind of degrading that TV could find, it's truly one of the gems of television today. So are you prepared for Italy next season (I notice your location tag)? I don't know what's going to happen, Europe is really going to clash with their style and ideas I feel like. Show nested quote +On February 03 2011 23:24 puppykiller wrote:On February 03 2011 23:01 Scaramanga wrote:
I hate the show. I've seen 2 episodes and that's all I could stand, they're a bunch of gaudy arseholes and I don't understand how anyone can watch the show apart from to laugh at them. Ya i saw the first episode and around the time of the fire works i got the impression that they weren't actually having fun but just pretending to enjoy themselves. At rarely seems like anything they say is genuinely backed with feeling but rather instead is just said becuase its part of their social game. These people are really fake and i guess this might be attractive to those who want to learn how to fake there way into friendships. What exactly is fake about them? The thing is, if you judge on the first episode, people always put on some sort of front when they are just meeting new people/put in a new situation. I do, and so does everyone I know/notice. That's why it feels natural, because it feels like that sort of growing friendship, it's tentative, but then becomes more relaxed and more of each person shows through as it progresses. And I don't see how any of it looks like fake fun, they are so into it, and so into this world.
Fine I havent seen any other episodes but for that one atleast, it was all clearly an act. I think it isn't that hard to tell when people are genuinely into what they are doing and it certanly isnt hard to recognize the signs that somone is faking how important the petty sitautions they find themselves in are to them. Im not questioning that they are guidos, or that they have their onw culture, I'm just saying that these sorts of shows, shows about nothing (drama), have to work really hard to make an audience care, and have to work even harder to make sure there is always some material (drama) that can be filmed, even if the drama is pointless and has to be completely exagerated.
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On February 03 2011 23:04 cava wrote:Show nested quote +On February 03 2011 23:01 Scaramanga wrote:
I hate the show. I've seen 2 episodes and that's all I could stand, they're a bunch of gaudy arseholes and I don't understand how anyone can watch the show apart from to laugh at them. I agree. The characters on the show are not quality human beings. I can't stand watching it.
What does that even mean? What's led you to judge them as "not quality"? If you are going to post attacks on the show, don't be lazy, that doesn't fly in my blog. Give some support to your judgments.
Scaramanga, read my post. I laid out how I went from laughing at them to loving it. Is there some part of my initial blog (did you read it?) that seems unbelievable? I see for many people the reaction to them is very visceral. What different values are really making them unacceptable? Everyone is so general in their criticisms. I see gaudy, so the display of wealth along with lack of taste is a point.
But why does everything and everywhere have to be tasteful? Seems boring to me.
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On February 03 2011 23:28 ZapRoffo wrote:Show nested quote +On February 03 2011 23:06 r33k wrote:
I fucking love that show. The best kind of degrading that TV could find, it's truly one of the gems of television today. So are you prepared for Italy next season (I notice your location tag)? I don't know what's going to happen, Europe is really going to clash with their style and ideas I feel like. Show nested quote +On February 03 2011 23:24 puppykiller wrote:On February 03 2011 23:01 Scaramanga wrote:
I hate the show. I've seen 2 episodes and that's all I could stand, they're a bunch of gaudy arseholes and I don't understand how anyone can watch the show apart from to laugh at them. Ya i saw the first episode and around the time of the fire works i got the impression that they weren't actually having fun but just pretending to enjoy themselves. At rarely seems like anything they say is genuinely backed with feeling but rather instead is just said becuase its part of their social game. These people are really fake and i guess this might be attractive to those who want to learn how to fake there way into friendships. What exactly is fake about them? The thing is, if you judge on the first episode, people always put on some sort of front when they are just meeting new people/put in a new situation. I do, and so does everyone I know/notice. That's why it feels natural, because it feels like that sort of growing friendship, it's tentative, but then becomes more relaxed and more of each person shows through as it progresses. And I don't see how any of it looks like fake fun, they are so into it, and so into this world.
Well the thing is, like all Italian Americans they have no relation whatsoever in looks or personality with the Italians of today. And it's been so for 60+ years, while they still consider themselves fully Italian like they could come and live here any day they would be ridiculized in an instant.
Going to the gym and tanning isn't as popular over here as you'd make it, mostly because gyms are sparce and have retarded timetables, we are a third world country after all.
The most fun thing about Jersey Shore as a show is that Italian douchebags genuinely hate it. They feel insulted and mocked, while we have a comedian who has been portraying a douchebag for the last 4 years or so things are different. Our douchebags even don't look anything like them. You might feel a reminiscence of the JS crew but that's it, JS as a show basically compares them to giant clowns.
As for the show being fake, the first season had a full script. They changed some stuff on the fly, and the 2nd season only had guidelines, but originally most of the stuff was scripted.
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it's the type of show that lonely people like I think.
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Orange douchebags with hair gel, what's not to like?
In all seriousness, this show is just as stupid as any other reality bullshit. It's popularity is proof that 80% of the population is either brain damaged or straight up retarded.
User was banned for this post.
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Well yeah I realize, and I think everyone realizes that they really have very little connection to Italy/Italians, that's the one part that's definitely fake about their identity (although I believe they have bought into it) so I consider that an odd peculiarity of their world (their idolizing of Italian stuff) rather than any reflection on them as people. It even seems to me like that happens some on TL with adopting Korean attitudes/imitating Korean expressions, although not as outright of a making it part of one's identity (maybe slightly though).
What's your source for saying they had a full script in season 1? I know the scenes where they will be have to be prepared and stuff, especially now since they are now really famous and would be mobbed by people going anywhere naturally.
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I "love" this show too, it's fucking hilarious; definitely in the range of "It's so bad it's actually good".
Snooki is ugly, she has nothing going on except her boobs =.=
What is it?
It's called a Snooki, It's very famous.
That thing is famous, why?
I don't know!
Awesome!
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I have seen the show, and basically its so bad that its good.
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My gf loves this show, and it's funny so w/e.
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i like it for the girls...
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On February 04 2011 00:21 ghermination wrote:
Orange douchebags with hair gel, what's not to like?
In all seriousness, this show is just as stupid as any other reality bullshit. It's popularity is proof that 80% of the population is either brain damaged or straight up retarded.
Compelling argument...
But really, got any justification for essentially calling me brain damaged or retarded? I presented a good chunk of detail for my side, so at least give it a little thought or it just seems meaningless.
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On February 04 2011 00:47 ZapRoffo wrote:Show nested quote +On February 04 2011 00:21 ghermination wrote:
Orange douchebags with hair gel, what's not to like?
In all seriousness, this show is just as stupid as any other reality bullshit. It's popularity is proof that 80% of the population is either brain damaged or straight up retarded. Compelling argument... But really, got any justification for essentially calling me brain damaged or retarded? I presented a good chunk of detail for my side, so at least give it a little thought or it just seems meaningless.
This show is the same kind of mindless, scripted "salute to drama" that's been popular for the past decade. Only teenage girls can truly appreciate the power of "drama", and to me it's just bad t.v. I don't want to see some guy who thinks he's badass because he slathers on more hair gel than the entire population of the state of Washington put together and sprays on some sort of extracted pumpkin pigment go out and annoy random people and get into scripted fights with equally plastic and uninteresting characters.
When i watch T.V. I'm looking for plot and character development, intellectual depth, and legitimate actors. Not "D.J. Pauly D" (D for Douchebag) strutting around like some varsity football player on his ninth year of highschool.
Edit: And furthermore, this show is almost a salute to ignorance! The characters are all (and this is the only phrase i can use) fucking stupid. This isn't an opinion. Americas constantly falling test scores and youth motivation isn't helped when they watch these idiots strut around and think "i don't need to work hard in school, i can just do a bunch of purely aesthetic upper body lifts and turn my hair into some sort of carnival attraction and millions of people will love me."
Remember in high school those guys who strutted around constantly filled with arrogance while treating everyone else like absolute shit? Or their female counterparts, your stereotypical cheerleaders who seemed to be unable to see anything other than a pair of bulging biceps and a "bro" complex? And then as soon as you got into college, these guys and girls got new names: Douchebags, and shallow bitches. The other vast majority of people matured up. Well these jersey shore retards are stuck in that senior year mentality and it's a terrible role model.
I know a lot of people watch this T.V. show, and that it's popularity seems to counter many of the things i've said. "The bad girls club" (pay a bunch of attractive women to scream and fight eachother) is also wildly popular and in the same genre and mold as this show. Do you care to tell me the entertainment value in that?
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EPT
