Remember when MTV aired shows that didn’t render its acronym a complete misnomer? If you, like me, were still in diapers when the “Real World’s” first season rocked the world of television, my guess is that you can’t. But today, what the network lacks in substance it compensates for with its remarkable ability to repackage the utterly talentless among us as entertainment. The ratings ploy of the season is the show that everyone loves to make fun of: Of course I’m referring to our orange-and-proud friends on “The Jersey Shore.”
Here, self-proclaimed “guidos” and “guidettes” seem to not only consent to, but revel in their status as the laughing stock of the MTV demographic. With nicknames like “The Situation” and “JWOWW,” these people fill the cultural void vacated by professional wrestling when its heyday came to an end.
Though the “Shore” was undeniably created with the intention of attracting more viewers who laugh at the cast than with it, the joke is ultimately on the audience. The show’s popularity illustrates a disturbing trend in entertainment that encourages outrageous behavior for the sake of making good TV. Because more people will tune in to watch a house full of low-culture stereotypes interact than, say, programs that feature such dispensable qualities as decent writing and some degree of intrigue, networks seem intent on discovering the next big reality star (think “American Idol” for morons with no talent to speak of, minus the semblance of a plot).
This is to say that the viewers are at least partially responsible for reinforcing the behavior that they love to mock. Without resorting to tasteless antics, how else could MTV’s Shore dwellers attract the attention of millions? It’s not like they can enamor us with witty banter or suspenseful action.
And it’s no secret that overwhelming media attention typically translates to an enormous amount of viewers and an equally huge sum of advertising revenue in the entertainment industry. Where viewers have found cheap laughs at the expense of this unfortunate group, MTV execs have struck ratings gold. As long as there is an audience, characters like Snooki (whose judgment is, to be fair, probably impaired by a too-tight Bump-It restricting blood flow to her brain) will continue to be legitimized as entertainers.
