In 2009, MTV came out with a television show that has transformed my generation, the Jersey Shore. For those who don't know, the Jersey Shore is about a group of "guidos", who spend their summer on the Jersey Shore. Cameras follow them around filming them going to clubs, their hookups, “GTLing” (gym, tanning, laundry), and their mundane job at a T-shirt shop or gelato shop. Why has this generation become so fixated by watching these ridiculous people making fools of themselves? It seems that I can hardly go a day without hearing the words, Snookie, The Situation, or fist-pumping.
When the cast of Jersey Shore is not filming, they make club appearances. Now, I have not been to one of these appearances, but I have witnessed one in Rochester, NY. It was six below outside and a huge snowstorm was on its way, but the line to the club was out the door and around the corner. As I drove past, I thought people were crazy to be wearing mini-skirts and tank-tops just to see these people. In the morning, I found out that I was correct; many people that night suffered frost bite and had to be taken to the hospital. How could we have let it come to this? When did our society become so influenced by a group of 8 people that could barely hold a conversation about anything else besides tanning, alcohol, or sex? I think that it is mostly due to the fact that we are obsessed with the materialistic and the obscene.
Not only is this show ridiculous, but it giving New Jersey a horrible reputation. Very few people can think of Jersey without picturing the cast first. Personally, all I can picture is dirty clubs, guidos, and fist-pumping. In reality, that is not the case at all. Recently, the new governor spoke out against the shows saying that Jersey is nowhere near the portrayal of MTV. I think that teenagers, myself included, really need to reevaluate what they want to be watching and whom so they want influencing them.
I personally have not seen the show and I am not planning on it, at least not for now. But by what you said above about them acting foolish, I think it would be senseless for me to follow them.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we as teenagers, really anyone, should stop and think, what am I watching and how is it going to affect me? I say this because our eyes are like a camera that records everything we see, especially if it is something attractive to the eye. And even if we don't notice it it is saved in the back of our brain and influences some of our daily decisions.