All for One, One for All

Jersey Shore can get a little bit chaotic at times, with people in the house constantly getting under each others' skin. Even though this may seem like the farthest thing from a tight-knit household, the camaraderie rages hard between Vinny and Pauly D, Snooki and Deena, and the group as a whole. They often go at each other's throats, but at the end of the day, they sit down as a family and have a nice home-cooked meal. For instance, Mike (aka the Situation) is always getting involved in everybody else's business. There have been multiple accounts of this: he constantly gets in the middle of Snooki and her boyfriend claiming that there was something going on between Mike and her; when they were in Italy, Mike and Ronnie got involved in a huge, physical brawl; and finally Mike is almost ALWAYS talking behind everyone's back to someone else in the house, just to gossip and start problems. While he deserves to not even be allowed in the house for all the aggravation he has caused, the house (and MTV for that matter) accept him back every time and try to reconcile their differences. They all remain together and learn to love each other for all of their faults. I think Jersey Shore teaches that even though people may be different from you and have their own problems, you can always forgive and forget for the common good of the group. As for those not causing problems, Vinny and Pauly D are the perfect example of a bromance. They do everything together and have each other's backs no matter what goes down. This season when Vinny was depressed and went home, Pauly D was distraught. He wasn't the same without his brother. We can all try to find that one guy/girl that we can always rely on for help, and know that through thick and thin, that friend will always watch out for your best interest. Almost like our shadow or our second half.

Mirror on the Wall

I will make the case that the reason that some people hate the Jersey Shore is because it is an eye-opening reality to what America is slowly but surely turning into. I think that some people are in self-denial and are hypocritical about partying. People will watch the Jersey Shore and be like, "Wow, I cannot believe how irresponsible they are." At the same time, these very "accusers" did the same exact thing last weekend that the cast members on the Jersey Shore do all the time. I believe that people should use their TV as a mirror. When you look in a mirror, you see yourself and you see what else may be wrong with you at the time (your hair, your face, etc). What do you do if your hair is out-of-whack? You fix it. You do something about THE SITUATION to make it better. Similarly, people can do the same actions when watching the Jersey Shore. Sometimes, when they are in that intoxicated state, they do not realize what they are doing and they do not see how dumb their actions are and the consequences that result from them. In comes Jersey Shore to save the day. When watching the Jersey Shore, we can all see how absolutely idiotic drunks can be, and WE CAN LEARN FROM IT. We can learn not to make the same mistakes that they are. The Jersey Shore is essentially doing a dry run (no pun intended) for us, so why not take advantage of this opportunity to learn from our mistakes without actually making the mistakes?!

Positive Press for NJ

Many people (especially New Jersey residents) have had growing concerns about whether the Jersey Shore phenomenon has given the state of New Jersey a bad rap. This could not be more false. The Shore Store, located on the Jersey Shore boardwalk, has never before had business this sky high. Ever since the cast of the TV show has started working there, this is one of the "must-go-to" spots if you make the trip down to the Jersey Shore. Besides driving business up and down the shoreline, Jersey Shore has basically put Jersey Shore (the location) on the map. Last year when I was a high school senior, all of my fellow senior friends across Long Island made the Jersey Shore their number one place to go to after prom. The craze is raging and it does not seem to be slowing down any time soon. Just think, before the Jersey Show aired on TV, why would you want to go to New Jersey? Now, it is almost like an impulse. Wanna party and have a great time? Jersey Shore has you covered. All the press of Jersey Shore has gotten New Jersey's name out there as the place to be.

Introduction

Jersey Shore has taken a lot of abuse from all over America for setting a poor example for teenagers. The show still thrives, even in it's 5th season, so why don't we take a look at "the situation" and see if we can extract any good from it?

First off, the show has eight people (four guys and four girls) living in a house located right on the Jersey Shore. The eight residents may live a crazy lifestyle and often butt-heads with each other, but at the end of the day, they come together and love each other like a family. This subliminally teaches the audience the important lesson of comraderie. No matter what happens, the cast of the Jersey Shore always seems to have each other's backs at the end of the day.

The second thing we can learn from Jersey Shore is what not to do. History tends to repeat itself. By studying history, we can often learn how an action led to a certain consequence. The same reasoning can be applied for the Jersey Shore. Teenagers can learn that drinking in the middle of the day will never end well, that cheating on your significant other can often to lead to multiple issues, and you should never talk behind someone's back because it will usually end up coming back to haunt you.

The third thing I will post about (for now) is that the Jersey Shore almost puts a mirror right up to the TV. The people that live in that house that we watch every Thursday night (Jersday) are just a mere projection of the people in America today. Think about it for a second... the cast of the Jersey Shore does not necessarily have to go to a full time job (yes, they work at the Shore Store selling t-shirts but no that does not count as a real job). Imagine if you did not have to work, and you and seven of your friends went on a vacation and in the process of doing so, rented out a house. You would have nothing to do really except maybe go to the beach, but at night, you would most certainly party. What you are looking at is the Jersey Shore. It is conceptually all about a bunch of people on vacation living in the same house for a couple of months, with a camera following them around to every club they hit up.

Should we look up to the cast of the Jersey Shore as role models? No, but rather look up to the creators of the show, the ones that constructed a mirror large enough for all of America to see their inner wild side.