Paper

Rich Zoller

Dr. Russo

Rhetoric Paper

4/12/12

Snooki Teaching Life Lessons? Are You Shore?

            The pop-culture phenomenon, Jersey Shore, took the world by storm on December 3^rd, 2009 with its unique characters, wild partying and fist pumping fanatics. The show received its fair share of criticism from many critics, saying the cast of Jersey Shore was a disgrace to the Italian community and that the people on the show were setting a bad example for the youth of America. These critics are blinded by the plain sight that Jersey Shore is actually a very educational show! That is right. Jersey Shore can act as a tool to teach the American people many different life lessons that may not be able to be taught elsewhere. These lessons consist of learning about the valuable lesson of camaraderie, learning about what not to do, and most importantly, learning about who the American society is as a whole as Jersey Shore turns the spotlight on us.

            First, Jersey Shore demonstrates the highly necessary trait of any friendship and that is the bond of camaraderie. The strongest camaraderie, or rather, “bro-mance”, on the show is between Paul DelVecchio (Pauly D) and Vincenzo Guadagnino (Vinny). The two demonstrate the perfect guy-to-guy friendship. Both of them always have each other’s back at all times and do practically everything together. Pauly D and Vinny are inseparable and display the greatest version of camaraderie that the show has to offer. To prove this, Brooke Smith from celebutaunt.com lists the best moments of Pauly D’s and Vinny’s unique friendship (check out the link on Page 5 for more info). From cuddling to secret handshakes, this dynamic duo is tighter than an Abercrombie & Fitch shirt. There are indeed other great friendships on the show, such as the one between Nicole Polizzi (Snooki) and Deena Nicole Cortese (Deena), but none compares to the unity that the cast exhibits as a whole. The group owns a specific brand of camaraderie that may be even more useful than the specific, individual friendships seen on the show. The cast constantly hits spurts of intense drama. Fights breakout. People scream and yell. Romantic relationships are active and then in a second are split up. These may all seem like poor traits of camaraderie and unity, but here’s the catch: at the end of the day, they are still a “family” regardless of all the above. There will be multiple times where the viewers will witness these chaotic moments in the household, but only to be followed up by a Sunday dinner that brings the entire cast to one table, under one roof, uniting for one meal as a family. It goes to show that no matter what happens, no one person is bigger than the group as a whole. No one person is greater than the somewhat functional family that lives in that Jersey Shore house. They have the maturity to work out their problems between each other, move on, and not hold grudges. This attributes to the spirit of the cast as a whole and lends itself to not alienating anyone. These are serious lessons that some people need to learn immediately. People often hold grudges and cannot get over themselves for the good of a friendship or a family. Jersey Shore teaches us that even though people may fight with each other and things may happen that can make relationships seem unrepairable, it is never to late to make amends with someone and set the record straight.

            The second reason why Jersey Shore should be used as a teaching tool is because it presents the viewers with situations (no pun intended) that the cast members go through and how they act and respond. Yes, their responses to a situation may not be the best, but that is the point. Drinking a martini in the middle of the afternoon as Snooki has done numerous times often leads to trouble afterwards, such as getting arrested for public intoxication. Right there is the evidence for this argument. Snooki has taught the people at home a valuable lesson and that is getting drunk in the middle of the day is a terrible choice and often leads to facing the tough resulting consequences, like getting arrested. People may not realize the consequences of their actions until they actually go through with something stupid and are faced with the effects of their actions firsthand. Not anymore! From now on, they can watch Jersey Shore (because, honestly, the people on this show mess up all the time) and see multiple outcomes of any situation before the viewer makes the same mistake as the cast of Jersey Shore made. The viewers can see that almost every time, the short-lived fun that the cast has is never worth the trouble they have to go through to make up for what they’ve done. It’s all about learning from someone else’s mistakes so that these same mistakes are not made again.

            The third and most important reason why Jersey Shore can teach the viewers of America something valuable is because even though the show gets bashed constantly for its consistent partying, nonstop drinking and for the cast considering themselves “guido’s”, maybe the TV set is turning the mirror upon its viewers. Maybe the TV is not just showing the American people what the cast of Jersey Shore is doing, but rather what society is up to on a regular basis. It is a hard truth to face, but if the problem is reflected on, people will realize that Jersey Shore is truly just a mirror on us. We always fight back against this truth, but at the end of the day, we want to go out to clubs, we want to drink enough that our world spins, and we most definitely get into confrontations with each other all the time whether we like it or not. Those past three statements are all things we, the society of America, does as a whole, not just Jersey Shore. Yes, it is a sad truth to face, but it is a truth nonetheless. As the great Dr. Michael S. Russo, a professor at Molloy College, puts it in his blog: “I think that we watch (Jersey Shore) because it actually reflects American values and ideals in a way that no other show ever has. As Bill Maher once put it, there are only three main problems with Americans: ‘we’re lazy, selfish, and stupid. And nowhere else on television are these three qualities better exemplified than on Jersey Shore.’ So, I think that we watch Jersey Shore primarily because it offers a confirmation of our own American ethos: pursue pleasure as often as you can, get rich quickly, think only about yourself, and don’t ever worry about the consequences of your actions. We watch the show and we feel better about how vacuous and immoral our own lives are. As bad as we may be in terms of our own lives, at least we’re not a Snooki, Deena, or Mike (aka The Situation).” Anyone who bashes Jersey Shore for being immoral and wildly out of hand, feel free to cast the first stone if you are without fault.

            Jersey Shore is a very entertaining show, but clearly, a lot can be extracted from it in order to learn more about ourselves. The show is a great demonstration of camaraderie, it offers us the chance to view the results of someone else’s actions so that we do not have to make the same mistake, and it gives us a clear view of what we truly are as a society of America, especially the college students watching the show. Jersey Shore may be seen as a dumb show, but in the end, who is dumb for turning down an opportunity to learn more about yourself?

Works Cited

Russo, Michael S. "Guilty Pleasures, Universal Wisdom." Michael S. Russo. 6 Jan. 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2012. <http://www.michaelsrusso.org/2012/01/guilty-pleasures-universal-wisdom.html>.

Smith, Brooke. "The Best Moments of the Pauly D and Vinny Bromance." CelebuTaunt. 19 Mar. 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2012. <http://usdish.com/celebutaunt/the-best-moments-of-the-pauly-d-and-vinny-bromance>.