Jersey Shore, a popular reality show choice for drama seeking, Guido loving people, is one of the most commonly watched television shows today. The show displays the lives of eight supposedly Italian people living on the Jersey Shore in a house together showing us the “normal” lives that Guidos live everyday. Partying, smooshing, grenade whistles, GTL (gym, tan, laundry), clubbing, lots of drinking, and sex is some of what you would see in any episode of Jersey Shore. Showing these peoples lives on television in a light that negatively portrays them doesn’t seem to really bother the cast, but then again they are getting paid for it. But is this really how these Guidos and Guidettes live when they are off of the shore and the cameras are turned off? I am not quite convinced this is true. Jersey Shore cast members are acting out what we, as an audience, would like to see happen and have alternate persona’s for their television characters that continuously keep people like me and you entertained.
According to writer, Adam Sternbergh, the lives of these Jersey Shore icons is purely made up for the entertainment of the viewers and to keep people watching over and over again. Reality TV isn’t exactly what the show Jersey Shore is, so why label it that way? Characters are given a persona to maintain and “act out” while the cameras are rolling. The so called Jersey lifestyle doesn’t really continue when the cameras turn off. Samantha, Jenni (J-Wow), Nicole (Snuki), Deana, Pauley D, Mike (The Situation), Vinny, and Ronnie return to their regular lives at home once the cameras shut off and become more like you and me. Well, for the most part that is. They still have crazy fans and autographs to sign, but overall, the Guido and Guidette persona is just an act for our own pleasure, entertainment, and amusement.
Yes, we may prefer the Jersey Shore cast on television, rather than “real” life, because on TV they can act out in crazy drunkenness, joke around, and live the party life. Sometimes its nice to see whats real and what a true Jersey girl or Jersey guy lives like, but that doesn’t get views or keep the ratings up. However, crazy scenes, sex, jokes, drinking, and violence do. When we see Nicole drunk right next to the beach running around asking people where the beach is while falling all over the place, we don’t really know if Nicole was actually in this situation. Although, it was extremely entertaining to watch and hilarious to see. Mike the Situation may not really “get girls” like it shows in the episodes, he may have no game at all. The scenes can be changed and altered to make anyone in the show seem like something they really may not be. From what I can see this is the whole point of reality TV, the audience entertainment factor, which works. I keep watching!
When you watch Jersey Shore you associate the characters with the persona they have been asked to display. I have noticed almost all of the cast members have been given a nik name in which they have come to be known as in and outside of the show. This just backs up my point that they are continuing an act that gets them attention from their audience and paid. For example, Mike will now always be known as, Mike The Situation. He has to keep up this personality that goes with his knew name and in episodes he now refers to things as being “a situation”. Deana, the new girl, got her nik name from being “the walking holiday”. She now has to maintain this character of being fun an exciting throughout the rest of the season and seasons to come. As an watching audience we have all come to know and love the personality’s of the characters in the show but what we don’t know is, is who really is behind this persona? What is Jenni, Nicole, Sam, Mike, Deana, Pauly, Vinny, and Ronnie really like when the show ends and the cameras stop rolling? We may never actually know, but what we see on TV is what we associate them with and thats what keeps us entertained and watching.
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