The Shallow Shore: One student's views on MTV's The Jersey Shore

By: Marie Ebacher

Posted: 2/3/10

Not only do these people disrespect women, whom they label as "creatures," get into brawls over the most idiotic comments, wear bedazzled shirts and complain about having to work for two hours on a beach boardwalk in return for prime location of free room and board on the shore, but the cast of "The Jersey Shore" also captivates my television set every Thursday night.

This is the type of show my mother would call "trash" and insist that I change the channel to the news; yet, I can't help but watch "The Jersey Shore." My eyes are glued to the TV every new episode and I warn you, I may get moody if you talk to me any other time than during the commercials. So what is it about this show that makes me love it so much?

Now I must admit, I didn't have the slightest clue as to what a "Guido" or "Guidette" was before this show. At breakfast one morning, the term was defined to me so vividly by my friend Grace that I knew I had to see if such a person could really exist. Well believe me, they do.

That night, I broke my own version of the number one rule of the show; I fell in love with the Jersey Shore. Everything about the show became addicting: Ronnie's laugh, "The Situation" and Pauly D's creeping, Snookie's poof, Sammi's insecurity about her big "Fred Flintstone" toe, even the annoying quack of the duck phone ringing. The very fact that people like this actually exist almost put my small-town-girl heart into cardiac arrest. Not only can I not get enough of the show itself, but I take pride in knowing the name of the latest victim that sent Ronnie to jail for the night and anything else directly relevant to these "Juiceheads" or steroid-ripped guys and Guidettes. The great thing about this show (and when I say great I really mean ridiculously idiotic but highly entertaining) is that this is truly reality unlike shows such as the "Biggest Loser" or "The Hills." This is primetime twenty-year-old Italians doing what they do best: gym, tanning, laundry and clubbing.

Since the airing of "The Jersey Shore," I am able to listen into any conversation and within one minute be able to tell if someone is talking about "The Situation's" situation. I have found that people who I believe have nothing in common always have something interesting to say about the show. I will defend the credibility of this being one of the most dramatically entertaining shows this year, but I have no problem teasing these characters for their blow-out hairstyles and not-so-deep (sorry Pauly D) remarks. "The Jersey Shore" is a show whose reputation will live on as something of the sorts that we may call "epic" now-a-days… well at least until a second season comes out. This show will someday be on VH1's "I Love the 2000s." So perhaps in the future I'll be considered old-school for being able to define "GTL," but for now I am loving this show through all its absurdities, and I wouldn't change one little (and I mean little!) thing about Snookie or about anyone else on the show.