Why "Jersey Shore" is Good for Us

At the Jersey Shore we see the housemates working in a t-shirt shop throughout the series. As the viewer, we watch the cast members’ work ethics to be very sloppy and immature. For example, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino was working and decided to get lazy. While working he got locked in the dressing room on accident and instead of trying to get help, he

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decided to take a nap on the job. In today’s society, this type of work ethic is unacceptable no matter what kind of job you are doing. While all of the housemates hated going to work, only one member actually showed enthusiasm while working and used his social skills in order to sell t-shirts at the store. In this example, we learn that great social skills pay off when working in a store selling clothing and merchandise. Like I learned in my Sociology 110 class, people need a purpose in life, and work will bring the best out of them. Why do you think businessmen are so successful in our society? Because they all have a great social skill, which is why they’re ranked high in society.

Another highlight of this reality TV show is the drama that goes on in the house. People love drama and Jersey Shore gives you exactly what you want to see. In season one, on the very first episode, the housemates are just getting to know each other. Two characters in particular, Ronnie and Sammie, develop a strong liking for each other and create a relationship. But soon find themselves fighting and throwing each other clothes out of the room. Even their own roommates, who've had plenty of their own drama, seemed disturbed by the vicious name-calling, violent room-trashing and overt attempts to make each other jealous that happened a night before at a club. It’s a moment like this where you as the viewer are watching the episode and are sick of their feuding relationship, yet you can’t stop watching because you want more drama. They soon find themselves making up in the end by Sammie leaving the house. Another

example occurred in the recent season three. Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi was intoxicated on the beach and started causing havoc in public, which ended up getting herself arrested by the police. "She didn't hurt anyone or get in a fight," says a source. "She just needed to be in a drunk tank for two hours." (Triggs) This is another example of how you as the viewer can learn from the

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mistakes that the characters make. Hopefully you can learn how to avoid situations like that and not put yourself in the same shoes the casts members are in. People are a fan of drama but not a fan of their own. Even though the cast members are C-list celebrities you have to remember that they’re just people like us and you can benefit from watching them solve their mistakes.

The cast members are hilarious people. In the recent season three of the series, the cast members started doing a prank war on each other that consisted in a stretch over several episodes. In one of the episodes, Nicole “Snooki” and another housemate are getting ready to go to the bar together. Mike “The Situation” graciously offers to call the cab for them but tells the taxi to drive them to Manhattan in New York as a surprise. (Gliatto) Since this was a prank war, the girls weren’t going to give up that easily. The next day the girls smeared cream cheese under Mike’s bed, which turned out to be hilarious since he brought home a girl that night and asked the girl when they were in bed together, “What’s that smell?” Another hilarious moment was when the housemates started doing a rap battle to each other one night. There was music blasting, screaming and shouting, and a lot of running and jumping all around the house because the housemates got really excited when they were giving each other a roast of all the stuff they have done through the form of rapping. As the viewer, you can feel the excitement the roommates share within each other. You can see that they all get along in no matter what kind of activity they do, which gives you glimpse of what it may feel like if you lived in a house with

seven others. Many of my friends who love the show are always quoting memorable lines. The unforgettable “It’s T-shirt time!!” that Paul “Pauly D” shouts to housemates when they go out to the club is one that will for sure have people screaming in their daily routine when it comes to

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partying. Everybody loves comedic humor and you will exactly receive that if you watch Jersey Shore. When a group of alcohol driven adults are put in a house together, who knows what will happen, but it will sure make you laugh.

        Jersey Shore is a polarizing show, once you watch it, you either love it or you hate it. As mentioned before, personally I love it. I never thought I would laugh so much from a reality TV show. This show gives you a carefree optimistic attitude of being young and I think people fail to realize that.  You might come across people who don’t like the show and that’s fine but there’s some people find it necessary to insult the cast members or talk down to the people who like the show. I’m here to tell you that this show does indeed have entertainment value. Some people feel the need to inform the cast members, for example in an article from a webpage that featured Nicole “Snooki”. She explains that one time she was in a bar and a guy walked by and said, 'You are everything that is wrong with this country today,'" she recalls. She then stated, "There's the economy, poverty, equal rights - and Jersey Shore is the worst thing?" (Free) Snooki insisted that the housemates don't just party all the time. She quotes, “I’ll go to frickin’ Barnes & Nobles, get a coffee and just sit down and read. No one would ever think that. We have different sides to us.” Yes, these amateur actors get paid to party and live in a house given to them so obviously they come off as irresponsible and less intelligent than others but ask yourself this…do you really the know the characters?

So the overall question, why should you watch the show? One word: entertainment! You

may not have anything in common with the Jersey Shore characters but you will enjoy the characters, you will be entertained and you will laugh. You will have a great time while relaxing and watching something a little less serious. I hope I persuaded you to watch Jersey Shore and

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schedule your Thursday nights from now on. And now with season four premiering this summer on August 4th, I know what I’ll be doing on my Thursday nights. It’s a show that’s impacted with drama and gives you a break from your own reality to watch someone else’s life. As soon as you watch the show and adopt their life lessons, soon our society will be strong in all aspects of life.

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Annotated Bibliography

Free, Britney. "Jersey Shore Cast: Don't Judge Us." The Hollywood Gossip. Mediavine Inc., 15 Sept. 2010. Web. 3 June 2011. <http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2010/09/jersey-shore-cast-dont-judge-us/>.  This article is from a web page that explained the Jersey Shore cast is constantly getting insults because to some people they are a disgrace in society. The overall point in this webpage was to show that the cast members don’t really care what you have to say. Even though they are used to it, it still bothers them. The author made her claim but telling its audience that one day these cast members will grow up and not act immature anymore. This was published in the middle of season two so I believe this source was credible. The formatting of this article was she explained Snooki’s experience and then stated her claim in the end to leave the reader with a final thought.

Gliatto, Tom. "Life Lessons from JERSEY SHORE." People 28 Mar. 2011: 53. Academic Search Elite. Web. 3 June 2011. This article discusses events that took place during the filming of the reality television series "Jersey Shore" from season three. It talked about the life lessons we can learn such as the arrests that occurred, interpersonal relations, and pranks. The author made his claim by pointing out the major concepts from season three that we could learn from the cast members’ mistakes. This author published this magazine article at the end of season three so it was very credible. I liked the way the author formatted this article because he talked about the mistakes then did a separate heading titled "Lesson" where he stated what we as the viewer could learn from.

Ngo, Emily. "Italian-American Groups Far from Entertained by Stereotypes on Mtv's 'Jersey Shore' Reality Show." McClatchy-Tribune Business News [New York] 9 Dec. 09, State and Regional News sec. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 5 June 2011. <http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic/? >. (Opposing viewpoint)

This article discussed how disgraced the Italian-American community in the United States is with the show. The overall point of this article was to show how many people are against the show. This article was published four weeks into season one. People have already criticize this show and the audience just wants to prove to the world that that is not how they act on a daily basis. The formatting of this article discussed the American population first and included their thought on it. Then one of the characters from the show added in is input as well. It also explained how the region is flattered by the attention with an increase in tourism.

Triggs, Charlotte. "Jersey Shore's Snooki Busted!" People 16 Aug. 10: 22. Academic Search Elite. Web. 5 June 2011. This article discusses the July 30, 2010 arrest of Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, a participant in the reality television program "Jersey Shore," on charges of public intoxication. The overall point of this short article was to inform the Jersey Shore fan base that one of the characters was drinking too much in public and ended up getting arrested. This article was published before the season started and the format was a short paragraph.