Breaking down TV: Was the Jersey Shore Too Exploitive Recently?

Reading that subject line aloud I understand that may be the most oxymoronic question ever in this blog.

Quick review of the episode in question. J-Wow and Snooki's boyfriends were scheduled to visit them in Italy. J-Wow's boyfriend had to cancel; while Snooki's boyfriend visited and by the end of the episode had broken up with Snooki and left her at about level 50 on a 1 to 10 scale of "losing her shit."

Danielle and I - who watch the show together - were left feeling rather uncomfortable from the episode and as Danielle put it, "They just exploited them [meaning Snooki]." Interestingly enough I know several people who refuse to watch the show after this episode.

Normally I would give a rat's behind about it...except...well...except I have Sienna now and she might have a level 50 meltdown (or worse, ask about this show). Therefore, I'll break down this mess and see where it leaves us (or at least me).

The discomfort of the episode is a genuine reaction to genuine feelings that are shown on the screen. What are we looking at on the screen?

Drunk and Stupid (Funny)
All members of the show fall into this. If you show people being drunk and stupid - well, we laugh at them, as long as nothing REALLY bad happens to them. Snooki running headfirst into a shrug because she is so drunk? That is funny. Actually it was hysterical. As long as the person only hurts him/herself then we're okay.

Drunk and Stupid (Unfunny)
Ronnie owns this category. He turns into a raging sociopath and has several times destroyed rooms in a drunken rage. He once knocked someone out with "one punch, bro!" as the other person was so hammered that no defense could be offered.

Relationships (Humor)
If you show people in a bad relationship then there actually is a certain amount of humor. Usually since one person is so over-the-top you are stunned. Though only women can be shown stalking men - as otherwise it is creepy. The greatest humor for Jersey Shore has been whenever one of the guys "really" likes a girl and tries to woo her.

Relationship (Annoying)
Ron and Sam took fighting/irritation to such a level that I refuse to waste another breath on them. Ever. Any time The Situation brags about how great he is picking up women turned from funny to annoying.

Now that we have those categories set up, I can analyze what happened in the episode, as I'll have to explain this to Sienna at some point. By the way, Danielle and I had a long discussion about this episode.

This episode managed to take all four of those categories - tie them into one - and leave Snooki a screaming mess. How did they do it? (Drunk and funny) Snooki was dancing with her boyfriend, pulled up her dress (drunk and unfunny) wouldn't stop. Snooki (relationship - annoying) kept claiming she loves her beau and (relationship - humor) ran to greet him at the door like a little kid.

That is skills.

It was Exploitative
By definition it is a reality show and can't be exploitative. Still, the emotions were raw and real - and nobody wants that in his or her box of humor. I wouldn't call it exploitative as much as superior MTV editing. Here is how they pulled it off.

J-Wow is actually sympathetic. She is the mother figure and despite her intro of "bite a guys head off after having sex" she has been in two long term relationships during the course of the show. One appears to have been abusive - and the breakup was catalogued last season. While J-Wow is prone to exaggeration (after The Situation head butted the wall and got a concussion she said, "I don't want the kid to die") her relationship with her boyfriend Roger seems legit. We like J-Wow and have forgiven her for cheating with Paulie D in an early episode. The reason Roger couldn't make it to Italy was also realistic - he couldn't get the time off from work. J-Wow also had a plausible reaction: she was upset, yet didn't take it out on Roger.

Meanwhile there is Snooki. While being a hysterical prop-like device since episode 1 there have been attempts to show that Snooki merely wants love/boyfriend. Fair enough. Life is filled with characters who look for love, screw it up, and eventually find love. Sex and the City was an entire series of could-be-flawed women looking for love and eventually finding it.

However Snooki doesn't have writers - she has herself and editors. Snooki's relationship seems to be based on her boyfriend wanting her to "not be herself" and her wanting to still party. The entire season we've been privy to the phone calls between the two of them that actually...well...the castmates even think the relationship is a bad idea. Credit were credit is due - when EVERYONE in the house thinks it is a bad idea you should reconsider (just like when everyone in the house thinks it is a good idea.) Snooki also had a three hour makeout session with a housemate that is not cheating, since she was so drunk she didn't remember ANY of it.

Needless to say. Snooki is a party animal and her boyfriend was okay with her making out with other women. She is definitely NOT sympathetic though. It is like when they tried to make The Situation sympathetic for injuring himself after headbutting a wall. Snooki loves attention, hates work, and is comes off across as hypocritical. I want love! I love my guy! Ohhh...makeout time!

With that setup the editors showed us J-Wow's beau not being available, transferring that sadness over to the joy Snooki felt at HER guy showing up.

Yes, the show was manipulative. Smart as hell too. It took one characters sympathy, transferred it to another way LESS sympathetic character, and made us all feel uncomfortable. What happened though is that after the episode viewers realized, I just felt bad for Snooki who is a hypocritcal maniac. What the fuck? I can't think about this anymore.

Then they quit watching.

Don't manipulate people. It isn't nice.

Which brings me back to Sienna. Someday she is going to come to myself - or more likely Danielle - on a class 50 rager. Rather than try to logic it out to her I'm just going to show her this episode. I'm going to ask her whether she was acting more like J-Wow or Snooki.

At that point, if she wails too loud it is Snooki and I'll know I haven't raised her right. If it's J-Wow...well that really isn't much better, just less hypocritical.

Wayne

Where Have I Been for Two Months?

Before I post the next posting - where I analyze The Jersey Shore - I am sure it will be wondered why there hasn't been a posting since August 3rd.

Besides being known as "a long time" it is also known "as summer" - though that isn't the reason I've been missing. I was off doing Digital Media for the company and work for, ultimately wearing me out from posting.

Yes, there are only so many posts one has in his/her day.

There you go. My lame excuse. I'll give a quick personal update: child is fat, happy, and doing well.

Wayne