Jersey Shore promotes excessive alcohol consumption, unnecessary violence, and embarrassing stupidity (“A crow comes and it starts quacking at us… or not quacking, what does a crow do?”, “That’s why I don’t eat lobster or anything like that cause they’re alive when you kill it.”). So why is it so popular? Why is it so compelling to watch simple-minded, young Italian-Americans fight with each other, reconcile over drinking heavily (bar-hopping starts before noon) and then fight again the next day? The sad truth is that the less we have to think about while watching TV, the more enjoyable we find the program.
When Jersey Shore first aired on MTV in the fall of 2009, I was not surprised to hear that the show was about eight, twenty-something alcoholic clubbers living under one roof. MTV had been broadcasting The Real World since 1992, a similar reality show about a group of young twenty-somethings living together. What surprised me most about Jersey Shore was not its trashy content or its disparaging depictions of Italian-Americans, but its extreme popularity, and the high ratings that it received. I decided to watch one full episode of Jersey Shore to see for myself why it was so popular among my peers.
After watching the first five minutes, including the introduction of the cast, I found that I could not look away from the cultural train wreck that this show epitomized. The public drunkenness, unnecessary fighting, and stupidity of the cast of Jersey Shore was somehow so compelling that when the episode ended, I was surprised that I had actually watched the full 42 minutes of it. This, of course, did not mean that I was suddenly a fan of Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi or had the urge to make GTL (gym, tan, laundry) the driving force of my life, but rather it was like watching a terrible car accident happen in slow motion. I knew what was going to happen, but somehow I was unable to look away. I felt very conflicted about my reaction towards this show. Before watching Jersey Shore, I was very critical of its content. Without watching a single episode, I already knew the cast members’ names and faces, some ridiculous quotations from Snooki and all about the fights that occurred regularly. Starting off with a sceptical mindset, I thought that I would not be engaged by such mindless reality television. Obviously, I was wrong. I discovered that the greater the lack of intelligence there is in a television program, the easier it is to watch. Watching Snooki get arrested on the beaches of Seaside Heights, Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola duke it out with Ronnie Ortiz-Magro over a situation that never happened, and Deena Nicole Cortese get kicked out of a club after partying for a mere 6 minutes and 53 seconds, was surprisingly entertaining.
Jersey Shore manages to capture every negative aspect of reality television, yet still remains the most viewed series on MTV. It recently hit a rating of approximately 8.9 million viewers. In the same time slot, more viewers watch Jersey Shore than NBC and ABC combined. More viewers consciously choose to watch an overly dramatic reality show rather than the news. The worst part is that I am only mildly surprised by these statistics. It is understandable that when people come home from work or school, they want to turn on the TV, loosen up, and just relax; but having factual proof that 8.9 million viewers in North America decide to watch trash reality television instead the news is still a little upsetting.
Why can we not enjoy television that demands that we use our brains? Why do we choose to watch trashy shows that lack culture, intellect, and meaning? Why are shows like Jersey Shore so successful at capturing our attention and keeping us entranced? The answer is not in asking why, but in how. Through its emphasis on its most dramatic elements, Jersey shore sucks its viewers into a world of clubbing, fighting, drinking, and sex. There is no thinking involved when watching a show that is so heavily based on sensationalism. And that is why we enjoy it so much! The less intellectual pondering that is involved, the easier it is for us to be happy and enjoy some good ol’ GTL.
I just happened upon your article about Jersey Shore and totally agree but feel this about most of todays tv programming. If I have to see another reality series advertised I think I will puke. It is no different than junk food only this type of programming is just garbage to the brain. Mind you I realize some people just want something to get their mind off of day to day pressures. but watch something that will cause some brain activity.
I have found that more and more I am downloading programming from Britain and tv series that the producers have put some though into and I am about to snip the cable