Jersey Shore, Jersey Shame

Last Updated on Thursday, 17 December 2009 15:59 Written by Michael P. Riccards Friday, 11 December 2009 14:54

There are certain groups that it is politically correct to stereotype in the most negative ways, and that is especially true of Italian Americans. Going back to the Kefauver hearings in the U.S. Senate, the media has enjoyed telling tales of the Cosa Nostra or the modern day Mafia. The early television industry introduced The Untouchables,  a crime show that featured the FBI and the Mafia in measured battle. Mario Puzo expanded the Untouchables mentality into a pulp novel, The Godfather. And of course the Godfather became a three-part epic movie series by Francis Ford Coppola. Some film critics believe that Godfather I is equal to Citizen Kane or Casablancaas the premier American flick.

Television picked up our fascination with Italian American crime, and focused it on the Soprano family of West Caldwell and Northern Jersey environs. But increasingly the predominance of organized crime has moved to other ethnic groups in real life, especially those from South America and Eastern Europe, and 9-11 has given us a new villain — the Muslim terrorist. One can see the Italian American slippage by watching Law and Order, as it drags on from one dreary season to another.

So how do we keep the negative Italian American stereotypes alive, stereotypes that have made so much money for so many. It has been estimated that there are over 7 million Italian Americans in all spheres of American life. Only about 7,000 have been accused of being connected with organized crime. Yet one newspaperman has identified New Jersey corruption with the “Soprano State.” The assumption is that if one’s name ends in a vowel, then the link is obvious. The Soprano State ethos had a tough time in July 2009 when 44 indicted individuals were arrested, including some rabbis.

Now another Italian American has decided to make money off a different sort of negative stereotypes. Tony Di Santo, MTV’s vice president of programming, created a new low brow show, “Jersey Shore.” The show presents a collection of degrading, disgusting, young people who are a group of bimbos and steroid-filled hunks. They populate the Jersey Shore and are loud, vulgar, and love to refer to themselves as “guidos.” Di Santo says that they take pride in their ethnicity and bond together. They are guidos in a positive way!!

Ugh. Can you imagine a show like this on African Americans or Jewish Americans? Can one imagine the show being produced by one of their own? Of course not, and they should not be. What is it about Italian Americans who make money off promoting the cruel and the boorish? Perhaps that is the only way they can make money in the American arts. The Puzo who wrote  the Godfather trash previously composed a very fine novella, The Fortunate Pilgrim, which never made a dime. 

So Puzo, and Coppola, and now Di Santo are or have made a good deal of cash off promoting ethnic harshness, violence, and bad taste. A toast to them -- but no vino.

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