In 2010, The New Yorker reviewed the MTV show, "The Jersey Shore," in what I think can be summed up in this quote: "Jersey Shore' makes us feel as though we were anthropologists secretly observing a new tribe through a break in the trees" (Franklin, 2010). The show, "The Jersey Shore," is very much like an ethnographic film study in this Visual Anthropology class. It is very similar to every other film we have watched so far in class, in a number of ways. The fact that it is a documentary-style television show to begin with, allows the viewer to feel as if we are watching the representation of a specific culture or tribe of people. These people are often known as "guidos." They spend their days, and nights, drinking mass quantities of alcohol, and getting into multiple physical fights with strangers, as well as each other. As viewers watch the show, we are witnessing so many rituals and patterns which are often displayed in a cyclical manner by the self-proclaimed "Guidos" on the Jersey Shore. As someone who is born and raised in New Jersey, I feel the right to comment on the fact that this specific group of people are mostly (if not all?) from New York, and not in fact, New Jersey natives. The behavioral patterns of the guidos is cyclical in the way that they preform the same actions every day, and on every episode. It begins with alcohol, usually a physical fight, one of the "natives" becomes more violent than the others (who are still violent, just less so than the Alpha Male/Female-which changes per episode), often throwing large pieces of furniture such as entire bed frames, bottles of alcohol, and other items.
The violent behavior of this group on Jersey Shore is recurrent; sometimes it is unclear how the violence is instigated, however the situation always escalates very quickly, and becomes more violent. The sexual behaviors of this group are often random, within their own group, as well as outside of their group. Often drama within the group erupts as a result of the sexual encounters, and this often leads to more alcohol, and more violence.
In terms of filmmaking and directing, the only commentary is from the subjects themselves through their 'testimonials' in which they speak directly to the camera to explain their actions and their perspective on the drama which has unfolded within the group. The filmmaking of Jersey Shore captures mainly moments of erupting drama, and violence, which presents the group as an uncontrollable, ill-mannered group of young adults. The fights within their group in the household is an interesting documentation of human chemistry and the way in which guidos communicate with other guidos, as well as defending themselves and their actions. Although each person in the household has a different name and different personality, their hairstyles, and clothing style is very similar, as well as their tendency to have a permanent fake tan on their skin.
Because the show focuses on a group of people of Italian heritage, this can be seen as a documentary on "Italian-Americans" but even so, it represents such a distorted image of the heritage group as a whole. If this show can be seen as an ethnographic film, it would need a little more (or less?) editing so that the visuals would more balanced. For example, different situations for the subjects to be in other than the house, or a bar. In a way, the "guidos" of Jersey Shore can be seen as the "Other." People who watch the show, regardless of whether or not they enjoy the show, are not able to connect to the subjects, instead feeling more superior and more intelligent as a result of watching the repeated behavioral patterns of the 8 housemates.
The show fails to do anything but visually display the stereotypes of guidos, reinforced by subjects who proudly identify with the title, despite their ignorance, and lack of real motivation to do anything except drink, and create violence and drama amongst each other. Which makes one wonder, how much did MTV have to edit out of their footage in order for the entire show to be made up of fight scenes and binge drinking? Visually exciting, educationally mind numbing. Jersey Shore presents a documentary presenting a group of people who are not representing anyone but themselves, as they have become their own characters, and not subjects, as their lives are filmed to produce hours of reckless drinking and patterns of doomed relationships.
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