I grew up at the Jersey Shore. So in defense of the folks back home, let me clarify that we aren’t all like the knuckleheads on MTV’s reality show Jersey Shore (the second season of which premieres tonight) any more than the 8,722 square miles nicknamed The Garden State is what you see when flying into Newark Airport.
I’m not bitter about the misconception that New Jerseyans are all six degrees of separation from Tony Soprano. I realize that people who’ve never visited our fine state have no reason not to believe the stereotypes they see and hear in entertainment. Frankly, I’ve been guilty of media-fed misnomers myself, like when I spoke in Anchorage, Ala., a few years back and expected a moose to walk down the street, Northern Exposure-style. So I’m pretty understanding. But this Snooki business makes me crazy.
You see, Jersey Shore (which, ironically, kicks off this season in Miami, though last year it took place in New Jersey’s Seaside Heights, known for its club scene) is considered a “reality” program. Therefore, a lot of young people tuning in to watch J-WOWW, The Situation and their hard-partying housemates will walk away even more confused about the birthplace of electricity, Buzz Aldrin and Meryl Streep. What will define New Jersey to this generation? Will it be silver queen corn and the stables of Colts Neck, or a viral video clip of Snooki getting punched in the face by some guy in a bar?
An article in The New Yorker said, “Jersey Shore makes us feel as though we were anthropologists secretly observing a new tribe through a break in the trees.” Likewise, a review in Entertainment Weekly noted “Jersey Shore is like The Real World, but filled with super-skanky folks of Italian descent who want nothing more than to tan, drink and hook up.”
After last season’s series premiere, Daniel Cappello, executive director of the Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau, stated, “MTV is providing a one-dimensional, dramatized version of a very small group of visitors’ summer experiences in one Jersey Shore town. … We welcome visitors to come here to enjoy a cultural diversity that in no way reflects what is seen on MTV.”
Me too. I spent my first 25 years “down the shore” before life moved me west. I still visit family there whenever I can, and I always look forward to smelling the sea air and enjoying a real slice of pizza. For anyone tempted to take Mr. Cappello up on his offer, forget about Seaside Heights. Just up the road lies Point Pleasant Beach with its sandy coastline, fun boardwalk, kiddie rides, aquarium and a killer Italian ice joint down by the inlet. That’s where families go. Including mine.
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