New Jerseyans: Quit Asking Us About 'Jersey Shore'

By The Pop Chorus Posted Jul 30th 2010 11:25AM

'Jersey Shore.' You know it. You love it or hate it. You follow Snooki's Twitter or you loathe her, The Situation, JWoww and the whole bunch. Season two premiered last night, and you either watched or you groaned. Maybe both.

But there's a small batch of Americans who experience the show like no others. These are the people of New Jersey. Some of their dignitaries and organizations have weighed in on 'Jersey Shore,' often unkindly. But the daily effect the show has on the state is this: No one can stop asking residents if they've seen the friggin' show and asking them to weigh in as de facto experts.

Here, three PopEater readers chime in on the irksome phenomenon -- one gal even goes so far as to offer a list of the seven questions a regular New Jerseyan faces on a daily basis in these 'Jersey Shore'-dominated days.

Courtney Rogaski says:

I remember my first encounter with the 'Jersey Shore' state of mind -- I sat down at a bar in Hawaii and handed the woman my ID. She stopped, looked up, and said, "I don't understand." I was confused and asked her to clarify. Her response? "Well, your hair isn't big and you're not tan ... but you're from New Jersey?" I wasn't sure what she was referring to until she brought up the MTV show. Horrified that people from other states actually believe people from New Jersey are like this, I elucidated for her: "Listen, I live by a beautiful farm town in the middle of nowhere next to a vineyard. I am not Italian and most people I know are not, either. We do not get into fights all the time -- in fact, most people are laid back. We are not all egomaniacs." It was so upsetting that she believed all the hype and stereotype. I eventually found out most of the cast was from New York anyways. Go figure.

Melissa McMaster has heard enough of these daily questions:

1) "Is Jersey as fabulous as it's made out to be?!"
2) "Have you ever been in the background of one of a 'Jersey Shore' scene?!"
3) "Do people really get that drunk and destructive?!"
4) "Who's your favorite person on 'Jersey Shore'?!"
5) "Don't you just love The Situation?!"
6) "Are you a guido/guidette?!"
7) "Do you know Snooki?!"

And her answers:

1) Sure, some parts are "fabulous." I prefer a calm beach house.
2) No, I'm not a 'Jersey Shore' groupie who tailgates the cast wherever they go in order to attempt to get filmed at clubs and whatnot.
3) Yes, people do get that drunk and wild -- but not as often as it's made out to be.
4) I don't have a favorite person on the show. In fact, I don't even really like the show, as it has turned my beautiful state into, y'know, an abomination. It's transformed into a party animal state where people come to get drunk and laid. Ugh.
5) I do not love the Situation.
6) I am not a guidette.
7) And no, I do not know Snooki. I don't know any of the cast. I don't want anything to do with this show, this fad. Stop asking me about it.

Frederick Falco writes:
Vacationing earlier this summer, we drove west, across the country, and the farther from Jersey we got, the more people started asking the same questions about 'Jersey Shore.' Stuff like, "I'm guessing you've heard of Jersey Shore, then?" or "Have you ever met Snooki in person?"

We got both of these questions almost everywhere we went. Honestly, I haven't seen that many episodes of the show, but you only really need to see one to understand it. This show borders on trashy -- I start to feel a little embarrassed! The show makes people think that New Jersey is some sort of stereotype. Then again, it kind of always has been ... but I'd trade this show in a heartbeat if we could at least get the old Dirty Jerz reputation back! When people hear the word Jersey and automatically think 'Jersey Shore,' it makes me want to move to Pennsylvania.

All videos courtesy of The Daily Beast, which has a magnificent roundup of the most raucous 'Jersey Shore' moments thus far.

►Video: 'Jerseylicious' Stars Are Nothing Like the 'Jersey Shore' Girls
►PopEater's Video Interview With The Situation
►Obama on 'The View': 'I Don't Know Who Snooki Is'

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Tags: Jersey Shore, New Jersey, The Pop Chorus

Comments

(33)

Friday 30 July

By mikeut36

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There is a section of every state that has under educated skanky people.....Jersey just has less than most others.
I have read that NJ is the highest educated state in the USA...parents with college degrees and kids to college...this group on MTV is just not in this catagory or the ones in your states.

By Jazzy

Oh and i now live in jersey...

By Lia

"I am not Italian and most people I know are not, either."

Well I am Italian and as NIAF and UNICO have tried desperately to point out, the idiots on that abomination of a television show are not representative of the millions of Italo-americani living in the United States. I find it sad that this young woman is decrying the stereotyping of people from her state while openly stereotyping Italians.

Oh and to all of you and all of the other idiot bloggers who continuously feed this PR machine responsible for keeping this drivel on the air: "Guido" is an ethnic slur, no better than "Dago" or "guinea".

By art4label

I live in NJ and worked in NY for 8 years. Most of the people I worked with were from New York and always trashed New Jersey. I use to laugh when they were going on vacation. Guess where they went....to the Jersey Shore. New Jersey is a great place to live (except for the high cost of living).

Ha seriously ! its So Pricey. But i love it so Much. ITs beautiful.

By Norma

Hey POISONPILLS, get a life. No one asked for your opinion of LA.

Aww Thanks Shasta :)

By Catch22

Do people really think that this show isn't made up, that fights just start on their own, that the producers don't pay "plants" (people paid by the producers to cause problems) because the cameras HAPPEN to be there when it occurs? Reality shows ARE SCRIPTED, THEY ARE PLANNED OUT, THE PRODUCERS CREATE PROBLEMS for the "cast." These people are idiots, and probably getting richer with every season. I work on these types of shows and we do this stuff all the time.

By Leelou

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In this day and age I cannot believe that people base their opinions of a whole state on a stupid tv show? Whats funny is the show House is ALSO based in New Jersey (I dont know if its filmed there though but I am sure they film some on location) and it's a beautiful area. Seaside is not the whole state and I kinda feel for the people who get asked these stupid questions. Sh*t, I live in Co right now and I get sick and tired of people asking me all the time if I ski. I cant imagine all the crap people in Jersey get. It just amazes me that people think this show is the only thing Jersey offers. It's only my opinion but I think Jersey Shore is just tacky. I just dont get the appeal of watching these arrogant children get in fights, get drunk and sleep around. Also to me that most arrogant people of the group are the LEAST attractive. Just my opinion. At first I didnt care about this show and just said if you dont like it, dont watch it but now I think they are getting annoying. Cant read anything without them in there for some stupid reason. It's over exposure.....which automatically tells you that it wont last.

Saturday 31 July

By Maria

When you consider only one out of all the cast members are actually from NJ, and are NY natives... well there you go!
These kids do remind me of a few I knew back in the 80's and 90's in Central NJ, who used to live in the Italian section of Trenton called Chambersburg, the state capital. The "Guidettes" as they are called on Jersey Shore were referred as "Burger Bits". Same thing really, anyone remember that??

By Rebecca

I don't watch the show, but i had to watch the clip posted above. I think it's just CRAZY how that guy hit a girl in the face like that, whether she deserved it or not! He's probably lucky the cops were there because it looks like they were going to F him up bad! Man, ppl have gone downhill!! PS-That girl needs to put on more clothes, it looks like she was in her underwear!!

Wednesday 11 August

By Tony

Years ago Bruce sang about being in love with a Jersey girl. Made a good sweet image of the Jersey girl. Today that image has been replaced by Snooki. If I was a Jersey girl, I would boycott this show.

Thursday 14 October

By Vikki

I am from Northern, New Jersey and I love it! We call the "Jersey" Shore, "Down the Shore" There can only be 1 shore...and it is here! Victoria

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