When you live in Philadelphia, you have to make fun of New Jersey. I think it’s in the City charter or something. And as much as I love Jon Stewart, Springsteen, fresh blueberries and the oh-so-civilized liquor laws, I still can’t help but poke fun at state whose residents identify themselves by exit numbers and whose sports teams won’t even own up to being there (yes, I’m talking to you, NY Giants and NY Jets).
But even those things pale in comparison to New Jersey’s biggest and easiest target to skewer: the hit MTV show, Jersey Shore. The show has found itself at the center of yet another controversy focusing on efforts to yank a state tax credit awarded to the show.
Jersey Shore feels like it’s been around forever, maybe since its “stars” (and I use that term loosely) have made the rounds (and rounds) on the TV, book and red carpet circuits trying to suck every last second out of their supposed 15 minutes of fame. The show, however, is actually only two years old. It debuted in winter of 2009 and was meant to follow the lives of eight housemates spending their summer at the Jersey Shore. Sounds innocent enough, right?
Not really. Initial advertisements for the show promised to expose:
one of the tri-state area’s most misunderstood species… the GUIDO. Yes, they really do exist! Our Guidos and Guidettes will move into the ultimate beach house rental and indulge in everything the Seaside Heights, New Jersey scene has to offer.
The show was immediately met with criticism for its use of the word “guido” to promote the show and describe the cast members. The word, which I never heard until I moved up north, is generally considered an ethnic slur and isn’t something you’d use in polite conversation. Many Italian-Americans are highly offended by the term and wanted references to “the g word” pulled from the show – especially considering that many of the cast members bandying the terms about weren’t even Italian or Italian-American (or from New Jersey but what’s a little authenticity problem when it comes to reality TV?). The ratings were huge but pressure from Italian-American groups caused several sponsors to pull their ads, including Dell and Domino’s.
Fueling the criticism, the show portrayed the cast as boozy, lazy, sleazy and prone to violence. At least two of the cast members, Ronni and Snooki, have been arrested while affiliated with the show. A number of prominent NJ residents, including Governor Chris Christie (R), have been critical of the show. Christie has referred to the show as “negative for New Jersey… The show takes a bunch of New Yorkers and drops them at the Jersey Shore and tries to make America feel like this is the real New Jersey.”
Gov. Christie is now being called upon to block a $420,000 tax credit awarded to the production company of the show. Italian-Americans in the state agree, with Andre’ DiMino, President of Italian American ONE VOICE Coalition, saying:
Public monies should never be used to subsidize and promote violence, criminal behavior and ethnic stereotyping. This is disgraceful, and we are calling upon Governor Christie and all our legislators to immediately stop the tax credit for ‘Jersey Shore.’
It puts Christie in a peculiar spot. He’s not a fan of the show. And he’s not a fan of the tax credit generally. And this is definitely not his baby: the tax credit is part of leftovers from the Corzine administration. Christie’s office, however, claims that he can’t do anything about it since the application was part of a pre-approved process.
Interestingly, Seaside Heights, where the show is “filmed” supports the tax credit. Mayor P. Kenneth Hershey has indicated that he believes that the show brings tourists – and therefore money – to the state which was exactly the purpose of the credit in the first place.
I would question whether those (the Jersey Shore fans) are the kinds of tourists you want coming to your town.
Full disclosure: I’ve never seen a complete episode of Jersey Shore. I’ve seen clips and I can’t bring myself to watch it which is saying a lot because I don’t shy away from reality TV. My friend, Jen Miller, who writes a blog about the real Jersey Shore, Down the Shore With Jen, and has authored a book about same, assures me that in no way does it reflect the real Jersey Shore. Which begs the question why the tax credit was awarded to the show in the first place. I guess somebody has to pay for all of that fake tanning and hair spray.
