2d-+Paper

Media Visual Literacy Project on //Jersey Shore// The overly famed hit reality TV series, //Jersey Shore// was the focus for our Media / Visual Literacy Project. We aimed to uncover exactly why this show is so successful, by conducting research and watching several of the episodes. We created and answered a few focus questions that guided us to our conclusion. Since its inception, this reality television show has taken the news media, social networking sites, and many other media outlets by storm. MTV has marketed this show to their audiences in such a way that it has even received scrutiny for its portrayal of Italian Americans; however, it still thrives. We closely examined the television show and discovered its message, the reasons why viewers find it so fulfilling, and why it is not appropriate for all ages of its listening and viewing audiences. As future educators of adolescent children, we have a responsibility to be familiar with the ideas/concepts that media outlets are broadcasting as these ideas/concepts are influencing the decisions made by the above mentioned adolescent children. The contents of this show have proven to be degrading, exaggerated, and outright disrespectful. The lives’ of the cast are filled with parties, alcohol, steroids, tattoos, tanning injections, sex, and violence. Though this show seems surreal at times, JWOWW (one of the cast members) feels that the portrayal of their lifestyles, on the show, is entirely accurate. In an interview with Jenni Farley "JWOWW", she insists that this lifestyle is not only real for the cast of //Jersey Shore//, but also for thousands of others like them (Nelson). It’s very unfortunate that their everyday life is just as reckless off camera; obviously, acting belligerent and disorderly on camera isn’t enough for the //Jersey Shore// cast. For example, on Friday, July 30, 2010, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi was arrested from the beach for disorderly conduct. She was apparently drunk and wearing a scantily clad outfit with "SLUT" written across the front of her skin tight tank top (Jackson, Goldsmith). Meanwhile, on the show Ronnie keeps cheating on his girlfriend Sammie the “sweetheart”; he goes clubbing at night and literally makes-out with two or three girls at a time and then comes home to Sammi as if nothing happened; she is aware of his cheating ways, but looks past it and continues to stay with him. Snooki and Angelina “Jolie” gets into a brawl over a guy, while Sammi and JWOWW fight because she wants someone to blame for Ronnie’s infidelity. The guys of the house, Vinnie, DJ Pauly, and “The Situation” continually pick up random girls at night and bring them home to engage in sexual activities. They refer to the loose women they pick up as “land mines”, which are hot chicks or “grenades”, overweight, unattractive chicks. The aforementioned are just a few of the foolish antics the cast does on the show; the list goes on. Jersey Shore, like many other reality shows, is somewhat staged or choreographed and edited to make the viewers believe that something is always going on. Much of what the audience actually sees is only partial truth. "To increase ratings and profits, producers and television networks show more of the embarrassing, humiliating or painful situations that the contestants participate in, rather than their "boring" everyday events.” The reason this show is so addictive is because viewers feed off of the negative behavior; they tend to think the cast member’s behavior is either funny or cute. MTV also markets the show to be cool and something you cannot miss; when advertising the show MTV always says “don’t miss out on the new Jersey Shore show” or “don’t forget to watch the recaps of all the drama and fun from Jersey Shore” or something to this nature. They are basically pushing the show to mean something fun or positive when in actuality it is nonconstructive. If a child frequently sees these commercials eventually they are going to look into the show to see what all the hype is about. Once they get a glimpse of the bizarre behavior, which they are more than likely forbidden to do; they will start to mimic it. According to chrone.com a 15 year old tenth grader named Zach Vujic got the Pauly D cut and is very dedicated to making his hair look just like DJ Pauly D. Zach wakes up 25 minutes early for school just to work on his looks; he feels it's worth it cause the girls like it. Most adolescents respond easily to peer pressure; so even if they don’t watch Jersey Shore when they see their classmates acting reckless like the cast more than likely they are going to do the same. On a few websites we read about girls over drafting their bank accounts to be able to afford the "fake and bake" tanning salon memberships. Some girls are going to drastic measures, such as breast augmentation, eating disorders, changing their hair color or adding extensions to copy Snooki’s infamous hump, color contacts, clothing, etc. Male viewers in the New York area are being said to have become more "cocky" since the show aired three seasons ago. Overall, this show is definitely influencing its viewers in many ways. Pauly Delvecchio, who goes by Pauly D on the show, told NBC's //Today// show, “We obviously did something right, they're fist-pumping, they're doing their hair and dressing like us now” (Chrone.com). Teachers are given the task of keeping these students under control. All teachers are aware of the shows that come on television, and they are aware of the impact the show may have on a child’s behavior. It is important to end the issue before it gets out of hand. Tips that teachers can use are: 1. to be aware of the shows that are on television, 2. to notice how students are handling themselves in the classroom, and if there are any changes, 3. to listen and see what shows the students talk about, 4. and to report any behavior changes to the parents because they have the most control and influence over the students. According to [|www.nea.org], maintaining discipline is one of the biggest challenges educators face. This website also has plenty of helpful tips for classroom management for different age levels and different time periods of school. //Jersey Shore// is not the only show out there that is causing problems for teenagers. MTV is wreaking havoc on teens and parents across the world. Deciding to focus on //Jersey Shore// was easy to do because the show is filled with partying, sex, vulgar language, and “fake” looks. These are issues that teenagers have to face every day, so we felt like this show would give us more areas to research on. The majority of our research was conducted on the cast members themselves; however, there is always more research that could be done! Research is available on the teenagers opinions about //Jersey Shore//, the parents opinions about //Jersey Shore//, drastic measures that educators and parents have taken to help their children stay true to themselves, why teenagers think it is okay to act the way the cast members due, what the cast members plan on doing after the show, if the cast members will be “handicapped” due to their behavior on the show, how the family of the cast members reacts when they see their loved ones on television, and much more. When doing research, it is very important to stay focused on one major topic so that everything flows well. It is important to determine what the most important issue out there is, and tear it open until you find what you want. It is easy to find yourself getting caught in a fantasy world, but is it that easy to come back into reality and be you again? Teenagers should begin asking themselves a lot of questions before getting caught up in the next //Jersey Shore.//