{"id":6403,"date":"2011-01-17T09:52:42","date_gmt":"2011-01-17T14:52:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/?p=6403"},"modified":"2013-04-02T11:13:55","modified_gmt":"2013-04-02T15:13:55","slug":"why-martin-luther-king-jr-would-have-watched-jersey-shore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/anonymous_banker\/01\/17\/why-martin-luther-king-jr-would-have-watched-jersey-shore\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Martin Luther King Jr. Would Have Watched Jersey Shore"},"content":{"rendered":"

We always forget something about the \u201cJersey Shore\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ronnie, J-Wow, Pauly-D \u2014 they had to apply for the show. This means MTV had to turn down legions of over-tanned, under-read guidos and guidettes. Surely, there was some girl too Snooki for even Snooki. A bro more vain than even The Situation. The real question, then, is: what are they doing right now? Do they watch Snooki\u2019s censored flips in the club, or Ronnie obliterating another loudmouth on the Boardwalk and shrug: that\u2019s it? What are they planning for this upcoming Friday night?
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\nOur parents always forget something about the \u201cJersey Shore\u201d, too.<\/p>\n

To them, the transcendent success of the show foretells the apocalyptic end of Western Civilization. To outraged Italian American groups, the show is the worst thing to happen to their cultural pride since someone told Jay Leno he was funny. National Italian American Federation President Joseph V. Del Raso sneered the cast has \u201cmore in common with the adolescent residents of Animal House than with Italian Americans.\u201d Joy Behar lamented, \u201cIt makes it hard for young Italian Americans to be taken seriously in the work force.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Situation heartily disagreed on the Today show, \u201cWe represent ourselves. We\u2019re not saying we\u2019re a definition of Jersey, or a definition of New York, or a definition of Italians. I just happen to be Italian. I happen to have some spiky hair and a six-pack, and I am proud to have that. And if you don\u2019t like me, I don\u2019t care. I still got 5 million viewers Thursday nights at 10 p.m.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Funny<\/p>\n

But this isn\u2019t new. America\u2019s persistent race problem has best been seen through the prism of TV comedy for decades. Going back to the 1970s, it has taken a laugh track and predictable plot twists streamed into TV rooms across the country for Americans to have frank conversations about race.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Jeffersons\u201d (1975-1985) remains the longest-running show with a predominantly African American cast in the history of American TV. \u201cThe Jeffersons\u201d was not an overtly political show, but it was right there in its opening theme song, \u201cMovin\u2019 On Up\u201d, following the adventures of a middle class black family climbing the rungs of the 1970’s America socio-economic ladder. But \u201cThe Jeffersons\u201d was too early for us Millenials. (Ditto the tragic Rodney King beating in 1991.)<\/p>\n

\"Full<\/p>\n

We reminisce \u201cThe Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air\u201d about a trouble-making teenager (Will Smith) \u201cfrom West Philadelphia born and raised\u201d who is sent to live with his affluent African American relatives in a Bel Air mansion. (Interestingly, Will Smith agreed to the show because he owed the IRS $2.8 million in unpaid taxes.) While the Fresh Prince resides in a mostly white Bel-Air kingdom, we remember the show less for racial anecdotes and more for Will Smith pre-Summer Blockbuster Will Smith and Carlton\u2019s goofy dance.<\/p>\n

Youngsters and tweens today gobble up \u201cDora the Explorer\u201d episodes\u2014the first cartoon starring a Hispanic character in American TV history. For those of us born in the 1980s, however, the most candid conversation millions of us (especially white) Millennials heard in our formative years came\u2014not from our parents or teachers\u2014but HBO comedy specials. Freed from the shackles of the FCC and political correctness, minority entertainers have levered the most legitimate critiques of America\u2019s (not-so-latent) racial tensions. Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle pummeled America\u2019s racial double-standard by punchline; Jay-Z by rhyme.<\/p>\n

Yes, Chris Rock repeats himself (and repeats himself). Comedians joke Chris Rock only needs to bring 20 minutes of material for an hour set. But before Chris Rock sold out (See: \u201cGrown Ups\u201d), he consistently made the most spot-on political and race observations of any comedian today:<\/p>\n

On American Segregation: \u201cEvery town has the same two malls: the one white people go to and the one white people used to go to.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Early 2000s Current Events: \u201cYou know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese\u2026 Need I say more?\u201d<\/p>\n

On Gay Marriage: \u201cGay people got a right to be as miserable as everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Black Vs. White Job Opportunities: \u201cA black boy that makes C\u2019s in college can\u2019t even run a Burger King. A white boy that makes C\u2019s in college can make it to the White House\u201d<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s Dave Chappelle. Chappelle was our generation\u2019s Richard Pryor. His \u201cChappelle Show\u201d was one of the highest rated comedies of all time. Yet the pressure, $50 million a year Comedy Central contract, and the massive expectations got to Chappelle. He was performing a Season 3 skit, heard a chubby white guy in the audience laugh a little harder than he should have, and Dave snapped. Chappelle left the studio, fled to Africa, and has lived on a 65-acre farm in Ohio ever since.<\/p>\n

As filmmaker Sydney Pollack observed, \u201cTalent is liquefied trouble.\u201d And it\u2019s unfortunate. Dave Chappelle brilliance lay in his racial powers of perception. He knew exactly what whites thought of blacks, and vice versa. He caricatured white news anchors to white agents to perfection. Chappelle\u2019s famed \u201cRacial Draft\u201d was arguably one of his most prescient and funniest skits of all:<\/p>\n

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Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. An intoxicated Snooki doing back-flips in the club was not that dream. But he might have seen the show\u2019s unintended merit.<\/p>\n

To paraphrase Ronnie, critics need to stop drinking the Haterade. The \u201cJersey Shore\u201d doesn\u2019t perpetuate stereotypes about Italian-Americans. It explodes them. You have never met a girl like Snooki. None of your friends is like The Situation. As exacerbating as your co-worker or classmate may be, she is not Angelina.<\/p>\n

Racism and stereotyping are bad. Discriminating against someone for skin color or nationality\u2014factors they can\u2019t even choose\u2014is vile. Yet to keep the issue in the dark is also wrong. The politically correct tactic to muffle the race conversation does more harm than good, allowing false perceptions to take root in the name of censorship and bowdlerization. The real strength of a nation\u2019s culture is measured not by how restrictive it is, but by how free. It is right that makes might, not the other way \u2018round.<\/p>\n

I am white. I do like mayonnaise. And I do own a shirt from Abercrombie & Fitch. But that\u2019s OK. Because the accidental genius of the \u201cJersey Shore\u201d is it loosens us up to have the race conversation. It\u2019s just ironic that it took a motley crew of rabble-rousing, tanned guidos and guidettes pillaging and plundering Boardwalks up and down the East Coast for us to have it.<\/p>\n

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