As an Italian-American, I am a lot of things. I am hot-blooded and passionate. I am religious and God-fearing. I am a hard worker. I am educated and civilized. I am fully aware of my heritage and the responsibility of being a part of this heritage. I am a modern day Roman, entrusted to secure the culture emanating from Italy, just like my ancestors before me and their ancestors before them.
I am not a “Guido,” despite what MTV may think. My ancestors worked too hard and too long to escape that term for me to accept MTV’s modified view of history. MTV wants to state “Guido” is a lifestyle, not an ethnic slur. How far from the truth that is. Guido and Guinea and Wop and Dago were words used to demean Italians upon their arrival to this country. This is an historical fact. The words were used to make a distinction between “superior” white culture and “uncivilized” Southern-Italian culture. They were possibly the last words countless Italians heard before they were beaten and killed by angry mobs. At no point were these terms endearing or affectionate. They were fueled by hatred, and they still are. Moreover, they are used today to create ‘otherness’ – just like they were during the greatest influx of Italian immigrants to America.
MTV wants us to believe that the word has changed since the days of Italian immigration. That’s funny considering how, in my short life, any time someone has called me a Guido or a Guinea, it was to marginalize my cultural heritage- not to laud the achievements of it. I’m sure the same is true for each and every one of you. As Italian-Americans, we’ve been expected to endure a multitude of negative portrayals in the media. Generally, the issue at hand was the ‘hidden’ message of the portrayals. For example, a majority of the gangsters in the Sopranos and the Godfather were Italian. So, in a roundabout way, all Italians are gangsters and all gangsters are Italians. That was the hidden message. The message is no longer hidden. MTV intentionally used an ethnic slur to promote a show with an Italian cast. Depicting us in a negative way is one thing; simply telling America to watch a show because the cast is “Guido” is another. MTV has effectively created an Italian minstrel show. The network has crossed the line, and it should be held accountable for its transgressions.
As an Italian American, I am a lot of things. A fool isn’t one of them. Accepting MTV’s interpretation of the ethnic slur “Guido,” would be extremely foolish. We as a community need to come together to say enough is enough. We need to tell MTV and all that will listen that “Guido” is an unacceptable and hateful way to refer to Italians. The time for action is now. Any newspaper or news show speaking of the show openly calls the cast members Guidos, as if it is a matter of fact. We need to bring this to an end.
~Greg
**Please contact sponsors of the show at addresses below. To date, 2 companies have pulled their advertisements from the show in less than a week after the show premiered. Keep up the good work guys!
Sponsors of Jersey Shore-
-Nintendo: 425-882-2040
-T mobile: 1-877-453-1304
-Chili’s: 972-980-9917
-FLO TV: 858-651-7334
-Taco Bell: 1-800-TACO-BELL
-Victoria’s Secret: 1-800-411-5116
-First Response: 1-800-524-1328
-Zappos: 1-800-927-7671
-Verizon: 1-800-922-0204
-Rhapsody: … 212-391-6668
-McDonalds: 1-800-244-6227
-Sprint: 1-888-211-4727
-BodyHeat Cologne: 1-800-887-2738
-Lionsgate (‘Brothers’-movie): 310-449-9200
-Macy’s: 1-800-659-6229
-Sony (PSP): 1-800-345-7669
-Subway: 1-800-888-4848
Greg! Lets be real, African Americans, Mexican Americans have been portrayed with the worst stereotype possible for the last CENTURY at the least. Both in the media and in Society as a whole. The Italian American Roman whatever, will Surviv the jersey shore. That is a Promise. Its written in stone consider it handed down from God. Think about it.
Comment by K.Crooks — December 9, 2009 @ 2:48 pm
It doesn’t seem to matter to these people how far Italian Americans have come as a group in the past 120 years since the immigration boom started (1880-1924)- it remains that Italo-Americans are the last group that it is seemingly perfectly okay to stereotype and degrade without reprocussions (just think of the outcry had this been a show about African Americans or Jewish Americans).
On a side note- I actually did have an Uncle named Guido. He was a brilliant, educated, proud Italian who spent his years in the United States promoting the Italian language and culture and teaching his family members that as Italo-Americans we should be fiercely proud of being figli and nipoti of the nation that gave the world Dante, Manzoni, Puccini, Amerigo Vespucci for whom the country is named and C. Colombo for whom the capital is named.
MTV is disgraceful in their continued insistance that the show will stay on air.
Comment by Lidia — December 9, 2009 @ 6:22 pm
Tell me how i can help to put an end to this bullshit.
Comment by Marco. — December 9, 2009 @ 10:27 pm
MTV is not calling these individuals “guidos” they have proudly labeled themselves that. The show isn’t call “Guidos Down the Shore”, its called “Jersey Shore”. If a group of black people got together and all proclaimed themselves to be proud representations of the ‘N’ word and then MTV created a reality show called “Harlem Nights” depicting the shenanigans of those individuals I would have no problem with it. Would Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war. Absolutely!! But they’re both idiots and so is anyone else wasting the time and energy to protest this show.
First of all the show is relatively accurate. I’ve been to seaside and bel mar and what you are seeing on the show is pretty much what goes on down there. Spray tans, hair gel, poofs, acrylic nails, and fist pumping is basically what the Jersey Shore is all about for anyone between the ages of 16 and 30.
Second of all abandon the misconception that simply because MTV airs a show it means they support the material within the show. MTV has shows about spoiled brats that get crazy 16th birthday parties. They aren’t advocating spoiling your kids. MTV has a show about pregnant teen mothers but they’re not advocating teen pregnancy. IT’S A “REALITY SHOW”!!! MTV is doing nothing more than rolling the cameras and letting these young people do whatever it is they want to do. Some people find this entertaining and therefore the show has value to advertisers.
I find the show to be mildly entertaining, I can’t always get through an entire episode because the characters can become annoying and (being a north jersey resident) I loathe people from Staten Island.
We all have subsets of our respective ethnic groups that we’re not particularly proud of but that doesn’t mean we get to hide them like a crazy relative we keep in the back room. People should be smart enough to discern that the half dozen people on this show are not representative of the entire Italian race the same way that the characters on the Sapranos were not. If you’re not smart enough to do that then you’re opinion doesn’t really matter anyway because you are a moron.
Stop taking everything so seriously. The world is getting to the point where you can’t say or do anything without someone getting offended. People are so concerned with how their perceived and what others are thinking about them. If I were a racist then I already didn’t like Italians. I disliked Italians before this show came out and if they take it off the air I’m still going to dislike Italians. Do you honestly believe that watching a show about a bunch of drunken Italian twentysomethings down the shore is suddenly going cause an uprising of anti-Italian sentiment?? I think not… The people that didn’t like you before still don’t like you and will never like you. You’re going to have to learn to live with that.
Comment by Harry — December 10, 2009 @ 7:41 pm
Harry,
First and foremost, you are mistaken. MTV (the network itself) did call the cast Guidos and Guidettes on several occasions that have been verified:
1) In trailers for the show, the announcer of the scripted promo called the cast, “The hottest, tannest, craziest Guidos.”
2) In web promotions for the show, MTV approved of this advertisement- “[the show]exposes 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.”
3) Lastly, the open casting call read, ” We are looking for loud and proud Italians under 30. The proudest Guidos and Guidettes- all expenses paid.”
Please, follow those links if you do not believe me. It was MTV (the network) referring to the cast as Guido’s that brought the wrath of Italian organizations down on them. It didn’t help matters that every cast member is playing an ethnic stereotype to a “T”.
The Italian American community’s problem is with MTV did, not about the show per se. And, please do not tell me that because it is a reality series, MTV has to capture the ‘realness’ of the moment. MTV has had plenty of shows with all African American casts referring to themselves as n-words, and 2 things happened there: 1) The word was bleeped and 2) there was never a promo telling people to watch the “n-words” that MTV found. Had MTV done that, there would have been riots in the streets. Imagine the backlash if MTV had come out after airing something like that for a Black cast and stated, “The n-word isn’t offensive-its a lifestyle”- which is exactly what MTV replied to Italian American organizations after they voiced their concern. Guido is not a lifestyle, nor has it been modified to mean something good. Where or when MTV procured this information is beyond me. All I know is that they had no right to do so.
And I’m sorry Harry, but I tend to take things seriously when a major network is blatantly using an ethnic slur to describe my cultural background. And my concerns are very real- every major news outlet has run a story about this show and has repeatedly called the cast Guidos. I “took it easy” with the Sopranos and Real housewives of Orange County. I didn’t enjoy that those shows existed, but I just changed the channel when they were on. That happened mainly because HBO never ran ads for the Sopranos as ” Come watch these Guineas kill each other” and Bravo never ran an ad for Real Houswives as ” Watch these out of control Guidettes in New Jersey!” MTV needs to be more socially responsible for its actions.
Comment by Administrator — December 11, 2009 @ 4:54 pm
i enjoyed your post. i just wrote a blog about the racism on the show and the people who watch it. read it and let me know what you think.
thanks
http://hearthesiren.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/coons-in-a-new-color-and-the-people-who-indulge-them-mtvs-%E2%80%9Cthe-jersey-shore%E2%80%9D/
Comment by the siren — February 20, 2010 @ 6:54 pm