Since the first season of Jersey Shore it has become one of America’s most viewed television shows. Teens are going to local barbershops to get a blowout, to imitate Dj Pauly D’s hairstyle. Others mimicking Vinny’s signature dance move “The Fist Pump. ” However, even though the influence of Jersey Shore doesn’t span most of the nation, it certainly has influence among teens and young adults. The Jersey Shore has some negative influences such as the way sex is portrayed, binge drinking, and materialism.
Despite all of the negative influences in the Jersey Shore, there are also good traits for teens and young adults to pick up on such as loyalty, family importance and comradery among the group that is actually quite admirable. The Jersey Shore is a popular MTV reality television series that features seven New Jersey natives whose favorite past times include tanning, working out, and clubbing. The cast members include Jenni (JWoww), Nicole (Snooki), Vinny, Sammi, Mike (The Situation), Pauly and Ronny.
According to MTV all cast member were selected at random. In the first season the cast members meet for the first time in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. Other seasons have the cast go to Italy and Florida. The opening credits alone are filled with profanity, loud house party music and a quote from JWoww - “After I have sex with a guy, I will rip their heads off. ” Teens and young adults look up to these seven individuals because their lives are portrayed as interesting and “living the life. Every episode of The Jersey Shore has a scene where one of the cast members is partaking in sexual activity. There’s nothing wrong with having sexual intercourse as long as the proper precautions are taken. In none of the episodes have the cast members talked about using condoms, birth control, or sexual transmitted diseases. Instead the guys are out looking for DTF girls. DTF is their slang word for “Down to ****” you can probably guess the rest. The cast has even assigned a room called “The Smush Room. This room is the designated place to have sex. Instead of sexual activity being more intimate with your partner, it is portrayed as a competition. If the woman who comes over doesn’t want to partake in sexual activity they are rudely kicked out. The Situation responded to one of these women, with no interest in having sex by saying “Don’t come over somebody’s house at f—n 5 a. m. and expect to play checkers. ” The Jersey Shore cast likes having fun. Their type of fun is drinking large amounts of alcohol and partying into to the early morning.
Binge drinking can lead to fatality, but in the show it is portrayed as fun. They get drunk and that’s when all the problems start. They get into fights, get kicked out of clubs, and some cast members even end up in jail. All those situations are played off as “the cool thing to do. ” When in reality all those actions can lead to serious legal matters. The show has flaws but it also shows how loyal the cast is, Even though they just met each other in the past couple of years, the members often refer to the group as a family.
They eat dinner together almost every night and they only leave the club as a group. They look out for one another. The show makes it clear that they treasure family among all things. The show gives us a different view on the cast at times. It makes them more human in a way and allows us to learn some lessons on what to do and what not to do. No matter if you think the show is good or bad it will be watched by many because it offers entertainment. The lesson here is to realize it’s just a show and the way the cast lives are portrayed is fictional.
It’s doubtful that teens approve of everything that takes place on The Jersey Shore, so it gives them the opportunity to be critics of the salient negative messages portrayed on the show. Teens are typically influenced by media role models when they don’t have a parental structure that guides them in determining which role models are positive influences and which are negative. Helping them understand the difference can often make all the difference.
