Italian Group Rips MTV for "Jersey Shore"

(AP)  A national Italian-American organization based in New Jersey says an MTV reality show that depicts Italian-American beachgoers as the "hottest, tannest, craziest Guidos" is offensive and should be scrapped before it airs.

UNICO National said Tuesday that "Jersey Shore" relies on crude stereotypes and highlights cursing, bad behavior and violence in depicting renters at a New Jersey beach house.

An MTV promo says the participants "keep their hair high, their muscles juiced and their fists pumping all summer long!"

UNICO President Andre DiMino calls the show "trash television."

It's scheduled to debut Dec. 3.

MTV spokeswoman Emily Yeomans says the show continues the channel's history of documenting various subcultures and young people's rites of passage. She says the Italian-American cast "takes pride in their ethnicity."

[iknoweverything]

this is not a true depiction of the jersey shore. the people on this show are people who we want out of our beaches. BENNYS GO HOME!

[ItalofileGal]

Perhaps MTV is happy to contributor to 'trash T.V.'. I agree with UNICO National's view. However, this is not to say that promoting and exploring some subcultures in American society couldn't be interesting, albeit downright intellectually challenging. 'Jersey Shore', though does sound like a mindless, ridiculously shallow adventure about high testosterone-fueled twenty somethings pumping up while tanning and keeping their hair high. Many Italo-Americans are blessed with dark skin and thick, hair. MTV's execs should go to Italy and see how real tanned Italian playboys and topless Italian playgirls act in some of Italy's more high-end beach resorts. 'Jersey Shores' stereotypes couldn't even hold a candle to them. Perhaps MTV's writers have nothing better to do, including Emily Yeoman! I bet she never had a 'rites of passage' ! That is not what "Jersey Shore's" tanned Italo-Americans are doing (yawn). How banal and pathetic does a channel have to become? Someone pulleez inject MTV with a bit of wisdom, sensitivity, and intellectuality instead of banality and crude stereotyping. This is not what our society needs nowadays.