MTV’s Jersey Shore has caused a great deal of controversy since it first aired about three weeks ago. Many Italian Americans have been angered, advertisers have dropped the show, and the Jersey Shore Visitor’s Bureau has issued a statement saying that the Shore has been misrepresented. Despite all that (more likely because), the show has been a ratings success. The young adults followed on Jersey Shore are obsessed with sex, hair gel, tanning, partying, and their own brand of gender role stereotypes. In many ways, they’re just like a host of young people all over the country, but their identities are perhaps more tightly bound to a rigid set of characteristics many people wouldn’t be proud to associate themselves with. No matter what other seem to think, though, these eight people are very proud of their identities, and would probably be acting this way even if MTV wasn’t documenting it. All in all, Jersey Shore is aware of it’s own absurdity, but the cast is far more genuine than those tired shows The Hills and The City.
MTV has probably loved the ratings boost, but not the advertising fallout or the intense resistance from certain groups, and as part of their new sensitivity about the show they’ve decided not to air a scene from next week’s episode where Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi gets punched in the face at a bar by Dan Ferro, a Queens, N.Y., gym teacher.
“What happened to ‘Snooki’ was a crime and obviously extremely disturbing. After hearing from our viewers, further consulting with experts on the issue of violence, and seeing how the video footage has been taken out of context to not show the severity of this act or the resulting consequences, MTV has decided not to air Snooki being physically punched in next week’s episode. The show will still make it clear what events transpired, including the full aftermath.”
It’s a pretty brutal punch, but Mr. Ferro was only sentenced anger management classes and a six-month suspended jail term. According to Snooki and friends Ferro had been cut off from the bar and had started taking the drinks that belonged to The Jersey Shore kids. Snooki says something like “Hey, that isn’t your drink” before getting clocked.
Snooki’s arguably one of the best characters on the show, if only because she does two things religiously everyday: eats a pickle, and wears a hair clip in a special way that creates the same “elegant” volumizing effect as a Bumpit. Snooki’s been picked on since the show started, but produced tell EW, that the entire cast rallies behind Snooki after she gets punched. It’s sad that Snooki had to get attacked, but it’s good to know the others finally got around to supporting Snooki. You can see the punch below, but be warned, this guy wasn’t holding back:
UPDATE: Here is a tasteless homage to the classic video game Street Fighter:
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