Something In the Airwaves

It's official: Italian-Americans are the only white ethnic group left that can be stereotyped. And if you're an Italian-American from New Jersey, watch out.

A couple of months ago, MTV premiered "The Jersey Shore," a so-called reality show, depicting Italian-Americans in a rented New Jersey beach house having sex, drinking, and lying out in the sun working on their tans - if they hadn't sprayed them on already. The Italian-American group UNICO demanded that the show be taken off the air, claiming it unfairly depicted Italian-Americans in general and Italian-Americans from New Jersey in particular (even though most of these young folks aren't from New Jersey) as vulgar, crass buffoons with big hair and small brains who all talk like they have marbles in their mouths. Though MTV reacted with greater sensitivity to a smaller show stereotyping young Puerto Ricans, they refused to consider the concerns of Italian-Americans.

Why? Maybe it's because "Jersey Shore" got good ratings. In fact, it set new ratings records for MTV, drawing an unprecedented 4.8 million viewers for the season finale Thursday night.

Twelve-year-olds love it.

While there is an element of truth in stereotypes - "Jersey Shore" was filmed in Seaside Heights, a town I've visited before, one of those places where girls dressed like Madonna before she became famous - not all Italian-Americans are like that. Nevertheless, it seems that Italians don't seem to have the same kind of luck other ethnic groups somehow have in getting those who perpetuate ethnic stereotypes to cut it out. And to be honest, UNICO president Andre' DeMino should consider his own public image before speaking out against shows like "Jersey Shore." Because when you have inch-long hair that stands on end, and you wear dark green shirts with silver ties, you're probably not the best spokesman for fighting Italian-American stereotypes. In any case, being from New Jersey and half-Italian myself, I'm offended by this show, yes, but I'm even more offended by two other embarrassments to the Italian-American population that are associated with New Jersey.

They're both sitting on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Speaking of which, don't tune in to Air America for pointers on what can be done about John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, and the aforementioned Jersey Boys, Scalia and Alito, as they tear apart decades of thoughtful judicial precedent. The liberal talk radio network went off the air last week. Liberal talk radio was always something of an oxymoron, but Air America's failure is due less to an unpopular product - a more progressive political agenda - than to a media establishment that at best limits and at worst stifles contrary voices to their mainstream, conservative biases and agenda. Too bad. UNICO might have found a friendly voice in Air America, which was always against the kind of exploitative fare "Jersey Shore" represents.

Style Over Substance

One of the most fascinating things about Michael Jackson's death is how quickly history has been revised right after he received the weaver's answer. One commentator on MSNBC commented on how Jackson broke the color barrier in popular music and how he gained a large white audience when he crossed over into the mainstream.

Interesting. That's news to me. Let's see . . . Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis, Jr., Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington . . .. Dude, how far back do you want to go? White people were listening to Louis Armstrong in the twenties.

Jackson's barrier breaking was limited at best. "Beat It" got airplay on white rock radio thanks to Eddie Van Halen's guitar solo on that single, and even Prince benefited from Jackson's achievement for awhile, but the breakthrough didn't last. Things quickly reverted to business as usual. And it's hard to imagine someone "crossing over" to the mainstream when he'd been in the mainstream since his career began. The Jackson Five performed on Ed Sullivan's show, and in the sixties, you couldn't get much more mainstream than that. If you wanted to go against the mainstream, you played on the Smothers Brothers' show. Ask Pete Seeger.

Jackson did shatter the barrier for black musicians that kept their videos from being aired on MTV, and it legitimized the channel as a pop-cultural institution, but with his emphasis on style, visual charisma, and elaborate production, Jackson made it possible for anyone with more style than musical substance to break through.

And so there was Duran Duran. And then came . . . Madonna.

Not a great legacy . . .

On the other hand, the inclusion of Jackson's videos on MTV meant that the channel had to cut some performers from its playlist. That's one thing I'm grateful to Jackson for - I never had to watch videos from obscure but awful bands like LeRoux or Red Rider ever again.

Then again, Night Ranger still managed to break through anyway.