MTV to Italians: Drop Dead

The title of this post is not a quote-its a parody of the famous NY Daily News headline:

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="376" caption="Maybe Ford works for MTV now?"][/caption]

In my last post I went on to describe how it will never be acceptable to call Italians Guidos, regardless of what MTV thinks. In response to all of the uproar over Jersey Shore, MTV has done 3 alarming things:

1)MTV issued a press release stating, “the cast is proud of their ethnicity” and that the show may not be for everyone.
2)It made one cast member go on interviews stating “Guido is not a slur, its a lifestyle” In the same breath, he also said a “ Guido is a really good-looking Italian”
3)Just this week, another cast member was on the Wendy Williams Show and said, “'Italian Organizations don't understand what Guido and Guidette mean...Maybe in their time it was offensive, but now its a compliment.'

The second and third items bring up my biggest fear about this show. My fear was that by MTV using the word Guido in its promos for the show, the network would make the use of the word Guido to describe Italians socially acceptable. Sadly, I was right. Read the headlines on Google, watch the Fox News or CNN reports; Italian is in the same sentence with Guido everywhere. What MTV did and continues to do is socially irresponsible. Its not shocking, its not a gimmick, its not a hook; it is simply degrading and offensive.

What scares me more is that MTV is attempting to justify itself, not apologize. It has absolutely no interest in offering the slightest apology to Italian Americans. Rather, it is anointing the cast of the Jersey Shore as “Italian Representatives” to let the world know that “Guido” is a completely acceptable way to refer to Italians. I didn't think I could have been more enraged than I was when I heard the first promo of the show marketing the cast as Guidos- however MTV's justification for using the word has perhaps pushed me beyond that.

After telling everyone that the cast is proud of their ethnicity, MTV wants to states that the show isn't about Italians- Its about a lifestyle. Fine. Then explain the casting call (when the show was in pre-production) which stated, "We are looking for loud and proud Italians under 30 - the proudest Guidos and Guidettes...all expenses paid." MTV wanted Italians because MTV thinks Italians are Guidos.

Continue to challenge MTV about this program:

Call MTV HQ- (212) 258-8000. When prompted press #1, say Judith McGrath, you will then be be transfered to Judith McGrath's (CEO of MTV).

Email : jeannie.kedas@mtvstaff.com

or contact MTV's sponsors listed in our site's Facebook page under NEWS: http://bit.ly/4Gt0KG