Column: Over the ‘Jersey Shore’ obsession

From here on out I'll be writing a weekly column with my opinions on popular culture in our college setting. Some of these ideas may not settle particularly well with people on our campus and I am prepared to deal with that. For the last 10 months, I've been forced to hear about "Jersey Shore." Friends of mine, who are particularly close to me, love this show. I cannot understand what is so appealing about these people who are clearly fake and begging for attention. This is just the society we live in. I can handle that, but the fact that people actually set aside time to watch this show is beyond me. It used to be that the fellas got together on Monday to watch "Monday Night Football" and eat pizza, not watch a show about people from Staten Island, who are primarily orange and spend an unhealthy amount of time working out to perfect their abs.

It's not even just "Jersey Shore" either. MTV is promoting some of the worst television out there. Even just five years ago, there would not have been a television show about being a "Teen Mom." We had "True Life" and

that was plenty. It followed individuals around who were dealing with their social topic of interest. I will always remember the episode of "True Life" that got to me as a teenager was "I Want A Perfect Body." It involved a woman who was struggling with her weight in a beauty pageant, a college wrestler who had to cut weight all the time, and a high school football player who had to bulk up to play at Notre Dame. These three people were struggling with issues that people all over the country have to deal with daily, yet MTV was not glorifying them. They were just showing that if you were watching it and suffered from these issues, you weren't alone. Nearly every episode ended with a help line number or advice on how to work through situations that need the help. Ryan Harris, the college football player, ended up getting drafted by the Denver Broncos in the third round.

Competition shows are a totally different story, however. I see shows such as "Top Chef" and "Dancing With The Stars" as less about drama and more about the actual skill of winning a competition. Yes, I know that DWTS is full of D-list celebrities, including The Situation and Bristol Palin next year, but at least they are working on a skill and not so much getting paid tens of thousands of dollars to get drunk every night and come up with ridiculous terms such as DTS (Down to Snuggle, or so I've been told).

The glorification of the life "everyone wants to live" is absolutely ridiculous to me and many others. Nearly all the shows on MTV right now are in this setting. MTV is one of the most watched networks in the country. What sort of example does this set for the kids out there right now?

I would hope that Gonzaga students just find "Jersey Shore" and "Teen Mom" either ridiculous, funny, or simply intriguing. No one is going to stop watching either of these shows or MTV for that matter, but I know that I feel thankful that my life isn't paraded around on television like the cast of "Jersey Shore" and "Teen Mom." I just hope that the television that MTV puts on air doesn't corrupt too many minds out there in our world.