The New York Post's Linda Stasi waded in with a fiery column in which she accused MTV of stereotyping Italian Americans as "gel-haired, thuggish ignoramuses with fake tans, no manners, no diction, no taste, no education, no sexual discretion, no hairdressers (for sure), no real knowledge of Italian culture and no ambition".

That Guidos delusionally are proud of being so identified gives it no more acceptablity, than Niggers, Kikes, Chinks, or Wet Backs, referring to themselves so. Plus NONE of the aforementioned would consider it a "Compliment" if outsiders refer to them so. 

The London Guardian; The Observer;  Ed Pilkington:  Sunday, January 3, 2010
MTV in hot water over reality TV show's depiction of loud-mouthed stereotypes

They are four men and four women, thrown together in a New Jersey beach house for one acrimonious summer. Loud, foul-mouthed, hyper-groomed, spray-tanned and constantly looking for sex, they appear to come straight from central casting for reality television.
But Snooki, the Situation, Vinny, DJ Pauly D, Ronnie, Angelina, Sammi and J-WOWW – the stars of MTV's new reality show, Jersey Shore – are distinguished by a common factor that has provoked controversy unusual even by the standards of the genre: they are Italian-American. Worse, they are self-styled "guidos" and "guidettes".
"I love guidos! I love Italian boys with muscles," screeched Angelina soon after the start of the first episode of a series that has gained notoriety almost overnight. "I want to find the hottest guido and take him home," chimed in J-WOWW, real name Jenni, who gained her nickname apparently because when she walks into a bar the guys yell "J-WOWW!"
The problem is that "guido" - " slang for a working-class urban Italian-American"  is widely perceived by Italian-Americans as a pejorative word, like "spic" or "wop", and the stereotype is unflattering. In its promotion for the series, which went on air last month, MTV said it had gathered the "hottest, tannest, craziest guidos" and assembled them in Seaside Heights, a popular beach resort.
But if the channel expected applause from the Italian-American community, it had a rude awakening. Three Italian-American groups cried foul, including Unico National, the largest Italian community organisation in New Jersey. Its president, Andrew DiMino, said: "It's a term used to insult us, implying we are all uneducated people without social graces." New Jersey state senator Joseph Vitale has called on MTV's parent corporation, Viacom, to take the show off the air. "It promotes hatred and insults women of this state," he said. "If this were the same with African-American or Hispanic or Polish kids, there would be hell to pay."
Seaside Heights council is regretting its decision to host the show, putting out a statement last week clarifying that it does not condone it.
An official, John Camera, said: "We're getting a lot of calls from residents and property owners saying that they're offended and they don't know why the town did it."
DiMino accepted that the "G-word" is used by some Italian-Americans " not least the eight cast members of Jersey Shore"  as a self-description, but he said that didn't make such "self-loathing" right and likened it to black Americans calling themselves by the N-word.
MTV has been showered with complaints. The New York Post's Linda Stasi waded in with a fiery column in which she accused MTV of stereotyping her ethnic group as "gel-haired, thuggish ignoramuses with fake tans, no manners, no diction, no taste, no education, no sexual discretion, no hairdressers (for sure), no real knowledge of Italian culture and no ambition".
MTV responded with a statement insisting that the show depicts just one slice of youth culture. "Our intention was never to stereotype, discriminate or offend," it said.
The frustration for protesters is that controversy is life blood to any reality show. Jersey Shore's ratings doubled to 2.1 million in the second episode, in rough proportion to the stink that it created.
In one respect, though, MTV may be vulnerable. Advertisers are becoming nervous about appearing during the broadcast. Domino's Pizza pulled all its commercials, and other brands are thought to be quietly shunning the show. That helps explain MTV's increasingly cautious approach. It no longer uses the terms "guido" and "guidettes" in its marketing material, and in the last episode it edited out a shocking scene in which one of the four women, Snooki, is punched in the face at a nightclub by a man who was later revealed to be a New York PE teacher.
Even before the episode was shown, the clip of the fight went viral on the internet (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe7V85lA-bI) and such was the fallout that MTV decided to cut it.
New Jersey's 1.5 million Italian-Americans " the highest number in the US outside New York " are already bruised by what they see as their negative portrayal on TV in The Sopranos. "We do not say 'fuhgeddabouddit' nor are we in waste management," fumed Linda Stasi.
For all that, it's a safe bet that Jersey Shore will do well, as its cast continues to fist-pump, fight and fornicate their way up the ratings. And the cast's reaction has been predictably robust. "I just have one thing to say to Domino's, Dell, Unico and all the other haters out there," Snooki (real name Nicole Polizzi) told Steppin' Out magazine. "Fuck you! If you don't want to watch, don't watch. Just shut the hell up! I'm serious... Fuck you!"

Unhappy stereotypes
The Sopranos the mob family saga infuriated many for portraying an Italian-American family as dominated by misogyny and violence.
The Godfather Coppola's epic trilogy will forever cement the image of the Italian mobster in the American psyche.
 Friends Lovable dimwit Joey Tribbiani, who loves pizza and women did nothing for the intellectual reputation of the Italian-American male.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/
jan/03/mtv-jersey-shore-guidos-italian/print
 
 

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