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Thu 5/19/2011 
Florentines Appalled at "Jersey Shore" - Called "Fare Casino"

Almost every Florentine local interviewed regarding "Jersey Shore" used the expression fare casino.  " Fare casino"  is an idiomatic Italian phrase ; it literally means "to make a brothel". but is translated as "uncontrolled confusion" or "to make a mess of things". Or it really could just mean "party hard". 


'Jersey Shore' in Italy: Local Florentines React to the GTL Invasion of Their City
Entertainment Weekly; by Stephan Lee; May 17, 2011

?Fare casino.' It?s an idiomatic Italian phrase that doesn?t have a straight English translation; it literally means "to make a brothel". but could be translated as "uncontrolled confusion" or "to make a mess of things". Or it really could just mean "party hard". Do all these phrases remind you of anything?

As MTV?s Jersey Shore  makes its long-anticipated, slightly delayed, reportedly controversial arrival in Florence, Italy, it shouldn?t be surprising that almost every Florentine local we interviewed for this story used the expression fare casino  when describing their worries about the U.S. reality hit. "The general feeling towards Jersey Shore  being in Florence is excitement that they?re shooting here, but also a bit of unease," says Dasha Savage, an American college student studying abroad who served as my eyes and ears (and translator) in Florence. "I heard many older Italians express opinions of disgust for having these people come to their city."

To get a sense of what the target MTV demographic thinks of the Jersey Shore?s Italian invasion, we took to Palazzo Giovane, a hangout spot for young Florentine school kids. There the local students expressed a mixture of disgust and anticipation. 

Gioda Mecacci, a 15-year-old, says hard partiers certainly exist in Florence, but, she says, "The confusion they create isn?t as bad as what the Jersey Shore  cast would create". Carlotta Casparri, 14, adds, "They bring a bad image because they use curse words and comport themselves in a bad way."

?Actually, we say they?re gross," says Mecacci (she used the word "cafone," which also means "boorish, loutish, rude").

So what about the night life?...For season four, expect to hear a lot about Space, Full Up, and Twice, the hot clubs in Florence.

Lauren Guidot, an English-as-a-foreign-language professor in Florence, says the clubbing scene in the city isn?t all that different from the one in Seaside Heights. "...Thousands and thousands of American college students are here every year to study abroad".  "Bars are open every night, usually until about 4 a.m. Italians definitely like to party, but in general they don?t seem to binge drink quite like the American students. Perhaps because the drinking age isn?t strongly enforced like it is in the States."....

Don?t expect an uproar over the term "guido" either, like there was in the U.S... According to Savage, none of the Italian locals interviewed for this post had even heard the term "guido" as a derogatory term for an Italian American... ?Guido? does not have any meaning here in Italy,"  "It actually is a first name, although not very common. Italians [are not aware of the derogatory  Italian American Experience] ...

In fact, not all Italians seem to even realize that the Jersey Shore  cast members are Italian American (not all of them are), or portray a certain stereotype of Italian American culture,..."They [see] it more as a show about Americans than about Italian Americans" .....

http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/05/17/jersey-shore-italy/



'Jersey Shore': Italy Not Excited About Impending Arrival of Young, Drunk Americans
Entertainment Weekly; by Darren Franich; May 18, 2011

Jersey Shore  ...with an aimless batch of nonsensical episodes featuring depressingly repetitive trips to nightclubs mixed in with depressingly repetitive relationship drama and depressingly copious alcohol consumption, which is coincidentally the exact plot description of the Italian film classic La Dolce Vita. So you would imagine that the Shore  cast would fit right in over in Italy, ... But you?d be wrong, dead wrong! As noted by Hollywood Reporter, the Italian media is beginning to sound off negatively about the impending invasion of the Shore  tandroids. (Jersey Shore  also just started airing over in Italy, which may explain the added ire.) Roberto Del Bove, columnist for the Roman newspaper New Notzie, said "They embody the worst stereotypes of Italians, multiplied by thousands and Americanized" ...[meaning] then further multiplied by thousands and thousands more"

Another Rome newspaper, Corriere della Sera, described the show as "slicked hair, exaggerated narcissism, boundless love for the family and outlandish eccentricity", which sort of makes Jersey Shore  sound like a DreamWorks animated film, which, actually now that I mention it, it kind of is. 

http://popwatch.ew.com/
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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