What? You don't follow the high culture series Jersey Shore on television? Well, let me fill in the latest development of the "guido/guidette" lifestyle for you: the sophisticated cast of Jersey Shore tried to reconnect with their Italian heritage in Tuscan, Italy. All is fine, except for some strange reason, the Italians don't want to have anything to do with them.
Since Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino and other cast members of MTV's "Jersey Shore" reality-TV show set foot inside the cradle of the Italian Renaissance last month, the cast's vans have been met with fines. On Monday, there was another one, after a van—which Italian police say was driven by Ms. Polizzi—crashed into a police car.
One of the town's chic eateries has posted a "No Grazie, Jersey Shore" sign outside its door, instructing cast members to stay away. The cultural superintendent has barred the entire cast from being filmed in the city's hallowed museums.
Since in Florence wine is easily available, and there is a thriving nightlife, most students from US and UK enjoy their freedom indulging in a little bit too much alcohol, and put up fights and brawls.
There have been problems with monuments damage, and a few victims too. Renzi is discouraging the show to present Florence as a wild party town (it is, but with some reasonable limits of decency), and he cannot be more right about it.
The Jersey Shore cast is playing up a bad caricature of Italian people. The worser their behavior, the better the ratings. While viewers laugh at them (not with them), they get to laugh all the way to the bank at the expense of those they sterotype.
Why would genuine Italians want to promote something that gives them a very negative image? By telling Jersey Shore to away, they are really saying "That is not us".