Re: “Pop Rhetoric: Fist-pumping IQs away” by Bianca Van Bavel (02.02.10)

Dear Bianca Van Bavel, I’m writing in response to your article on Jersey Shore, MTV’s newest reality show. You seem to be upset that, as “young impressionable intellectuals,” we (speaking on behalf of non-closet Shore fans) have decided to spend some of our free time being entertained. Everybody needs a bit of comic relief here and there, and when you spend your days in lectures learning about genocide in this place, and war in that place, the absurdity of Jersey Shore provides a bit of a break. Maybe it’s just not your sense of humour, but most people have gotten a kick out of it. Were people upset with our parents when they laughed at Monty Python? I’m certainly not saying that John Cleese and Pauly D would be ‘bros,’ but they do share a tendency to be called ridiculous in the eyes of their respective viewers. Who knows, some people were probably frustrated in just the same way they are today.

I guess all I’m trying to say is that it’s entertainment. I laugh when I hear the words “The Situation” not because I’m praising a repectable figure in pop culture, but because it evokes the memory of something that I found hilarious. It’s just a show, and it will pass soon enough, but until that time comes, let us laugh together without judgment.

– Peter Coolican