But this does not mean that the show is not entertaining.
Nor, for that matter, does it mean that the show is notimportant.
Sometimes, the silliest dregs of zeitgeist popularity can speak volumes about Where We Are Now.
Credit: MTV
The Monkees were conceived as an establishment cash-in on the rock n roll trend that all the kids loved.
Hence, the Monkees: A band built in a laboratory specifically for television.
The Monkees recorded some of the catchiest pop songs in history, almost all of them written by non-Monkees.
That actually seemed vaguely insulting to the general music listening public back then.
Thats how musicians get made.
Was there ever another way?
I bring up the Monkees for three reasons.
(Last-minute meta-deconstruction is a common thread in the land of Post-Popularity Synthetic Zeitgeist Sensations.
NEXT: The Situation is the hero!
The Situation is the villain!What happened last night?
Well, everyone talked a lot about how much they were going to miss the pizzeria.
Sam said that she loved everyone who worked at the pizzeria.
Vinny said, We kind of formed a family with the people in the pizzeria.
Pauly D clowned around with his pals in the pizzeria.
(Bless Pauly D, who works tirelessly at crafting potential catchphrases: Im on a break!
Pauly D has somehow turned beingThe I Didnt Do It Boyinto a reasonable multimedia business model.)
This was never really in doubt.
The cast knew that Mike would come to Jersey, because he loves drama.
We know that The Situation will go to Jersey, because we all read the Internet.
And yet, I still found this central drama fascinating.
And this is why I find myself oddly optimistic about the fifth season ofJersey Shore.
But I suspect there will be a reckoning in Seaside Heights.
The Situation has chosen his side now.
He is The Villain.
The rest of the cast think they have his number.
They dont know the hell coming their way.
NEXT: Art is the History of HistoryBut lets not leave Florence just yet, fellow viewers.
Admittedly, no one was particularly excited about the trip.
They were told to meet their tour guide in front ofthe Duomo.
Their kindly tour guide, Bernardo, welcomed them to the art history tour of Florence.
Are we gonna be walking the whole time?
complained The Situation, who is a grown 45-year-old man.
History is not my thing, said Snooki, And walking around for 10 hours is not my thing.
Vinny, Pauly, Ronnie, Sammi, J-Woww: They all looked up in awe and fascination.
Behind that closed shutter, one of the great thinkers in human history created something beautiful.
But probably because its soft.
Snooki just seemed a bit confused by the whole concept of art.
When Bernardo described the iconic depiction of Cupid, Nicole asked, So theyre real?
The babies with wings?
The whole time, The Situation lurked in the background.
He stared in the opposite direction.
He sat down on lonely stairwells.
He almost looked like he was waiting for something.
Certainly, his housemates thought that he was just pouting, and ignored him.
But they did not realize what we viewers know to be true.
Mike has completed his final transformation.
The girls did not believe his apologies, and crucially neither did he.
Back at the villa people complained about the Situation, as usual.
But he no longer cared.
He sat alone on his cruel throne in the cigarette porch, smiling.
And that they greet him with cries of hate.
(With apologies to Albert Camus)
