Dumbing down ethnicity

A person’s ethnic culture, as depicted on reality television, has been diluted to a throw-away adjective.

The shallow simpletons hogging up the air space have turned their nationalistic signifiers into meaningless descriptors.

For instance, the recent megahit “Jersey Shore” presented a group of self-identified “guidos” who surpassed conventional superficiality. To them, identifying as Italian seemed just as important as being tan, fit and promiscuous.

But while “Jersey Shore” popularized this ethnically empty genre, a new Canadian reality show is taking the concept to the next logical extreme.

Similar to “Jersey Shore,” “The Real World” and other reality precursors, “Lake Shore,” which takes place in Toronto, drops a group of eight feisty young people into a house to cohabitate.

Here’s the catch: each cast member is purposefully identified by their ethnicity.

Some of the cast members include “Sibel — The Turk,” “Tommy Hollywood — The Czech” and “Robyn — The Jew.” These titles are written exactly as they appear on the show, just in case you were wondering. The other ethnicities represented are Italian, Polish, Armenian, Lebanese and Vietnamese.

Part of me wants to believe that this program is really a brilliant social commentary on cultural conflict. Perhaps the show’s producers are likening these vapid instigators and their arbitrary nationalism to real national struggle. Palestinians vs. Jews; Turks vs. Armenians; Tutsi vs. Hutu.

But of course this isn’t the intention. “Lake Shore” is meant to one-up “Jersey Shore” and garner as many ratings and as much profit as possible. Placing ethnicity at the forefront is a garish tactic to stir controversy and attract viewers.

Unsurprisingly, the tragic figures of “Lake Shore” embody reality television’s typical trash aesthetic. They are caricatures of caricatures: quick to quarrel, laughably self-involved and frighteningly unaware of their own stupidity.

Yes, there is an extraordinary amount of emphasis put on ethnic labels, but from what I’ve gleaned from the show so far, their “Turkish” pride or “Armenian” honor is just a thrifty epithet.

It’s a nametag meant to classify them with some sort of significant identity, yet they still manage to resemble every predictable reality show archetype that has come before.

Sibel declares that her “mission in life is to show the world what us Turks are all about.” She immediately follows that remark with “I’m bossy. I’m sexy. If you screw me, your ass is going to get burned.”

Robyn brags that she is Jewish before claiming she loves to party, loves to have fun and is “enthusiastic,” “eccentric” and “loud.”

The characters are wedging their cultural heritage in between other vacant identifiers such as “enthusiastic” and “sexy.” Anni Mei, the Vietnamese, says she is “self-motivated” and “self-driven.”  Salem, the Lebanese, is “blunt” and “forward.”

There is no meaningful discourse here, just a cheap exploitation of ethnic heritage. This is multiculturalism gutted of meaning and significance.

“Lake Shore” is if the members of the United Nations convened at a beach house, chugged 40s and discussed the benefits of fist-pumping. It continues the tradition of glorifying egotistical morons, only now these morons can add their ethnicity to the list of worthless personality descriptors.


E-mail: joskraus@indiana.edu