Notes on a Deteriorating American Media

Published March 25, 2008

By Bridget Treco

Our country is going to hell. Why? There are shows like MTV’s That’s Amore in existence.

It’s not just the blatant stupidity of the show itself, or the mind-numbing concept of reality shows as a whole. It’s the fact that American media is so unwittingly racist and culturally ignorant.

A friend and I decided to watch the show in question as a joke, because it looked funny. It’s a spin-off of A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, a show that in comparison to its protégé seems as classy as 60 Minutes. The bachelor this time is Domenico Nesci, an Italian “stud” who was rejected by Tila but adored by fans, so much so that he was given his own show.

Here is a brief synopsis of the first episode: Domenico sends messages in pizza boxes to the ladies vying for his attention. Because Italians love pizza. Domenico sets up a challenge for the ladies: wrestle each other in a giant pool of spaghetti and meatballs, and the team that collects the most meatballs by mouth wins!

Because Italians love spaghetti and meatballs, and as we all know, the only thing important to Italians is food…

At the elimination ceremony, Domenico presents his chosen ladies with cheap Italian flags and asks sweetly, “Will you be my bambina?” Bambina and amore being the only Italian words that Americans know, apparently. Oh wait, when he eliminates someone, he says, “Ciao, bella.” I guess we know what that means too, as we flash forward to a classy eliminated contestant saying, “Ciao, bella in American means ‘Get the fuck out, bitch.’”

This show is a clear indicator of how culturally schooled our media believes we are. And it’s not just trashy shows like this that are proof. Just look at some of the “popular” advertisements they have on hand for us during commercial breaks. First, in a Wendy’s commercial two men dressed as hamburgers annoy a teller at a drive-thru window. The teller asks, “Would you like an onion-and-chive baked potato?” The hamburger scoffs obnoxiously, “A baked potato? What, are we in Russia?” Evidently, only Russians enjoy baked potatoes.

Another commercial, this time for Dunkin’ Donuts, shows a crowd of bewildered customers trying to pronounce items with foreign names on a coffee menu. They sing mindlessly, “My mouth can’t form these words. Is it French or is it Italian? Perhaps Fre-talian.” The
reference here is to the complicated foreign words at Starbucks like venti and grande that because of their hard pronunciation are
inherently burdensome. I mean, we live in America, don’t we? Everything should be written in American!

I understand that these commercials and this god-awful show are trying to be funny. I understand that MTV is even poking fun at itself with this endless spew of mindless reality shows. But take two seconds to re-think what you’re watching, and you realize that the media is portraying Americans as trash-talking xenophobic, fat hamburgers who are perplexed by the idea of these “foreign cultures’”
infiltrating our own.

Has American pop culture become so ignorant that the media must portray us as absolute neanderthals? Or is it reflective of a real trend that’s developing in our nation? I thought we were taking steps forward in terms of diversity and open-mindedness, not backward. One look at all the cultures, races, and religions we have in the United States and it seems comedic that there would even be commercials like these made. What’s more, the English language is unique precisely because of the large number of foreign words it’s absorbed!

Sometimes I can laugh about this stuff, and other times I’m completely despondent about what I see in the media. But at the same time, I’m already thoroughly displeased by what I see in our government, so why should the media be any better. My only positive advice is that you should be aware, watch shows like the news, and see through the messages encouraging you to limit your worldview instead of widen it. And seriously, stop watching reality dating shows.

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