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Critic: Southie reality show like a northern Honey Boo Boo, with captions

Mark Perigard at the Herald doesn't think much of the Southie reality show, which debuts tonight and which, yes, has captions for people westa Wuhtstuh who can't parse the Boston English:

Instead of a Southern family of semi-literate mud-lovin' hicks, "Southie Rules" focuses on a close-knit, working-class clan in a triple-decker whose collective IQ, at least onscreen, hovers around room temperature.

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And why 'Southie'? What, they are apparently the epitome of what it means to be a 'white' 'working class' neighborhood in America? Something that's become quite rare in America,so I can see why some find it exotic. Like Jersey Shore a lot of this is about laughing at and demonizing 'working class' white 'ethnics' from the urban northeast. They're now doing the same [but they've always demonized them] 'poor' white rural southerners. They [working class big city and white rural poor] are different, they aren't like the bland, homogenized so-called middle class found in America's vast suburbia. They even talk differently, have 'funny' accents.

Try pulling this on a 'protected' minority group and see the uproar from 'advocates'.

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Ummm they do all the time.

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It was called UPN in the 1990's. They built off the black urban stereotype than anyone else.

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in the 1970s. Only those weren't so-called "reality" shows. They were officially sitcoms.

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"The Jeffersons" and "Good Times" were Norman Lear shows that started out, as spinnoffs from "All In the Family" (or in the case of "Good Times", a spinnoff from "Maude" which was a spinoff from "All in the Family"), to make social commentary. Some of the characters, i.e. "JJ" portrayed by Jimmie Walker, may have been exagerated stereotypes, but like the white stereotypical bigot Archie Bunker, it was designed to get a point across. I think "The Jeffersons" was also the first show to portray a biracial married couple. Granted, given their nature, these shows have dated and I can see how they may not be as appealing to those under, say, 45, but they were considered groundbreaking in their time.

Can't say the same for "Sanford & Son" starring the grating Redd Foxx. Some people persist on calling him a comedy genius, but I don't see it. But then, I never got Bob Newhart either.

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comic genius

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That's funny, I can switch to a couple of channels and expect to see shows about Black women behaving badly for the entertainment of a national audience.

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"whose collective IQ... hovers around room temperature..."

Aren't these people well matched to the Herald's readers?

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He followed that up with a 3.5 out of 4 stars. Would watch again.

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Ward 6 2012 Election
OBAMA - 58.64%
ROMNEY - RYAN 27.47%

Yup

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Oh honey, your guy lost. It's time to move on. You're just not as clever as you think,

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OK, sweetie, I'll get right on it. Just like your bunch moved on earlier in the previous decade.

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It's true, but the two wars were kind of a bitch.

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most had.... it was pretty quiet until he started 2 wars

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Obvious Troll is Obvious

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Based on the previews, this family seems like they're from Jersey pretending to be from Southie. Good luck to them though!

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This family is a bunch of fakers based on what I saw in the preview. The only one I think is remotely authentic is Devin, the friend who sleeps on their couch all day.

The mother and father of this family are divorced but still live together. In the olden days of Catholic Southie, couples would stay married and sometimes live apart. No divorce.

They own a tattoo parlor? WHAT?

Comparing them to Honey Boo Boo is an insult to Honey Child, Sugar Bear and Mama June. Honey Boo Boo has more class in her glitzed out pinky finger than this family from the looks of it.

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an Irish divorce? Ha!

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There's a difference?

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Now Southie is suppose to be a "Irish" community. Then why is this family's last name Niedzwiecki ? That doesn't sound irish to me.. sounds more polish! Wouldn't it make it more authentic to have an IRISH family?

Just sayin...

Southie Rules = Jersey Shore

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Don't know if you were being sincere or going for the laugh, but there is a very large Polish-American community in Southie. My guess - just from personal experiences in the area - is that the Polish community is second to those of Irish extraction in terms of percentage of the population.

In particular, the area around Our Lady of Chestohova has Polish-American clubs, etc.

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

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It wasn't a laugh.. seriously.

I know for me.. when people think Southie, they think Irish.

To be honest, this is the first time I've ever heard of any other major nationality in Southie besides Irish. (except maybe Yuppie.... yes that was a joke)

I mean Southie.. Irish Bars, Whitey, St Pattys Day Parade.. It just screams Irish.

Next you'll tell me that the North End's 2nd most nationality is Cantonese! (/sarcasm)

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And the Polish Triangle is right on the line.

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South Boston has always been ethnically diverse. There are of course many Polish, Lithuanian, and Irish...but there's also plenty of Italian and others. And of course many people are a mix.

And the 'nationality' of most is called AMERICAN. They are not 'Irish', or 'Polish'. I don't refer to myself as 'Italian' or 'Irish' because I'm not...I'm American.

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I remember several years ago a long time family friend of my grandparents taking us to her friend's house over on Preble St. She is native Polish (first name is Leiokadia (sp?) but we called her Laura) and also came from Southie.

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I Love Lucy. Just bein' pedantic.

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Redheads are not a race.

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Even as popular as Lucille Ball was, in many circles of American society there was a notable amount of tut-tutting (or worse - some stations in the South refused to broadcast it) when the show first aired on TV. A White woman married to a Cuban man? Saucy, bordering on scandalous!

(Of course, even your original (deliberately?) mistaken supposition is historically inaccurate - one need look back less than a century to note the abundant number of slurs and stigmas assigned to "gingers" of the Gaelic 'race' - some of which manages to hang on to this day, albeit in highly diluted form, and rarely in these parts.)

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Was from Cuba, doesn't mean he wasn't just a white guy with an accent. Regardless of the silly racial ideas back then. Hell, we still have it today, where many Americans of all races are surprised out of their mind when they see (gasp!) white Latin Americans (I myself am one).

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for mainly two reasons:

1) Advertising/marketing

2) Some political ideologies, especially progressives, like to pad the minority rolls so-to-speak, which politically generally ends up favoring them. When a specific demographic really thinks they're oppressed and/or a 'minority', they tend to vote liberal/progressive/Democratic to get back at The Man. Latin Americans have their very own made up name: Hispanic. And Hispanics are large in numbers, so they've swollen the ranks of 'minorities' in America. All this makes it important to break down people into various 'ethncities', 'nationalities', 'races', even sexual orientation.

And then there's the issue of ethnic/racial based politicians who benefit from playing to their specific group and being big fish in a small pond. They also demand specific categories of people, and tallying of their numbers, for political and $ interests.

There is a category of 'Hispanic' called WHM/WHF = White Hispanic Male/White Hispanic Female.

And yes, I do find it all amusing. You have to keep your sense of humor.

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"When a specific demographic really thinks they're oppressed and/or a 'minority', they tend to vote liberal/progressive/Democratic to get back at The Man."

haha what

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