The+Situation

By: Rebecca Poirier



**Bio** When Jersey Shore premiered in 2009, “The Situation’s” loud mouth and outlandish actions made him one of the most famous cast members on the show that followed eight self-proclaimed Guido’s and Guidettes as they drank their way through the summer in Seaside Heights, a part of the Jersey Shore. Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, was born on Staten Island, but grew up in Manalapan, New Jersey.

“The Situation” was born to be an entertainer; before being cast on Jersey Shore he was both an exotic dancer and an underwear model. After being cast on Jersey Shore where he was skyrocketed to fame, he released his own book titled //Here’s the Situation: A Guide to Creeping on Chicks, Avoiding Grenades and Getting in Your GTL on the Jersey Shore//. In his debut book “The Situation” doles out “wise” advice on how to become a Guido and live the ultimate lifestyle on the Jersey Shore (Hilton, 2010). Not only has “The Situation” written a book, he also starred last season on Dancing with the Stars but was eliminated after four weeks. The reality star also recently released a product that can be used as a clothing bag, a gym bag, and a laundry bag which helps to promote the phrase he popularized on the first season of Jersey Shore, GTL (gym, tanning, laundry). Most recently he appeared on Comedy Central’s The Roast of Donald Trump where he showcased his comedic talents, which ended up being an epic failure.

While several of the Jersey Shore cast mate’s play up their outgoing personalities to pump up TV ratings, “The Situation” exaggerates the strongest aspects of his personality more than some of the other members of the show. With his growing fame and success, strong personality, and the premier of the fourth season of the Jersey Shore, it will be interesting, to say the least, to see what the “The Situation” comes up with next.

**Psychoanalytic Approach** The Psychoanalytic approach was introduced by Freud and was influenced by his writings. This psychological approach includes an in depth look into the subconscious, such as dreams, and places a heavy emphasis on childhood events while also including a discussion of the id, ego and superego as well as the Psychosexual Stages (Huntington, 2011). The personality traits described in Freud’s psychosexual stages (which follow a person’s maturation through a series of phases and discusses prospective personality disorders that may develop within these stages) provide an interesting look into “The Situation’s” personality.

“The Situation” may seem like he is just playing the part of a reality TV star, overemphasizing his most outlandish personality traits in order to entertain viewers from week to week. However, when looking at the underlying facets of this performance and the personality traits of the star who plays this part, it becomes apparent that there is more to the crazy behaviors that this reality star exhibits. From a Freudian Psychoanalytic standpoint a few of “The situation’s” personality traits stand out especially and all fall under the category of the Phallic Stage, which is part of Freud’s psychosexual stages. The first personality trait displayed by “The Situation” and listed under the Phallic Stage is vanity. “The Situation’s” vanity is blatantly clear in the way that he represents and portrays himself to the world, especially in the way that he looks. The reality TV star was the first to coin the acronym GTL (gym, tanning, laundry), which represents his grooming routine. Ever since the phrase first appeared on the first season of Jersey Shore, it has caught on and has even earned itself a place in the Urban Dictionary which defines GTL as: //The process of staying fresh and mint… Must be done everyday to achieve maximum potential. Side effects include fist pumping. Coined by the eloquent Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino from MTV's groundbreaking Jersey Shore.// “The Situation” takes his grooming process seriously, mostly in order to score girls. While most men groom themselves in one way or another, “The Situation” takes this to a whole other level with daily trips to the gym in order to keep his body (mostly his abs) in perfect shape, tanning in order to be tanned to perfection (because being anything but orange is the equivalent of being ugly at the Jersey Shore), and the Laundromat so that his clothes can be ready for “t-shirt time”. His self obsession is nothing short of the classic definition of vanity. And quotes like: "I'm not ready to perform right now. I'm like a Ferrari. I'm high maintenance" (“The Situation” as qtd. in TV Fanatic.com), do not help to prove this label otherwise.

The second trait displayed by “The Situation” that falls under the Phallic stage is narcissism. “The Situation’s” narcissism is also very apparent to viewers; He once stated: “Everybody at the Shore definitely knows The Situation. As far as I know, everybody loves The Situation, and if you don't love The Situation, I'm gonna make you love The Situation//.”// (“The Situation” as qtd. in TVFanatic.com) He is overly confident to the point of cockiness and he is not afraid to express it. His main goal is to pick up girls, which may be due in part to the context of the show itself which is centered on drinking and partying. However, when someone tells “The Situation” anything but what he wants to hear he is likely to act out. In one episode, “The Situation” and one of his cast mates bring home two girls to hook up with, however, when he finds out that the girl he brought home is not “DTF” (down to f*), he begins to act out in a way similar to a child throwing a temper tantrum. He states: “Don’t come over to someone’s house at f*ing 5 AM and expect just to watch them play checkers//.//” (“The Situation//”// as qtd. in wetpaint.com)//,// implying that the girl is not welcome in his house unless she is DTF. His outburst is a reflection of his narcissism and inflated self perception; because he believes that everyone is into him and that no one will ever say no to him he is incapable of handling situations in which he is told no and in turn acts out.

His narcissism is so extreme that it is to the point that he feels like he is invincible and the way that he behaves provides ample evidence for this. “The Situation” was recently invited to perform on Comedy Central’s Roast of Donald Trump. He was asked to come up with a comedy set that would throw jokes at the guest of honor, Donald Trump. While some of the jokes on The Roast may be a little out there, “The Situation’s” jokes (which were more like sexist and racist comments) were so far off the map that he was almost booed offstage. As he began his set, his jokes went downhill fast, at one point he commented on Donald Trump’s marriage to his (much younger) wife, Melania, where he basically stated that she was a gold-digger. In his other round of jokes, he was not only disrespectful but racist, stating something along the lines of, “…he and the Donald had a lot in common because the millionaire developer owned a lot of property and Snoop's ancestors had been property.” (“The Situation” as qtd. in US Weekly.com). “The Situation’s” disrespectful and racist statements can be viewed as narcissistic; he thinks that he is so important that he can throw around statements like he did at Comedy Central’s the Roast of Donald Trump without any backlash. Even after having been booed offstage he still hadn’t realized the gravity of what he had said and how he may have insulted people. Lisa Lampanelli, one of the comedians that was roasting Donald Trump along with “The Situation” said: “When he returned to his seat on the dais he said he thought it went pretty well. I guess it depends on your criteria for judgment.” (Lisa Lampanelli as qtd. in Huffingtonpost.com). If there was any question about “The Situation’s” narcissism, the above situation provides enough evidence to show that his narcissism is so strong that it is making it hard for him to see reality. His inflated sense of self has put up a wall between him and reality.

While The Situations” vanity and narcissism is blatant, it is also arguable (however less supported by evidence) that “The Situation” is incapable of love. Throughout the series most of the characters have had either a serious relationship like Sammi and Ron, or at least have found a person that had the potential to be in a relationship. However, “The Situation” seems to only focus on hooking up and having short-term relationships only based on sex. On one episode he states: “So, we have two girls on the burner. We can get the original chicks, which are DTF, or we can get the blond ones//.”// (“The Situation” as qtd. in TVFantatic.com) He is not interested in the girl that he is bringing home, he is only interested in which one is more likely to have sex with him. While there are many people who go out just to hook up, there is at least something more that goes into who you choose to bring home, like attraction; however, “The Situation” is only interested in who is more likely to put out. This instance and similar instances like this that are shown on the show are partially circumstantial and due to context because the show is about following young people partying and drinking, and hooking up goes along with these two behaviors; however, the difference with “The Situation” is that he is never interested in a girl for more than sex or looks which may be an indication that he is incapable of love.

“The Situation’s” obvious vanity and narcissism, and his not so clear inability to love would lead to the conclusion, based on the Psychoanalytic approach and Freud’s Psychosexual Stages, that he is stuck in the phallic stage which leads to “overt sexual behavior [that is] socially unacceptable.” (Huntington, 2011) This “overt” and “socially unacceptable behavior” is made evident through the above examples and through “The Situation’s” actions on Jersey Shore.

**Behaviorist Approach** A second approach that can be used to analyze “The Situation’s” personality is the behaviorist approach, specifically operant conditioning in which rewards and punishments are used to reinforce or extinguish behaviors, or in this case, personality traits. While “The Situation”, like all people, has several different personality traits, the most obvious traits that have been reinforced for him are extroversion, narcissism and vanity (which are all a part of Freud’s Psychosexual Stages). The combination of these traits (and the behaviors that go along with them) played a huge role in the reason that “The Situation” was cast on Jersey Shore, which in itself acts as a reinforcer for these personality traits and behaviors. “The Situation’s” extroversion, narcissism and vanity and the behaviors that go along with these personality traits are reinforced daily. Every time he makes a narcissistic or vain comment or displays extroverted behavior such as sensation seeking, people laugh and every time someone laughs at his statements, the behavior and the personality trait associated with that behavior is reinforced through positive reinforcement. For example, every time that “The Situation” makes a comment that becomes popular that everyone repeats and quotes, such as GTL (gym, tanning, laundry), his narcissism and crazy behaviors are being reinforced positive feedback that he receives for saying them, like the laughter and quoting. He has also learned that behaving like this will make him money; the more outlandish he acts and the more vain and narcissistic he is the more likely he is to get new jobs and promotions; therefore, the money and fame that comes along with these new jobs and promotions reinforce the behavior and personality traits that are getting him these jobs. For example, the popular acronym GTL (gym, tanning, laundry) not only became popular and reinforced his behavior, it also landed him a new product to promote and make money from. By making money off of the product that stemmed from this acronym, “The Situation’s” behavior of making crazy comments is now being reinforced not only from the popularity of it, but also from the money he is making off of the new product. Through positive reinforcement, “The Situation” has learned that the personality traits that make him the “The Situation” will also gain him acceptance, fame and fortune. Conversely, if he were to behave the way that he does and get backlash or if people didn’t respond to his behaviors and comments in a positive way he would be less likely to act as he does. Behaviorism, especially positive reinforcement, has played a prominent role in reinforcing and strengthening “The Situation’s” personality traits.

**Discussion** While “The Situation’s” personality traits are clear on their own, Freud’s Psychoanalytic Approach and the Behaviorist approach provide insight into the reality star’s personality and behaviors. While it may be easy to look at “The Situation” and simply say, “he’s a jerk”, there is much more to his personality.

The Psychoanalytic approach helps us to pull apart the pieces of the reality star’s personality, labeling him as vain, narcissistic and possibly even unable to love. While the Behaviorist approach allows us to understand some of the underlying reasons as to why he is the way that he is by applying the concept of operant conditioning and positive reinforcement.

While “The Situation” is an easy target for the labels of narcissism and vanity, we have to remember why he is the way that he is and that his behavior is largely due in part to the public’s reinforcement of his behaviors and how we as a society respond to his actions and words.

I guess you could say that his personality has been, at least in part, socially constructed by the way in which the consumers of his behavior and brand respond to and reinforce his actions and personality.

**References** GTL. (2010). //Urban Dictionary.com.// Retrieved April 12, 2011, from http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=GTL

// Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino Quotes. // (2011). Retrieved from []

//Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino: YOBIAct Webseries Star//. (2011). Retrieved from []

Hilton, P. Here’s The Situation. (2010, October 21). Retrieved from []

Huntington, A. (2011). Chapter 3: Psychoanalytic Aspects of Personality [1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 11]. Retrieved from []

//The Situation Jersey Shore Quotes.// (2011). Retrieved from http://www.jerseyshorequotes.com/cast/the-situation_quotes.htm

"The Situation" Photos. Retrieved April 16, 2011, from http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2011/01/13/gal_poser_situation.jpg

//The Situation bombs at roast of Donald Trump on comedy central//. (2011, March 23). Retrieved from [|http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/15/the-situation-trump- roast_n_836287.html]

//The Situation booed at Donald Trump’s roast//. (2011, March 10). Retrieved from []

//Top 15 Quotes From Shore Episode 2.12, “Déjà vu All Over Again”//. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.wetpaint.com/jersey-shore/articles/top-15-quotes-from-jersey-shore- episode-2.12-deja-vu-all-over-again