Sibel Altug, 22, one of the cast members of "Lake Shore". She hates everyone equally -- "especially Jews."The Globe and Mail
Multicultural, proudly diverse Canada doesn't normally offend.
But the new reality show Lake Shore - a trashy Toronto-based twist on MTV's controversial hit, Jersey Shore - has got some American on-line media in a tizzy after it released preview clips ( www.lake-shore.ca) guaranteed to outrage every imaginable colour, race, or creed.
In response to a "sizzle" (or promo) reel on Lake Shore's website late Monday night, Gawker.com ran a headline Tuesday that promised "Canada's Jersey Shore Copycat Will Piss Off Every Ethnic Group at Once".
Entertainment Weekly's website weighed in next, saying Lake Shore looks like an "ethnicity circus, where ridiculousness and stupidity are things to be valued." Then added: "Finally, idiots of every race and creed can pour Grey Goose down each others' throats!"
Ah, Canada, the cultural mosaic, we should be so proud.
Produced by Montreal's Maryam Rahimi of Sunrise Multimedia and director George Tsioutsioulas of Thatguy Productions, the show follows the sloppy, hard-partying antics of eight migrant Canadians, including The Turk (Sibel), The Italian (Joey), The Vietnamese (Anni Mei), The Czech (Tommy), The Jew (Robyn), the Lebanese (Salem), The Pole (Karolina), and the Albanian (who calls himself Downtown D).
A few highlights from the mouths of the Lake Shore cast? Sibel, the Turk, says "I'm not racist. I hate everyone equally - especially Jewish people." Another sizzler from Downtown D: "You can be gay, as long as you don't get anywhere near me."
Reached on Wednesday, Rahimi defended the show's premise, saying "I'm not supporting what one person says in comparison to another. But kids are all entitled to state their opinions ... and I'm just trying to create entertainment." Rahimi noted the reel has close to 112,000 hits on the show's website, and over 550,000 YouTube views.
Set to go into production next spring, Rahimi is currently shopping the 13 episodes to specialty channels (none of which she can name). At the casting call last July, 500 to 600 people showed up vying for the eight "vibrant and volatile" parts.
Rahimi said she was aware of some of the heat the series was generating on the Internet, and added she knows the inflammatory subject matter is "going to land the show in hot water. But if people are talking about it, it's a good thing."
She added the show is no more raunchy, or over-the-top, than Jersey Shore, which offended Italian-Americans. "What about Sooki [of Jersey Shore notoriety]getting punched - wasn't that over the top? We are giving them the partying, the drinking, the wildness, the kissing, the sexiness. But with Lake Shore, we're also going to get a glimpse into these kids' lives when they're not partying, passed out on a couch, and they're not vomiting."
Thank God for good taste.