When The New York Times Sunday Style section wrote a 2000 word profile on Snooki back in 2010, the criticism was unending. How dare the Grey Lady cover Snooki as a real cultural phenomenon? Don’t they know that if you just ignore something for long enough, it goes away (or gets pregnant)?

Instead of taking the hint, today’s Thursday Styles section features a big cover story on VH1′s grown-up version of the Jersey Shore (but with guns), Mob Wives.

We love how seriously The New York Times takes these shows and their characters…an affectation that includes lines like:

“Mob wives is a reality show where reality makes an actual appearance…”

and:

The women’s characters are writ large for television. Ms. Graziano is the loud-mouth drama queen, whiplashed from the on-again-off-again romance with her ex-husband, along with his arrest, and her own near-death experience with plastic surgery. Ms. D’avanzo is the projects-raised street fighter, quick with her fists and quick to tears when it comes to her husband’s infidelity. Ms. Facciolo, the mother of twins, is by default the quiet one, dealing with her soon-to-be ex-husband’s release to a halfway house.

Of course, the real story is that the show is beginning to lead to actual arrests. Which does make it more “real” than other reality shows, but also not as much of a style item as a media story. Or maybe just in the Metro section. Police blotter? That’s the great thing about this show…Mob Wives is just so damn universal.

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