Italian Stereotypes in the Media

'The Sopranos' and stereotypes, perfect together

Posted by Mark Di Ionno, Star-Ledger Columnist June 10, 2007 11:49AM
Categories: Controversy

In the end, "The Sopranos" turned out to be just another gangster show, a seven-year, blood-and-guts "Goodfellas" soap opera.
Psychologically dark and complex, yes, but nothing we didn't see in "One, or Two," (which is how Tony's crew labeled, with reverence, "The Godfather.")
Funny, too, in a Joe Pesci kind of way.
But also predictable.
Because it constantly fell back on, rather than challenged, stereotypes, as TV almost always does. Let us count the ways: Italian men mostly as angry, semi-educated, gabagool-shoveling slobs. New Jersey mostly as an ugly, industrial, tree-barren urban wasteland populated by angry, semi-educated gabagool-shoveling slobs. Italian wives as either fat or slender naggers, or beaten-down abuse victims, all happy to be bought off by cars, jewelry or Italianate living room sets. Italian Rutgers students as cowardly bullies and drunken frat boys.
In "The Sopranos," the Scorsese-variety lowbrow mobsters like Paulie Walnuts were not much more than cartoon characters, unless they were a stab at the old-school Coppola-brand stand-up guys like Phil Leotardo, another stereotype.
Vito was gay, so he had to be shown dancing in Brando-biker leathers, like one of the Village People.
This passes for groundbreaking genius?
Sorry. Galileo was a groundbreaking genius. David Chase is a TV writer. A very good one, but one who, like many, succumbs to the pressure of stereotyping his own kind to ensure commercial success.
The early promise of Chase's show was it would be a metaphor for third- and fourth-generation assimilation into modern suburban life. The Great Wave Immigrants at 100.
The kids, once the silent junior partners in the family, are now overindulged and the center of all family life. The father, once unquestioned, no longer gets respect for free, if at all. The mother, once a head-down homemaker, wants more, but of what? American consumerism and pop culture have crushed traditional values. The old ways are a wistful memory, replaced by a mishmashed family structure and the disappointment of failing to achieve a Hallmark-card home life. Life in America was supposed to be easier. Instead, this lifestyle has somehow led to incredibly corrosive stress.
"The Sopranos" seemed poised to tackle the themes of our Prozac nation.
That Chase, who grew up DeCesare, chose a gangster and his family as the vehicle was unfortunate. But predictable. Stereotypes always are more palatable to entertainment executives (those great underestimaters of public intelligence) than complex characters. From Amos 'n' Andy to Archie Bunker to Tony Soprano, stereotyping remains the staple of our pop culture, especially television.
This isn't to say David Chase didn't try to write a very honest, personal show on many levels. And he succeeded on many levels. He has said the manipulative-bordering-on-psychotic Livia was modeled after his own mother, and Chase himself wrestled with elements of A.J.'s whining depression while in college.
Still, the ambitious assimilation themes all but dissipated by mid-run. The scenes of Tony S. squirming as he tried to schmooze with neighbor-golfers at a backyard barbecue or rushing into his daughter's choral recital still sweating from "work" were gone, replaced by more conventional mob stuff.
"The Sopranos" sold out.
This is not written lightly. This is written with some degree of pain. Because unlike the days of Amos 'n' Andy and early ethnic and racial stereotypes, the chief purveyors of these negative and in some cases destructive images come from within. In Italian-American circles, it has been done by the most talented directors, writers and actors. Coppola, Scorsese, DeNiro, Pacino. Pesci. Now DeCesare and Gandolfini.
Sacrilege? No, truth.
They have solidified the image of Italian-Americans as goons. Over-emotional, anti-intellectual, hot-headed, stupid goons.

NOTE: for the full article you can click on the link

http://blog.nj.com/sopranosarchive/2007/06/the_sopranos_and_stereotypes_p.html



I think there are still stereotypes in the media. I agree with the writer of this article that television falls back on stereotypes, rather than challenges them. They still have African Americans playing “thugs” with their baggy pants, being loud-mouthed, on well-fare, etc. They still have Asians as martial arts masters and Latinos as not being able to speak English or as cleaning people, etc. Rarely do you see minorities on shows that are based around white characters. For example the show “Friends” is based in New York City that is vastly diverse in different nationalities, yet none of the main characters had any minority friends. I’m a huge fan of “Friends” and they only had 2 black supporting characters on the show, and 1 was only in 1 episode. The media also stereotypes Caucasians. They have Caucasians as being rich, as “trailer trash,” or Italians as being in the mob. They portray British people as having bad teeth and Irish people as drinking alcohol and hot-tempered.

Take for instance “The Sopranos” and mobster movies like “Goodfellas,” “The Godfather,” and “A Bronx Tale.” All of these have two things in common, they are about the mob and they are about Italians. Mobster shows and movies alike, glorify the mob business as being dangerous, you get to sleep with countless women, and it has nice perks, etc. However, what are these shows telling young audiences (15 and up) who watch these types of media. They see being in the mob as cool and they look up to certain characters because maybe it would be fun to be the “boss” and in charge, and to get away with doing illegal things, and living in a mansion, etc. They even portray African Americans on the show negatively as drug dealers and gang bangers and they call then the “n-word.” Many Italians aren’t in the mob, but someone people watching “The Sopranos” or mob movies may think all Italians are in the mob, because it seems that’s how they show Italians in the media, which is misconstrued. People may see the mob image associated with Italians because of these types of media. However, not all Italian characters are portrayed as being in the mob, but they do cast them as being degenerates. Take for instance Fonzie on “Happy Days” or John Travolta’s character in the movie “Grease.” Both characters were greasers and got into trouble many times.

I don’t think stereotyping will ever be gone from the media or in the real world, because that is just the way the world is. Media executives know they can make bundles of money out of having stereotypical characters and they know people will watch.