In a May 15th, 1983 New York Times Magazine article, “Italian Americans: Coming into their Own,” Stephen S. Hall celebrated the “official” arrival of the sons-and-daughters of Italy into America’s middle class. Quite accurately, he based this on the sudden appearance of so many Americans of Italian heritage in the national spotlight, be they business (Lee Iacocca, who saved Chrysler), politics (Governor Ella Grasso of Connecticut), sports (the late L.A. Dodgers manager Tommy LaSorda), and religion (His Eminence, Joseph Cardinal Bernardin in Chicago).
And there was even more to come a year later with the selection of Geraldine Ferraro as the first VP candidate on a national ticket – at the very same convention (held in San Francisco) where another Italian American politician, Mario Cuomo, electrified the national TV audience with his Ciceronian speaking skills. Though neither of them broke the ethnic glass ceiling of presidential politics, the selection of the late Antonin Scalia in 1986 certainly did via the U.S. Supreme Court, which saw the selection of yet a second Italian American jurist nearly 20 years later (Samuel Alito, 2005).
But the foundation for this sudden trajectory of excellence – other than these icons being raised by hard-working, patriotic parents – was laid nearly four decades earlier, the 1940s, when Italian Americans volunteered in droves to defend freedom in WWII. Proving their valor in that war made it much easier for Italian Americans in the decade that followed, the 1950s, to be even more accepted via another unifying arena: popular culture. And two of that decade’s biggest Italian American icons were crooner Dean Martin (born Dino Crocetti in Steubenville, OH) and singer Connie Francis (born Concetta Franconero in Newark, New Jersey).
Pop culture, like sports, not only brings people together but, interestingly, advances social causes in our nation, even before the powers-that-be acknowledge them. Also interestingly, Italian Americans have been major players in doing so. Joe DiMaggio’s popularity in the late 1930s softened much anti-Italian prejudice in our nation. And 1930s jazz musicians like bandleader Joe Marsala, saxophonist Flip Phillips (Filipelli) and drummer Louis Bellson (Balassoni) erased the color barrier by openly recruiting and/or playing with Black musicians when segregated bands still ruled.
(Note: In the 1950s, Bellson went ever further – he married the African American singer Pearl Bailey, an interracial romance that shocked the nation. They remained happily married until her death in 1990).
It should be noted that Dean and Connie had a precursor: Jazz musician and singer Louis Prima. During WWII, Prima openly sang fun novelty songs in Italian, a clever way of advancing the assimilation of Italian Americans.
So what did Dean and Connie share in common other than vowels in their original birth-names? Vocal talents, of course. Public personas which exuded class and dignitá. And, above all, a genuine pride in their heritage, exhibited by their singing popular songs in Italian, whether it was Volare (Dean) or Mamma (Francis). And these weren’t just “one-hit wonders.” Dean sang many other songs in Italian, and Francis did entire albums in Italian. (Fun fact: Francis, who grew up in an Italian-Jewish neighborhood, was also fluent in Yiddish and sang an entire album in that language.)
Flash-forward nearly 60 years later, and who represents our culture to the American public? The late James Gandolfini via his crude fictional mobster Tony Soprano, and pop singer Lady Gaga, whose first Italian-based role in the new film House of Gucci highlights a deranged woman who had her husband murdered (Patrizia Reggiani). This is progress?
Some might argue that it is, indeed, progress – that, like Hall’s article posited, Italian Americans are so woven into the American mosaic that even negative portrayals don’t affect their ascension in America. But what’s missing via Gandolfini and in Gaga are those two crucial elements that Dean and Connie had: class and dignitá. And, as we know, the positive aura that surrounded Italian Americans decades ago has long vanished, thanks largely in part The Godfather.
It is worth noting that when Francis Ford Coppola’s mob epic was released in 1972, Dean himself took a public stand against it, saying that “what that film did to the Italian people, there was no call for that.” Even singer Tony Bennett – who, ironically, decades later (2014), selected Lady Gaga as a duet partner – called the film “pernicious,” adding, “It leads the audience to believe that organized crime is all-Italian when, in fact, it involves many nationalities.”
Compare this to James Gandolfini once telling Tom Gennaro, a national activist, that “I will stop doing mob roles when they stop paying me to do them.” Or Lady Gaga telling Vanity Fair in November, 2021 that, even though she “knew how Tony (Bennett) feels about Italians represented in films in terms of crime,” she nonetheless wanted to “make Patrizia (her murderous character) a real person, not a caricature.” Jimmy and Gaga not only lack class and dignity. They also lack basic respect – for others, themselves, and their culture.
But: neither can hold a candle to Robert De Niro who, although ¼ Italian, is seen by the American people as Public Paesan #1. In 2004, asked by an Italian reporter how he felt about Italian American activists unhappy with his voice-over for a “mafia” cartoon aimed at kids, he dismissively replied that they were “a bunch of stronzi” (assholes). Classy! -BDC
The Godfather and Goodfellows movies are now staples on numerous cable TV channels (including the venerable BBC). Not so long ago, showings were much more limited, such as during “Mob Week”, on AMC. Add to this all of the more recently made “indie” movies, and the number of mob-themed movies being aired is truly staggering. The known impact of pervasive negative stereotyping, especially upon the young, is well known. I am not aware of any study/survey that identifies the root cause of the popularity of these films among the large segment of the population that embraces them. Gandolfini is still like a folk hero to many, even after death.
In the House of Gucci, the movie maker has used Hollywood Italian stereotypes to represent Paolo and Aldo Gucci. From the trailer, you can tell the characters are loud, obnoxious and tacky like the stereotypical blue-collar Italian man. They gesticulate and repeat cliché’ like “Welcome to the Family!”.
If you think that Gucci defines elegance, class and exclusivity worldwide, the movie maker’s choice is disrespectful (racist).
A Gucci family member has issued a statement saying: “My grandfather was a very handsome man, like all the Guccis, and very tall, blue eyes and very elegant. He is being played by Al Pacino (Aldo Gucci), who is not very tall already, and this photo shows him as fat, short, with sideburns, really ugly. Shameful, because he doesn’t resemble him at all. ” She added that Leto, who is seen in some pictures with unkempt hair while playing Paolo Gucci is, “Horrible, horrible. I still feel offended.”
As usual, Italian men are shown as short, dark and “swarthy” – even if when it comes to probably the most elegant men of the 1900s.
A film like House of Gucci is the modern equivalent of a Hollywood film like Dragon Seed (1944) in which American actors – including the likes of Katherine Hepburn – play fast and loose with gross stereotypes (slitted eye make-up, etc.).
The reason no one sees this in Gucci is because of the power of relentless Hollywood stereotypes. Italians are either murderers or morons. Just as with The Sopranos, it is the same in Gucci: Lady Gaga shoots a gun and Jared Leto chews the scenery (the latter, perhaps a shout-out to our love of food?). Equally gross.
In 2021 Hollywood, though, gross has become “normal” via their view of Italians.
Unfortunately, that is just the way it is. Italian stereotypes are so ingrained that they are not considered racist. Asians and other minorities have instead been successful in making people pass for racists at the slightest mistake.
A few days ago, they held the American Music Award . The Italian-Danish rock band Maneskin was introduced by Cardi B with a racist pagliacciata. While introducing the band, she is sitting at a table with a checkered tablecloth and a plate of spaghetti, accompanied by a mandolin.
Lapo Elkan (member of the Agnelli family) commented on Twitter:
“Wake up and smell the coffee, Cardi B. Italy is not spaghetti and wine, it is much, much more. Italy is beauty, culture, Leonardo, Ferrari, opera. So, before introducing Italian artists, learn and get ready. It’s so sad to use stereotypes to welcome the Maneskin. You fight against racism and stereotypes of minorities which is a great thing and deserves the utmost respect. I think that feeding stereotypes against others goes against the values you seek to share with your fans. That’s all. You and your family are welcome in Italy, and I’d like to host you in Italy. A lot of heart”.
Of course, Cardi B did not apologize. She actually commented “Would you like to give me a whole lesson on an awards show? Should I have brought a Ferrari to the stage? -The rapper joked- I made some jokes too about my hometown. People want to feel outraged for no reason, in no way was I trying to be offensive”.
She would have had a point if the Korean band BTS, which was part of the same competition, had been mocked like the Italian band. She could have introduced BTS while eating Bosintang, the famous Korean dog-meat based soup. But she did not mock them. She only mocked Maneskin.
Didn’t know about the Cardi B. incident. Believe it or not, I don’t think that Ms. B. (who has basically parlayed a stripper’s persona into a lucrative music career) really did intend to offend anyone. My guess is that the show’s writers came up with the ideas.
Can’t blame them: They are reacting to media repetition. But, on the other hand, why NOT blame them? Are they too lazy to do more research or go beyond one-dimensional images? Certainly, they so do for other racial, ethnic and sexual groups.
In my mind an Italian surname doesn’t make you Italian!
Italian Americans who know and love their Italian heritage and culture deserve the name.
Also there are many people not of Italian descent that deserve the honor, like converts they are true believers. They really love our Italian heritage and culture.