The American Media 's Influence On The Italian American

When talking about the American Mafia, mostly it’s referring to the Italians and their influence. During the height of the Mafia its influence on society was massive and mostly in a negative way. In pop culture, the Mafia represented violence, gang affiliations, and criminals. Although, in the perspective of our generation today some view them as heroes. The reason for this is mostly from the rise of hip-hop in society and how people view it.

This was due to the regular portrayal of Italian-Americans as “overly sexual, violent, and sentimental” individuals in a majority of cinematic productions such as The Skyscrapers in New York and The Black Hand (Tamburri, 209). Based on this, the audience can see that the purity aspect of the Italianamerican is intentionally incorporated in an effort to combat media’s historic negative representations of this ethnic community. In doing so, Martin Scorsese uses his parents as prime examples to trace back to their ethnic origins and utilizes these personal stories to impel members of the American cinematic industry to reexamine the sexuality and race of the Italian-American demographic. Scorsese’s documentary, which covers the difficulties his parents faced as they settled into the American way of life, potentially instilled a sense of empathy in the minds of other immigrants who shared similar experiences of acculturation with Catherine and Charlie Scorsese. Scorsese’s role as a third-generation Italian-American led to the successful creation of Italianamerican and its attempt at reducing the unfavorable opinions and beliefs many expressed towards

Criminal groups exist everywhere. However what defines each organized crime group depends upon what ultimate goal each group looks to achieve. In New York City, there has been organized crime in existence since the 1900’s. Although changing names, and rulers throughout the years, this group has always been known as the mafia. Predominantly, it has been known as the Italian mafia. Italian mafia just like it’s counterparts in the Irish and Jewish mafia underwent structural, social, and physical changes in order for it to reach its current status. Many people believe it has existed as long as it has due to the ingenious

The gangster genre within films in America has accomplished numerous positive criticisms and constant willing audiences due to containing outstanding spectacles and mind-blowing action. The Godfather, being second on the IMDb Top 250 Movies, has set a new popular concept to life within the Mafia from their point of view. Doing so, creating a positive association. Yet within Italy, the same topic contains a complete different view. Movies such as I Cento Passi demonstrate unenthusiastic view by those whom are outside yet negatively affected by those members. Unlike American films, the gangsters are not as often viewed at the protagonist and are the main causes for the problematic events. But how different is Italian Mafia and American

Although we all are living on the same planet we have a huge diversity among us. One of these notable differences between the people on earth is their different cultures. One can notice these differences when traveling or relocating to a new country with another culture he or she are familiar with. For example, the American culture and the Italian culture both have more differences than one would expect. When people try to visit Italy they should be aware of the cultural differences, and the right way to communicate with the Italians.

One of the biggest stereotypes depicting Southern Italians as immoral is the idea that they are all affiliated with the Mafia. This WASP belief was formed based on a .0025% of truth. An extremely small population of the Southern Italians engaged in organized crime. However, WASPs believed that all organized crime was run by Italians, and that all Southern Italians were involved or connected with the crimes in some way. The Italian way of closeness of family and exclusiveness of anyone who was not family, helped confirm the WASPs’ theory of intertwined

Due to the language barriers, cultures and people did not mix. The Italians remained with, socialized with, and committed crimes on other Italians within the Italian community. The Chicago Mafia remained incontact with the Mafia connections in Italy.

Italy was one of the earliest countries to form a mafia due to unjust oppression from foreign governments. When Italian immigrants fled Sicily to enter the United States, they brought along their underground government with them, as well. The US deprived some of those immigrants from entering America which furthermore sparked the Mafia’s foundation. In An Examination of U.S. Immigration Policy and Serious Crime, Horowitz states that immigrant crime has promoted fear. Newcomers brought their criminal features who converted their societies into zones of lawlessness. Tensions between different ethnic groups have caused uneasiness. Jewish gangsters in New York victimized strikers into returning to work and stole from people. Italians ran extortion rings in San Francisco and prostitution houses in Chicago (Horowitz). America realized that allowing immigrants into their country has drastically increased their crime rates. Immigrants have brought corruption into America and illegal services. Italian immigrants brought their clandestine union which gave rise to the Blackhand. In his book, American Dreamers, Groth presents what Michael Woodiwiss said, “bootlegging presented second generation southern and eastern European immigrants that were Jews, Italians, Sicilians, Poles, Slavs and others with opportunities to climb the criminal hierarchy, many of whom accepted this as a form of occupation” (Woodiwiss 8). Immigrants have

This classical landmark film, The Public enemy, introduces the social context of gangster films around the same time Prohibition and the Great Depression really started to take a toll on lives. While the later well-known film, Scarface, was placed in the era of mass immigration from Cuba to Florida, with the growth in popularity of the drug ‘cocaine’. Due to these two films, people become fascinated with the idea of wealth and power both found in the typical

When talking about a true American crime story, one can start and end the discussion with one of the most powerful and influential true stories ever told: GoodFellas. Based on the incredible true story, the film follows the rise and fall of Lucchese crime family associates Henry Hill and his friends throughout the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 1980s. Originally written as the non-fiction novel “Wise Guys” by Nicholas Pileggi, the story takes you deep into the world of arguably the most notorious crime posse America has ever known: the Italian Mafia. It is viewed by scores of critics and moviegoers alike as one of the greatest crime/drama movies ever filmed – so needless to say, with such a

These forms of entertainment consist of everything from the arts to sporting events. The Italians dominated the arts in both Europe and America. The Italian language itself has been known as the language of music for centuries since all musical terms are written in the Italian language. When Italians immigrated to the United States, they brought along with them their love and talent for the arts. This naturally included the opera, which has been widely associated with a popular outing for people of the upper class. Yet, the opera doesn’t have to be viewed in this way, for the opera is for everybody and tells stories through music. In fact, famous plays and songs are turned opera including that of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Art is another thing that comes with the Italian heritage, and Florence is regarded as the birthplace of the Renaissance and the resurgence of art. It was these works of the time that inspired many other Americans of Italian descent to create their own artwork such as Ralph Fasanella. Many musicians are regarding as being Italian. One musician, Frank Sinatra, has been known for his music career and is widely regarded as a popular musician. However, according to sources Sinatra has been viewed as a mafia member by many people who were prejudice towards the Italian race. This ethnic prejudice can largely be associated with the novel and film The Godfather. The 1969

The immigrants were not well received. They were viewed as scum filling the ghettos, affecting the job market, and threatening the American way of life. Their poor reputations were also fueled by the crime that had traveled with them. Aside from the rich culture and tradition, that had developed within the streets of Manhattan’s Little Italy, the Italian American Mafia was formed.

La Cosa Nostra Perhaps one of the most poignant moments in American cinema is the closing scene in the film “The Godfather” when Don Vito Corleone’s son Michael takes over his father’s position... and one of the most unforgettable moments, a severed horses’s head lies bloody in a man’s bed. It is this tradition and brutality that characterizes the Mafia, a secret Sicilian society that lives and functions just as much today on American soil as it did and does still in Italy. To understand this organized crime, one must begin to understand how it came to be organized in the first place. During the medieval times in Sicily, Arabs invaded the land and native Sicilians fled and took refuge in the hills. Some of these refugees formed a

Imagine living in a world where crime ruled. A world where gangsters were more powerful than politicians, owned the police, and ran the city in whatever way they felt. They robbed whom they wanted and killed when they didn't get their way. Now stop imagining and realize that this happened here in the United States of America in the 1920's. It was run by an organization made up mainly of Italians called the Mafia.

The Italians are associated with organized crime and are also shown as close to their families as shown in the movie The Godfather where the characters are associated with family, violence, and food, such as pasta. The TV series, Sopranos portrayed Italian men as leaders of the house with women being housewives. However, a