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Italian American Intellectuals Judge the "TV CULT" and the director
"shoots: in its defense
By Letizia Airos
WITH 13.5 million spectators, the immensely popular saga of
the Sopranos, the New Jersey Italoamerican mafioso family, is
a major cultural phenomenon. As such it has both fans and ravenous
critics. A great many people complain that its macho and violent
characters promote and spread negative stereotypes, which are
distorting the younger generation's perceptions of family, religious
and ethical values and the Italoamerican identity. The show
has become an "ethnic issue" and even ended up in the courts.
"The Sopranos" is being discussed in the home, in the workplace,
and in the universities. Many intellectuals are applauding it.
"If the stereotype of an Italian American is someone who wants
to grab life with both hands, someone who loves to eat good
food, who loves to spend hours with extended family...I can
live with that." And why should it matter whether the protagonist
is a mobster or a detective or an athlete? "The show is about
who they are, not what they do." This is George Anastasia speaking,
a reporter with the Philadelphia Inquirer, in his contribution
to the collection of essays A Sitdown with the Sopranos, edited
by Regina Barreca (Palgrave Macmillan, 2002). The book was recently
discussed at the NYU Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò. Attorney
James Periconi was the moderator. Regina Barreca, a professor
of English and of Feminist Theory at the University of Connecticut,
introduced the extremely delicate theme of stereotypes brilliantly.
She said she identified with the female characters in the series,
"except the mafioso business and money stuff, of course." She
pointed out that the series doesn't only have the routine male
characters, it has strong women characters too. Professor Fred
Gardaphé, one of the contributors to the collection, said he
also "identifies personally with Tony Soprano." He said he suspects
many American men do. Gardaphé, director of the Italian American
Studies program at SUNY-Stony Brook, doesn't think a debate
on the stereotypes in "The Sopranos" makes any sense. He says
the truth is the series turns Italoamericans into just Americans.
According to him the show's success is its ability to reveal
the worst in contemporary American life in general, not its
particular representation of Italoamerican culture. He says
the series "holds a mirror up to American middle-class life."
The audience at Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò was thick with
opinions that were often contrary to the writers'. The stereotypes
issue is deeply serious, and life doesn't always coincide with
academic analysis. Opinions get more radical when family values,
heritage, and the image of an entire ethnic group come into
play. The dialogue was constructive though. Even though "The
Sopranos" is only a work of fiction, it has certainly contributed
to reopening the question of the impact of stereotypes on the
Italoamerican community. Which was needed! Although George Anastasia
does have a point when he invites caution and optimism: "Any
ethnic group that can give America Antonino Scalia and Camille
Paglia in the same generation doesn't have to worry about Tony
Soprano being its poster boy." No matter whose eyes you're looking
out, there's one question that's inevitable. Why is the life
of a mobster so attractive to people? Other books, all recent,
try to answer this from various angles. C. Seay in The Gospel
According to Tony Soprano (J.P. Tarcher) explores the spiritual
realm. His book is about God, about good and evil. In The Psychology
of the Sopranos by G.O. Gabbard (Basic Books), Tony's encounters
with his female psychologist are analyzed as if they were real
events. In Tony Soprano's America, edited by D.R. Simon (Perseus
Books), criminologists investigate the American dream in the
context of the mafioso phenomenon. And in the more analytical
This Thing of Ours, edited by D. Lavery (Columbia University
Press), a group of scholars and professors does a thorough study
of "The Sopranos" in society and in the media. That's a very
scholarly book, but there's something for everyone. Here's one
that's not too heavy: The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Artie
Bucco (Warner Books). The reader sits and eats with the Sopranos.
Reject the gun, take the cannoli. Though they're so different,
these last two have something in common. In their titles, they
too use the stereotypes: cosa nostra, and the Italian family
dinner table. "The Sopranos" picture of the mafioso Italoamerican
family is instilling itself somewhat everywhere, and the objections
to it are not to be taken lightly. Other peoples also know what
it means to be stereotyped. Jews know it, African Americans,
Native Americans...and Arabs. Media images have conditioned
all of us. After 9/11, in the subway or at the airport, how
many of us have not suddenly found ourselves suspecting an Arabic
face of being that of a Taliban terrorist?
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