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Dominic DiFrisco

Dominic DiFrisco, chairman of the board of Our Lady of Pompeii Shrine, is the founding member of the Italian American Human Relations Foundation and president emeritus of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans. He was appointed by Governor George Ryan to serve on the Illinois Human Rights Commission. Catholic New World special contributor Heather Grennan spoke with him about the image of Italian Americans and Catholics in the media.

The Catholic New World: How has the HBO television series “The Sopranos” contributed to the media’s image of Italian Americans?

Dominic DiFrisco: “The Sopranos” represent the lowest point possible in terms of portrayal of Italian Americans. It’s a very grating, ugly, screeching sound that emanates from that HBO series, as far as the Italian-American ear is concerned. It perpetuates and expands on a very distorted image of what Italian Americans are about and what we believe in. It mocks, degrades and insults a people who represent a great heritage and a great culture.

I refer to it as the 3 Ms: mafia, murder, mayhem. About 90 percent of the time you’ll see an Italian-American portrayed as an extension of that distorted image, and not in anyway related to a civilized, kind, loving human being. While “The Sopranos” is fiction, we live in a world where perceptions count.

TCNW: Is there one thing that really bothers you about the show?

DD: To me, the insult [of the show] is compounded by having an Italian-American mother hating her son, and vice versa. It’s the most alien thing to the heritage of Italian Americans. We come from a culture that reveres the Blessed Mother. We always go to her when we want something from Jesus. We always go to the mother first because we know the son responds to the mother.

TCNW: So why is this show so popular?

DD: I think America loves to have criminal activity have a foreign accent or a foreign look. We don’t like to acknowledge that we have homegrown criminals.

TCNW: How has the image perpetuated by the media influenced the real life of Italian Americans?

DD: I cannot say I speak for the entire Italian-American community. It’s pretty evident that there’s a portion of the Italian-American community that does not object to “The Sopranos” or that kind of depiction of Italian Americans. They dismiss it by saying, “it doesn’t offend me because it’s fiction.” Well, this fiction has led to a situation where a recent poll asked fourth-grade children, “What do you think of when the word ‘Italian’ is mentioned?” Seventy-four percent of the children responded by saying “hit men” or “mafia.” So fiction has become reality in the American mindset.

Sam Donaldson, a few years ago, on national television—he later apologized—said that an Italian-American political candidate should expect a question relative to his connections to any organized crime figures. John Ashcroft, trying to justify the use of wiretapping for terrorists, said that we do it for organized crime, so we should be able to do it for terrorists.

But when they say organized crime, they mean even a suspicion of organized crime; so consequently, innocent Italian people have been subject to really unconstitutional scrutiny and surveillance over the years. Weddings, baptisms and funerals have been monitored by agents who suspect that some sort of clandestine meetings are going on while someone is baptizing his child. Again, that’s an extension of that “Godfather” thing where murder and mayhem were being committed while Michael Corleone was standing up for his niece or nephew.

TCNW: Can you talk about the lawsuit filed against HBO and dismissed back in September?

DD: I don’t think anyone was surprised because it was dismissed. The organization was formed recently by a few Italian-American attorneys in Illinois as a result of “The Sopranos.” It’s called AIDA—American Italian Defense Association. AIDA looked at a statute in the Illinois constitution that prohibits or condemns any action that degrades, denigrates or stereotypes in an unfavorable manner any racial, ethnic or religious group.

There was no seeking of monetary damages; there was not an attempt to remove the show from the air, because we do understand First Amendment rights. What we asked the court to decide is whether that statute of the Illinois constitution in fact could be applied to what “The Sopranos” is sending out over the airwaves. The judge gave it a lot of consideration. He did ultimately say, let “The Sopranos” sing, because it is a First Amendment [issue]. But there may be an appeal here. Because it does mock the

Italian-American culture. If it were done toward the African-American community or the Jewish community, we would certainly support their efforts to condemn that kind of portrayal.

TCNW: Do you see the media image of Italian Americans changing?

DD: I see it changing, but it may be a long, painful process. Third- and fourth-generation Italian Americans are becoming aware of the need to at least look at these insults and respond to them. We’re getting more young people who are interested in their heritage than ever before. That’s a very healthy sign. One young man in our community did an intense study of movies and television over the last 30 years, and the percentage of favorable portrayals of Italian Americans is almost miniscule. It’s a pattern that has existed for so long now that people expect that.

TCNW: Can you point to a realistic, positive image of Italian Americans on television?

DD: There have been ads for the Olive Garden that celebrate the Italian family. Now there’s something that’s so sacred to us.

TCNW: Talk about the importance of faith and religion and family in Italian-American culture.

DD: That’s one of the reasons I’m involved in Our Lady of Pompeii. Beyond the religious aspect of our lives, where going to Mass was an integral part of our growing up, the church was also a center for people coming together. It was where on Sunday morning you saw your mother talking to her neighbor and your father greeting his friends. The church has always been at the core.

Our religion is under constant assault by the media. I should say the last two areas where there’s total freedom to attack are the Italian-American community and the Roman Catholic Church. From “The Thorn Birds” to a million other shows I’ve seen, priests are depicted as people who have violated their vows of celibacy and of poverty. And the Catholic Church has suffered greatly for this