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THE
OTHER ITALIANS
BY ROBERT SANTAGATA
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Courtesy of Prof. Dominic
Candeloro, H-NET List on Italian-American History and Culture [H-ITAM@H-NET.MSU.EDU]
I simply don't know where to begin. I love Italy and I love being Italian! I am passionate about all things Italian because there is so much to be proud of. But I am also disenchanted--no, I'm sick to my stomach--over an epidemic that continues spreading unabated throughout this country and the world, something we have all tolerated--or ignored--for far too long: the unfavorable stereotyping of Italians in the media. As an Italian-American who experiences anything but pride when the masses celebrate such creations as The Sopranos and Goodfellas, when an Italian-American television actor (I won't name the culprit) expounds in books about what it means to be a good "goomba," I feel it incumbent upon myself to tell you a few things about the Italian culture and what being Italian means to me and, indeed, why we should all be proud of our heritage. For those of you who don't know, Italy, the land of which we are all extensions, has produced a civilization that is unparalleled in its richness and complexity. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Italy holds 60% of the world's cultural and artistic patrimony and 80% of western civilization's art and architectural treasures. Of the 630 cultural heritage sites to be found in 118 countries, 2/3 (or 66%) of the artistic heritage sites are located in Italy! Indeed, there are more art and architectural treasures in the glorious city of Florence than there are in the whole of Spain. And Rome, Venice, Milan, Naples and Palermo, too, have more than a fair share of art riches on which millions of tourists each year feast their eyes. This is astonishing only when you consider the size of the country, not its many layers of history and the cultural flowerings that she has produced over the centuries: ancient Rome, the Renaissance, the Baroque. Italians are exuberently creative, inventive, and, more than anything else, dedicated to producing images that are sublimely beautiful and melodies that blissfully fill the heart and soul. The Italians have an uncanny ability to transpose simple ideas into works of visual, musical, and culinary art that inspire awe in all fortunate enough to partake of them. Make a pilgrimage to Rome and pay your respects to Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel, the most miraculous artwork executed by history's greatest artistic genius; Botticelli's hypnotically graceful Venus awaits you in the rolling surf in Florence's Uffizi Gallery; Leonardo's Mona Lisa beckons you with her enigmatic smile from a not-too-shabby museum in Paris. Indeed, the world's most recognizable works of visual art were created by Italians. Songs like O' Sole Mio, Nessun Dorma, Santa Lucia, Brindisi, and instrumental pieces such as Vivaldi's effervescent Four Seasons and Rossini's stirring William Tell Overture continue to delight those fortunate enough to lend their ears to them. I trust I needn't expound on the glories of the Italian kitchen here, confident that you are all well familiar with our accomplishments in the culinary arts and why Italian is the world's most popular cuisine. The Italians have created so much for the world to enjoy. Their art, music, fashions, and cuisine gladden the hearts of people from all corners of the globe. Consider what our world would be like without the violin, piano, opera, pasta, pizza, gelato, cappuccino, the musical scale, the modern orchestra, Puccini, Verdi, Armani jackets, Versace dresses, Prada shoes, Gucci bags, Ferrari automobiles, the miraculous city of Venice (mankind's greatest masterpiece), Palladio's Villas, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Coliseum, St. Peter's, Florence (birthplace of the Renaissance and modern man), Naples (where everyone sings, though not always melodiously), the Amalfi drive (an engineering marvel), the great, complex island of Sicily (which one must understand to truly know Italy), Fellini, Sophia, Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, Renata Tebaldi and, most important, dolce far niente--the sweet art of doing nothing but enjoying life's pleasures, something the Italians have managed to perfect like no other people on earth. Indeed, if we are all a tad hedonistic it is because we've been that way for nearly three-thousand years and it is hard to change. But what about Italy's children in America? Where do they fit in? First and foremost, we are all descendants of the ancient Romans, who for nearly a thousand years spread culture and civilization throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia Minor. And while ancient Rome's popular press leaves much to be desired--thanks in large part to the trite creations of Hollywood--Rome was about so much more than conquest, power, maniacal emperors, and gladiatorial bloodfests. After all, how would you write those love letters to your sweethearts without the Roman alphabet and the English language, which is largely derived from Latin, a language invented by the Romans and used to unify the Roman world? How could we manage time without the Roman calendar? How could western civilization have developed without the guidance of the industrious, organized, and disciplined Romans? We are all forever linked to Italy and her history; to her triumphs and failures, to her great accomplishments as well as her shortcomings, of which there are more than a few. We are American because our ancestors fled a nation that for nearly fifteen hundred years (after the fall of Rome) was fragmented, war-torn, and occupied by foreign oppressors to such a degree as to leave it psychologically, spiritually, and economically frustrated and impoverished. They sought better lives for themselves and their children. They desired liberty, prosperity, and upward socio-economic mobility. They grappled with adversity in all its most hideous forms--poverty, hunger, joblessness, prejudice, discrimination--and managed to prevail in the end. And here we are. Our people, through hard work, determination and unwavering commitment to their adopted country, helped make--and continue to make--America the great nation that it is today. We have assimilated (perhaps too much for our own good, I often think) into the American fabric and have enriched her workforce as doctors, lawyers, politicians, teachers, engineers, actors and artists, corporate CEOs, business owners, writers and, yes, sanitation workers, contractors, private investigators, and the occasional bookie. We are smart, entertaining, hospitable, accommodating, rich in spirit, and incredibly generous with our smiles. Shouldn't this, too, be projected on the movie screen or in television programs for the world to see? Haven't we as a society evolved to a point where all people--regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, etc.--are treated favorably, at least equitably, by the media. . . the way it should be? Indeed, I am outraged by the fact that Italians are almost invariably portrayed as either rabid, gun-toting mafiosi, corpulent singers and mammas, or, most unfavorably, abrasive, monosyllabic morons with sauce-stained t-shirts who--people (including our own) are lead to believe--have contributed nothing to the American culture, the development of western civilization, and the world. The Italians did not invent organized crime, nor are they the only people on earth capable of stupidity. Hollywood has done absolutely nothing to correct, or stem, this egregious distortion of the Italian culture and its people; it merely continues pumping out movies and television programs that perpetuate these stereotypes. We should all join together, once and for all, and send a deeply heartfelt message to the Hollywood brass: Italians are not all thugs and gangsters, oversexed womanizers and harlots, profane, loud, uncultured, boorish spaghetti-slurpers. Please, highlight our greatness and not merely our flaws, emphasize our countless achievements and take--at long last--a much needed break from this negative stereotyping that has plagued us for so long. This would be the actualization
of a dream for me, and I am eager to see it come too pass. Aren't you?
Robert Santagata
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