SOME ITALIAN AMERICANS NOT SINGING 
'SOPRANOS' PRAISES

Chicago Sun Times
Letters to the Editor
August 1, 2001

As Emmy nominations shower down upon him, Tony Soprano, the fictional mob 
boss on the HBO series ''The Sopranos,'' seems to have it all: fame, acclaim 
and a recognizable name. True, his equally fictional ''families'' on the 
show--his gang buddies and his nagging wife and kids--have given him grief 
over the past three seasons, but not enough to alter his status as America's 
most popular cultural icon since Archie Bunker--an Archie armed with pistols 
and Prozac, of course. 

However, all is not well in Soprano Land. Americans of Italian descent, tired 
of seeing their heritage treated like a crude theme park ("Step right up! See 
the Incredible Guidos and Bimbos!"), have risen up in fury like the dormant 
dinosaurs in ''Jurassic Park III.'' And like the T. rex and company, they are 
not amused. 

Events have been happening fast and furious: First, a film study published in 
the Hollywood Reporter magazine (March 1) revealed a 70 percent negativity 
rating in Hollywood portrayals of Italian Americans since 1928. Second, the 
Chicago-based American Italian Defense Association filed a group defamation 
lawsuit against HBO (April 5). 

Third, Rep. Marge Roukema (R-N.J.) introduced Resolution No. 141 (May 23), 
calling on Hollywood and the media to stop their ''unfair and negative'' 
stereotyping of Italian Americans, our nation's fifth largest ethnic group, 
at 15 million to 20 million people. 

To top it off, more and more Italian Americans in leadership positions have 
publicly condemned the show--among them, politician Andrew Cuomo, actor John 
Turturro and cultural critic Camille Paglia. 

Watching ''The Sopranos'' doesn't make you a bad person. One can, indeed, 
enjoy the show for its better-than-average writing, acting, directing, etc. 
But as our Roman ancestors would have warned, ''Caveat emptor!'' (Let the 
buyer beware!) The fact that ''The Sopranos'' is so well done is what makes 
it so insidious. Strip away its ''good qualities,'' and what you're left with 
is a show which, at its core, relies on familiar images that reinforce 
negative attitudes people already have toward Italian Americans (as 
uneducated, dysfunctional, low-class, racist, etc.) 

The issue of Italian stereotyping extends beyond ''The Sopranos,'' however, 
which is why the Italian anti-defamation movement is growing. A generalized 
negativity toward Italian culture has become the norm--even 
institutionalized. 

TV commercials frequently portray ''gangster'' themes, which the mainstream 
media reinforce through relentless ''mob movies'' or by hyping Italian 
criminals (or even criminal references) in print. Theater pieces such as 
''Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding'' turn elegant Italian get-togethers into crude 
farce. Every other mystery novel features ''the mafia'' as the villain. Even 
an animated cartoon like ''The Simpsons'' jumps on the bandwagon, with Homer 
pondering the absurdity of ''intelligent Italians.'' 

What Italian Americans are doing now is no different than what groups like 
the NAACP, B'nai B'rith and other fine organizations have done over the 
preceding decades: i.e., organize to protect their media image. Granted, 
Italians have been late in doing so, but being fashionably late is part of 
our character. (That's one stereotype I will concede.) 

The rise of Italian American activism is not, however, an outgrowth of 
political correctness. Indeed, it has always been politically correct to 
stereotype Italians in such a gross and condescending manner. The issues are, 
in fact, very simple: fairness, balance and self-respect. And all three of
these sundry virtues are as American as pizza pie. 

Bill Dal Cerro, 
West Town