SPIELBERG'S DREAMWORKS ANTIMATES PREJUDICE IN KIDS MOVIE

"Shark Tale" Uses Defamatory Ethnic Stereotyping  to Characterize Villains

Columbus Citizens Foundation President Lawrence Auriana
Brands Spielberg Hypocrite for Violating Filmmaker’s Professed Moral Code

New York, NY, September 14, 2004 – Lawrence Auriana, President of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, today condemned DreamWorks SKG’s newest film, 'Shark Tale' for its unprecedented use of ethnic stereotypes to characterize villains in a recent children’s movie.  The movie received its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2004.

In other recent movies for kids, the bad guys are identified by personality traits alone.  They are greedy.  They are power-hungry.  They are arrogant.   They are violent.

In Shark Tale, bad guys are also identified by their ethnicity.  They have Italian and Italian-American names, such as Lino and Luca, Giuseppe and Gino, and by their use of Italian-American phrases of speech and slang, such as "capeesh", "consigliere" and "agita".  They praise violence as a virtue, they kidnap, they extort and they intimidate.  They are creatures of vengeful rage.  They are menacing.

The movie introduces young minds to the idea that people with Italian names - like millions of Americans across the country - are gangsters.  Shark Tale creates in its audiences an association between gangsters and Italian-Americans that will become imprinted in the developing minds of children.

DreamWorks is looking to profit off the mafia genre while inappropriately targeting children.  Shark Tale in large part is a parody of mafia films that are created for adult audiences.  DreamWorks reinforces the connection to the mafia by using the voices of actors who have repeatedly portrayed mob characters in or directed films about gangsters, including Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese and cast members from the Sopranos.

But gang life and the mafia are not suitable in movies for children, no matter how much DreamWorks may want to appeal to parents in an effort to increase the film's revenues.

“It is startling that this entertainment should come from DreamWorks, one of whose principals, Steven Spielberg, has been an outspoken opponent of stereotyping and discrimination,” said Auriana.

In a New York Times article published on March 9, 2004, Spielberg was quoted, “We are in a race against time for the conscious mind of young people” and need to teach them “the dangers of stereotyping, the dangers of discrimination, the dangers of racial and religious hatred and vengeful rage.”

In  testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in July 1994, Mr. Spielberg said, "People learn to hate."

In Shark Tale, bad guys are identified by Italian and Italian-American names, such as Don Lino, Luca, Giuseppe and Gino and by their use of Italian-American phrases of speech and slang, such as “capeesh”, “maronne” and “agita”.

The movie introduces a new generation of children to the idea that people with Italian names – like millions of Americans across the country – are gangsters. "Shark Tale' creates an association between villains and Italian-Americans that will become imprinted in the developing minds of children.

Children also learn to imitate what they see on the screen and in books. Spielberg and DreamWorks view Shark Tales as a parody.  Children will not.  They will want to mimic the behaviors of their group as defined on screen.  Reality imitates fiction.

Shark Tale exposes children to stereotyping and teaches young minds to associate Italian-Americans with violence and vengefulness.

It is startling that this film comes from Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks SKG.
Mr. Spielberg has been a passionately outspoken opponent of stereotyping and
discrimination.

“Despite Spielberg’s enlightened statements about stereotyping, he has allowed DreamWorks to create the first children’s film in the last 25 years, if not longer, that promotes bias,” said Auriana.  “In interviews and speeches, Spielberg has talked about the pain he has felt from prejudice.

In part because of DreamWorks’s portrayal, another generation of Italian-Americans will feel a similar pain.  Spielberg’s concerns about stereotyping are noble, but his actions contradict his words. By creating this movie, Spielberg is being hypocritical.”

“DreamWorks is looking to make a profit off the mafia genre,” said Auriana, “In large part, Shark Tale is a parody of mafia films that are created for adult audiences.  DreamWorks reinforces the connection to the mafia by using the voices of actors and directors who have repeatedly portrayed mob characters, including Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese and cast members from the Sopranos.  But gang life and the mafia are not suitable in movies for children, however much DreamWorks may want appeal to parents in an effort to increase the film’s revenues.”

“Negative stereotyping along lines of race, religion and ethnicity is unacceptable in America today, as are bias, prejudice and discrimination,” Auriana added.   He called on DreamWorks to strip its characters of offensive ethnic stereotyping by removing the film’s references to Italian-Americans before the its United States release on October 1st.

This would consist of :
    *    Removing Italian names from characters
    *    Eliminating Italian and Italian-American phrases and slang
    *    Removing physical gestures and customs found in Italian and
                   Italian-American culture
    *    Removing from bookstores Dreamworks' Shark Tale titles

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Contact:     Andrew Decker
212.222.4688 Andrew.Decker@att.net
______________________________________

The Columbus Citizens Foundation (www.columbuscitizensfd.org) celebrates Italian-American heritage.  The Foundation supports cultural and educational programs, including grants and scholarships for elementary school, high school and college students.  In 2003, the Foundation awarded over $2 million in scholarships and donated $1 million to help complete construction of the New Millennium High School, near the site of Ground Zero in lower Manhattan.  It also donated $300,000 to the Fallen Heroes Fund, which benefits the families of servicemen slain in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Columbus Citizens Foundation also produces New York City’s Columbus Day
Parade, which was first held in 1929.  In 2002, the Foundation declined to allow cast members of The Sopranos participate in the parade.

The Columbus Citizens Foundation is a member of the National Coalition Against Racial, Religious and Ethnic Stereotyping (CARRES), which since January 2004 has asked DreamWorks SKG to remove Italian-American names, mannerisms and speech from the film.  CARRES is an umbrella entity for over 20 organizations.  The founding members of CARRES are the Order of the Sons of Italy in America, the National Italian American Foundation, UNICO National and the Italic Institute of America.

The Annotico Report archives can be viewed at:
"Italy at St. Louis"  Italy at St. Louis Index Page
http://www.italystl.com/