Contact The Miss America Organization if you wish to comment
Two Miss America Way, Suite 1000
Atlantic City, NJ 08401
Phone 609-345-7571
Fax 609-347-6079
info@missamerica.org    
======================================================
MISS JERSEY: SOPRANOS QUESTION WRONG

The New York Times
Associated Press
September 24, 2002
 

MORRISTOWN, N.J. A Miss America pageant judge was wrong to ask Miss New Jersey about her views on ''The Sopranos,'' according to the contestant and some Italian-American groups.

The judge asked Alicia Renee Luciano what she thought about the show during an interview segment of Saturday night's pageant in Atlantic City. The HBO drama focuses on fictional mob boss Tony Soprano and his struggles as an organized crime boss and head of a suburban New Jersey family.

''It was a question that I don't think they would ask of anyone, other than someone with my background,'' Alicia Renee Luciano told The Daily Record of Parsippany for Tuesday's editions. The Byram resident is believed to be the first Italian-American to represent New Jersey in the pageant.

The show has been strongly criticized by Italian-American groups and others who claim that it reinforces negative stereotypes, and Luciano admitted being thrown by the question.

''I wasn't expecting that,'' she said. ''Everyone else was getting questions about how they felt about performance dance and the arts.''

Several Italian-American groups and area officials agreed, calling the question insensitive and insulting. Miss America officials did not immediately return a message left at their office early Tuesday.

''I don't think it was appropriate,'' said Anthony Marci, vice president of the North Jersey chapter of FIERI, a group of students and young adults that celebrates Italian culture.

''It's a television show that should be taken with a grain of salt,'' he said. ''But at the same time, Italian-Americans should be cognizant that it adds to the stereotypes in this country,'' Marci said.

Miss Jersey: Sopranos Question Wrong 
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-Miss-New-Jersey.html