NationStates Jolt Archive

A group of Italian-Americans tried to get a school play shut down because it "portrayed hurtful stereotypes". The play involved a couple of old Mafiosi who end up buying food for orphans rather than engaging in crime. How is that offensive? I'm of Italian descent and I'm not offended in the least. These people, not the play, give us a bad name.

http://www.wftv.com/education/10329983/detail.html

Soo...they have no problem with the literally hundreds of crime novels, movies, comics, novelizations of movies, and movie versions of comics that all prominently portray Italian -Americans as members or leaders of organized crime?

And honestly, I can't say I've ever even considered that whole Mafia thing to be representative of Italian-Americans...you'd have to be a mind-boggling dipshit in order to make that kind of stereotype. I mean, my family is German and Russian; it's not like we've had any "hurtful" stereotypes for the past 72 years or anything like that.

And what of Chef Boyardee? Or Mario?

Its just a play... gawd! :eek:
And its a didactic play too! :eek:

Its just a play... gawd! :eek:
And its a didactic play too! :eek:

Yeah, I mean, isn't the whole concept of what appear to be Mafiosi actually up to something good a lesson about how we shouldn't prejudge others according to preconceived stereotypes?

Maybe they are saying that this play portrays Italians as something other than Mafia and is thus bad.

Yeah, I mean, isn't the whole concept of what appear to be Mafiosi actually up to something good a lesson about how we shouldn't prejudge others according to preconceived stereotypes?
Maybe that's what they were complaining about: The idea that an Italian-American can be something other than a mafiosi is repugnant to them.

Maybe they are saying that this play portrays Italians as something other than Mafia and is thus bad.
snap!
get out of my head! get out of my head!

Maybe that's what they were complaining about: The idea that an Italian-American can be something other than a mafiosi is repugnant to them.

Well, the play itself would shatter the stereotype of Italian-Americans and the mafiosi, would it not? It puts them into a different context.

Maybe that's what they were complaining about: The idea that an Italian-American can be something other than a mafiosi is repugnant to them.

That would be so ironic; I guess it would be like black people getting pissed because some play shows black Americans as positive, contributing members of society rather than as stereotypical gangstas and hoes.

I mean, who wouldn't want to be associated with crime and corruption as the prominent symbol of your culture?

What kind of mafiosi buys food for orphans?!

What kind of mafiosi buys food for orphans?!

And there lies the irony! :)

What kind of mafiosi buys food for orphans?!
Maybe the orphans were chained up under the restaurant making knock off Louis Vuitton bags.
Hence the need for the Mafiosi to buy food for them.

Maybe the orphans were chained up under the restaurant making knock off Louis Vuitton bags.
Hence the need for the Mafiosi to buy food for them.

The Italian-American Anti Defamation League finds this situation acceptable.

Maybe they just picked one specific thing to go against.

Italians are probably the biggest maligned group that complain the least in the US.

I'm see at an add for some shitty pizza last night, calling it "Brooklyn Style" and then it has a half dozen imbeciles talking in the stereotypical Brooklyner style. They stopped just short of guys grabbing their crotches.

It made me wonder how it would shake out if someone used the same poor taste and made a Harlem Style pizza and portrayed the same caliber of people and activities.

A group of Italian-Americans tried to get a school play shut down because it "portrayed hurtful stereotypes". The play involved a couple of old Mafiosi who end up buying food for orphans rather than engaging in crime. How is that offensive? I'm of Italian descent and I'm not offended in the least. These people, not the play, give us a bad name.

http://www.wftv.com/education/10329983/detail.html


Next - Complaints about play featuring Irishman in pub, Italians being well dressed, driving very expensive cars, Jews having sense of humour.

The Legitimate Businessmen's Social Club (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_Tony) will have something to say about this.

What kind of mafiosi buys food for orphans?!
That is exactly the problem.

The Mafia has been feeding the poor throughtout history and then expecting something in return.
Obviously the Mafia don't like the idea that there favourite way of getting new recruits has been exposed in a play.

The Italian stereotypes are getting a little tiresome. Especially the Papa Romano's commercials in my area. There's nothing Italian about, as well as all the other "restaurants" claiming to be Italian while sporting greasey WOP-dago chefs with horrible accents. I personally find it offensive that if I'm Italian and Scilian, I'm either in the Mafia or a chef.

Obviously the Italian Mafia has been a big part of American history in the 20th century since prohibition. However, everyone forgets about the Purple Gang, the Jewish Mafia, that ran Detroit and part of Toledo, as well as having ties with all the other gangs on the east coast, Cleveland, and Chicago. The Purple Gang were one of the most ruthless groups of people in the business. They could be your best friend or your undertaker. So why isn't there a Jewish mafia stereotype?

As far as chefs, I'm not sure where that comes from. A lot of Italian immigrants originally settled in Broklyn, so there probably a lot of Italian restaurants there. However, if you go to China-town, you'll likely find a lot of Chinese restaurants as well.

I think the the Italians get picked on the most (even though it's usually subtle), but complain the least. However, for that play, I can't understand what the problem is. It sounds legit enough I guess. As long as they aren't pulling racial slurs every other line, I think they ought to tell that group to go @^#$ themselves.