Silence Is Not the Answer
Silence Is Not the Answer
(December 22, 2011)
Saviano is right. Silence is not the answer; protesting dramatic portrayals of mafiosi is not the answer. Italian Americans have spent more time and money fighting fictional mafiosi than they have fighting real mafiosi in their midst.
"We Italians have the best law, the best anti-mafia law in the world and we have taught the world anti-mafia methods. As of today, the majority of the world's most important consultations in anti-mafia matters go through Italy. The investigations we have reported have a lot to do with the Italian approach, with Giovanni Falcone's method, for example.
This is how Italians get rid of the unbearable prejudice they are victims of. By talking about it not by hiding it. Not by getting mad at Tony Soprano or Scorsese, but by communicating and showing what Italian history has been, how many victims there have been in order to tell all this."
Roberto Saviano at NYU, Dec. 8, 2011
(see the related videos to the left)
(see the related videos to the left)
Saviano is right. Silence is not the answer; protesting dramatic portrayals of mafiosi is not the answer. Italian Americans have spent more time and money fighting fictional mafiosi than they have fighting real mafiosi in their midst.
There are two fears that have guided this approach. One is the fear of the mafiosi, which is what keeps the gangsters alive and well; the other is the fear of being Italian American that keeps ignorance alive.
Not knowing their own past has led Italian Americans to combat fictional representations the way Don Quixote went after windmills. Only though knowledge of self and of Italian American cultural history can Italian Americans successfully develop a culture that both defeats and transcends the mafia stigma that has stained their public image.
There are two fears that have guided this approach. One is the fear of the mafiosi, which is what keeps the gangsters alive and well; the other is the fear of being Italian American that keeps ignorance alive.
Not knowing their own past has led Italian Americans to combat fictional representations the way Don Quixote went after windmills. Only though knowledge of self and of Italian American cultural history can Italian Americans successfully develop a culture that both defeats and transcends the mafia stigma that has stained their public image.
DISCLAIMER: Posts published in i-Italy are intended to stimulate a debate in the Italian and Italian-American Community and sometimes deal with controversial issues. The Editors are not responsible for, nor necessarily in agreement with the views presented by individual contributors.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - RIPRODUZIONE VIETATA.This work may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission.
Questo lavoro non può essere riprodotto, in tutto o in parte, senza permesso scritto.
-
This Blog
-
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
movies
Though it is true that Italian Americans have been portrayed in a negative light through movies, television and the media. But the fact remains that the viewing public has always been infatuated both with celluloid gangsters as well as real life Mafioso. It is what it is. I'm sure many, many Italians do as well. I agree that the best way to fight this image is not to blame the entertainment industry. That's Entertainment!