Sopranos and the Perpetuated Mafiosi Image Essay -- essays research pa

The Sopranos and the Perpetuated Mafiosi ImageA life of unionized crime, fancy cars, machine guns, beautiful women, money, power and family these are the images that have perpetuated the associations of Italian-Americans with the mafia in film and television for decades. It is in this traditional Godfather fashion that the HBO hit series The Sopranos continues to perpetuate this stereotypical image into the 21st century. From classic films like The Godfather and Goodfellas, to miniseries events like Bella maffia and The Last Don, to the dramatic series The Sopranos, Italian-Americans have traditionally been portrayed as gangsters and mobsters and have been seen living the lives of organized criminals. Italian-Americans and the Mafia have traditionally been linked in popular culture and The Sopranos is no exception. "Its undeniable that the dominant pop-culture images of Italian-Americans have been the mobster and the related, anti-working class stereotype of the boorish gavone& quot (De Stefano 32). Textually, Tony Soprano is just this. He is an Italian-American, living in a suburban New Jersey town, the head of the local Mafia family. He is anything but working class, as he is continually portrayed as the mobster dealing with "business." He is involved in murders, blackmail, illegal gambling and racketeering. Inter-textually, there are frequent references to Mafia popular culture. Tony and his gang regularly execute lines from The Godfather and refer to each other as "Donnie Brasco." Tonys relationship with his therapist parallels that of the satiric Mafia film, Analyze This and comments are made to that effect. These inter-textual references draw attention to the traditional Mafia portrayals in film and television and acknowledge the existence of this stereotypical depiction of Italian-Americans in visual media. The producers of The Sopranos go as far as to include comedic extra-textual references, bill of exchange upon the social comme ntary of ethnic stereotyping. When Tonys therapist and her family make a toast over dinner to the "20 million Italian-Americans" who have nothing to do with organized crime, we see here a representation of the opposition by Italian-Americans to the Mafia-stereotype. Sub-textually, the covert commentary within the series runs deep. Running between the lines are sub-plots dealing with family val... ...hus associates state of such ethnic descent with crime and corruption. Those in opposition of the show see it as " a buffoonish caricature of (these) people" and "an ethnic troubadour show" (Showalter 42). In line with traditional representations of Italian-Americans in visual media, the Sopranos continues a portrayal of Mafiosi and glamorized lives of crime and power. Yet, this fresh take on and old image successfully creates a window to the realistic lifestyle of a modern-day Mafia family. While this series presents a look at only a microcosm of coeval socie ty, it perpetuates the stereotypical association of Italian-Americans as sensationalized Mafiosi and glorifies the lifestyle of organized criminals in the 21st century. BIBLIOGRAPHYAuster, Albert. "The Sopranos the gangster redux." Television Quarterly 31 4 (Winter, 2001) 34-8. De Stefeno, George. "Ungood Fellas." The Nation 270 5 (Feb. 7, 2000) 31-3. Golway, Terry. " lifespan in the 90s." America 180 10 (March 27, 1999) 6.Showalter, Elaine. "Mob Scene." American Prospect 11 8 (Feb. 28, 2000) 42-3 . The Sopranos. Chase, David. HBO. 1999-2002.