Some questions that I have never been able to answer:
What is the topic of these two films? The working class or Italian Americans?
Why is it that Italian Americans are represented either as working class, or, if they are rich they are Mafia bosses?
COMMENT and REPLY.
The topic of these two films is about two couples who are in love. Marty and True Love were both based off of Italian Americans. Marty represents a couple who want to wed but are having complications because of the woman's culture being non-Italian. In True Love, the couple are in love and are both Italian. They are comfortable with their situation and are happy.
ReplyDeleteItalian Americans were represented as either the working class or as rich Mafia bosses because the stereotypes only represented them to be classified into those two categories. Through each film/book that we had this semester the jobs that the Italian Americans were because the Italians were not given any upper class jobs.
Hi Joy,
DeleteI agree with what yoI said.I definitely think that some of the stereotype also has to do with the fact that many Italian Americans weren't even given any upper class jobs when they came to America. Therefore, that may have resulted in the working class stereotype that many of them are categorized as.
Hey Joy,
DeleteI agree with what you say about the films about couples being in love, although I disagree with what you say about why Italian Americans are represented as rich mafia bosses, or working class I don't think it has anything to do with what the professor gave us as work, you should think outside of the class room about how Italian american's are represented.
I believe that the topic of these two films had to do with the working class Italian Americans and their struggle to either find love or to maintain it. I also think that the films really focused on the passion of each character which I believe was meant to be a representation of Italian American themselves.
ReplyDeleteI think that Italian Americans are either represented as rich mafia bosses or working class because that's probably what they have been classified as since they came to the Americas and due to this, there is no middle ground. I think that many people view Italian Americans as coming to America and having to work extremely hard to make a living and to support themselves and their family so this is what results in them being classified as working class. However, there are the Italian Americans who saw another way of being able to make a living and who also chose to try and overcome a system that was set against them thus resulting in some of them becoming rich mafia bosses, hence the stereotype.
Because of this, I believe that for many, the view of Italian Americans is that it is either one or the other without an in between.
The topics of these films are about two couples who are in love. I think that the movies touch on Italian American more than working class because you can clearly see that the two couples really love each other and that Italian's are known for being very affectionate.
ReplyDeleteItalian American's are known as working class, and because of their past when they came to America in the early 1900s. In the past they used to be known as hard workers who would work tirelessly for money since they wanted to earn money for their families back in Italy, or America. As for Mafia boss I have a feeling it was derived from movies, and or television shows, we all know all Italian's are not all mafia bosses but due to movies and television I think when people hear about Italian’s they'd automatically stereotype them as some type of mafia member.
I agree Annie. You state that the Italians show love and want to be loved. I think as they are on this quest to find love they truly understand the importance of persevering their rich culture. This is why they must find a partner who can share these cultural values.
DeleteMarty and True Love are not "Italian" films necessarily, but they do rely on stereotypes of Italian families to emphasize the same theme in each movie. Although family is important, sometimes you must do what's best for yourself. As for the representation of Italians in film, Italians like many ethnic groups faced considerable discrimination when they immigrated to America and were often portrayed in a negative light as a result.
ReplyDeleteExplanation:
Both films stereotypical Italian families to set the stage for a theme in movies that general audiences understand and embrace. Loyalty to one's family is next to godliness in America, but when family expectations suffocate a person's happiness, a person--no matter which family they've grown up in--has to break free. Which is what both protagonists do against the wishes of their disapproving families. Could a movie company have used a Norwegian family? A Swedish family? or A British family with the same story line? They could have, but a story with these ethnic groups would not enhance the theme and give it as much dramatic tension since Americans have grown up with the stereotypical portrayal of "hot-blooded" Italian families who expect loyalty to family at all costs.
Representation of Italians fall into stereotypical portrayals as well, of working-class boxers or mafia dons living in mansions. The stereotype has emerged largely from a movie industry which has profited off the ethnic stereotyping Italians faced when they immigrated to the United States. Aware of the stereotypes, the movie industry developed movies which fed the stereotypes knowing full well their popularity would produce box office hits.
The topic of these two films is how the Italian Americans struggle to find love and marry them. In both Marty and True Love, the couples in focus set out to find a romantic partner who shared the same beliefs and cultural aspects as they did. Both of these films show how the Italian Americans struggle to find a romantic partner and maintain the love that they have created.
ReplyDeleteItalian Americans are represented either as working class or as Mafia bosses because it was how individuals viewed them when they first immigrated to America. When Italian Americans first landed in America they were seen as the working class or Mafia bosses by the way that they carried themselves and presented themselves to the new world. In almost every book/film about Italian Americans, Italian Americans are viewed this way because this stereotype has been passed on for generations and it is what ‘sticks’ throughout the cultures.
You're right that these stereotypes stick. We even have them stuck in our own heads. It is the outcome of generations of misrepresentation. We even have stereotypes of our own races ans tribes stuck in our head. I, a Muslim myself, picture a Muslim man with a beard, wearing a turban, when I hear the word terrorist, even though I know that terrorism does not have a culture, religion or race. The people making movies also have these stereotypes stuck in their head and that affects the movie and its characters, whether it is done intentionally or just happens because of the stereotypes embedded in the brain of the person or people making the movie.
DeleteI certainly agree that stereotypes stick. They get to the point where relying on a stereotype makes a character more believable to a larger audience, no matter how offensive or cringe-worthy it ends up being.
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ReplyDeleteI think the topic of the two films was working class people in love. Since they were working class, the producers must have thought it best to make the characters Italians so that it would make "sense".
ReplyDeleteI think the reason Italian Americans are represented as working class or if they are rich, Mafia bosses is because in movies the ones making the movie want to make the characters seem "real" and understandable to the audience. When they are making a movie about the relatively poor working class, they have a few stereotypical options, one of them being Italians. When the movie is about family and love as well then they think Italian Americans, according to stereotypical views, fit perfectly, like a puzzle piece, into the movie. Similarly when a movie is being made about the Mafia the movie makers believe the characters would make "sense" most if they were Italian Americans. When a character does not fall into one of these categories it probably never occurs to the producer to make the character Italian.
It is all because of the stereotypes people have strongly embedded in their brain. They hear Mafia, they think Italian. They hear working class, one of the words that come into their mind is Italian.They hear terrorist, they think Middle Eastern. They hear rich and greedy, they think Jewish. Even if they don't believe in those stereotypes, it does cross their minds. That's just how it is and it's going to take ages for these disgusting stereotypes to finally fade away.
Marty and True Love are two films about Italians Americans rather than working class. While it would be the case that both involve working class families, they build on stereotypical Italian features of food-service and emphasis on Catholicism and family values.
ReplyDeleteItalian Americans take both these roles because they fit the depiction expected by a viewing audience. Just as an Italian character might be found as more believable as a Guido than as a gay man, an Italian character is found to be more believable as a working class citizen or a Mafioso.
1. Marty and True love are two films about the Italian -Americans and not directly the working class and people in love. In both films, the couple must find someone who shares the same culture values. Both films express the importance of sharing culture.
ReplyDelete2. Italian -Americans are represented as the working class or in the Mafia because this was the typical stereotypes for Italians. the characters are seen to be more believable if the Italian are in the working class because this was their reality and norm. The movies resembles what the Italian-Americans were really like.
In both movies we see that the topics were marriage religion and being Italian. In the movie Marty, we see that Marty was an older guy and his mom was pushing for him to get married and meet someone. He finally met someone, but unfortunately she was Italian or catholic therefore his mom did not approve. On the other had we see in true love two Italians together planning their weddings.The characters were mostly working class Italians. We see that they are all working class and working towards getting a better life.
ReplyDelete