"NEW BRUNS=
WICK, N.J. -- Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr. has convicted "The Sopranos" of spreading what he says are stereotypes about Italian-Americans.
During a visit to Rutgers University on Wednesday, Alito complained that the hit HBO television drama not only associated Italian-Americans with the Mafia, but New Jerseyans, as well.
"You have a trifecta _ gangsters, Italian-Americans, New Jersey _ wedded in the popular American imagination," Alito said at an event sponsored by the Italian studies program at Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey."
He sez dis like it's a bad thing or somethin'.
12 comments:
Okay............
Hellooooo . . . what about the films and shows that protray the Irish as folks who always drink and fight, drink and fight, drink and . . . .
Oh, wait a minute, that's pretty much true.
Slainte,
The Digital "And Why Wouldn't I Have Another Guinness?" Hairshirt
(Please note my Irish side is tempered by my Polish side, which means occasionally I forgo the stout for a vodka, neat)
My godfaddah would be offended dat hizhonner wuz even sayin' dat dere's sumpthin' wrong wid dis.
Alito picking on his own? How terrible. Tony is my best bud and I'm proud of him and proud to be an Italian.
While the rest of the world was watching all those Mafia movies we were busy taking over. It was a plan, folks. And, it worked!
A stereotype? I thought these truths were self-evident, like the Pope being Catholic.
Unfortunately, unlike Digi, my Irish temper is bolstered by my German temper. At least both groups like their beer or we'd be experiencing Mad Max behavior over spilled milk.
SwissMiss: I'm laughing my hiney off. German-Irish? You probably didn't know anyone could speak in any tone below a bellow before you were 21.
Adrienne- I know. Whazzup with Alito? They get a little money and all of a sudden they're too good for da hood. I'm tellin' ya, the guy keeps that up, and he won't be able to call in no "favors" no more. Just wait until his maiden aunt in Philly needs some help whackin' somebody for trampling her flower beds. Then where's she gonna be?
Karen
In MN, historically, there have been two dominate ethnic group: the Scandihoovians and the German-Irish (neither too keen on the other). I am German-Irish on both sides, with some Swiss on my mother's side and a conglomeration of British Isles variants on my dad's. I have NO Scandivhoovian ancestry. If I had any, I would've had gene splicing done to extricate any Scandy ancestry ;}
The bellering...maybe that's why I have hearing loss! Both my saintly parents yelled. Hubby's parents are also German-Irish and the same thing holds true with them :)
Don't you have some of this German-Irish ancestry? A good number of my lines trace back to PA...isn't that where you're from? Mine are predominately from Washington, Cambria and Huntingdon Counties.
Swiss: No Irish, but a lot of German. They just talk loud and give you those "dark looks" when they're mad. An occasional schnitzel might get tossed.
I wish to God ONE of my ancestors had married or slept with a Zulu princess -- because although I have 1/8th British ancestry, I inherited 100% of their tooth enamel. [Thanks, guys ...I'm grateful for the somewhat wavy hair great great great great graddad Dawson provided ... but....)
No wonder they developed stiff upper lips.
Sorry to join in late...I was too busy drinking and fighting (LOL!)
Like SwissMiss, I too am mostly a Reuben (corned beef & 'kraut) and no, you don't want to mess with it. But if you do, we're as likely to laugh with and hoist one up in our own honor as to smash your face in. My husband brought the Italians into the mix - oh my poor children's future spouses - so we pretty much have all the stereotypes covered. And we choose to revel in all of our many parts, unlike the "Adjective-Americans" who still piss and moan generations past relevance. (Frankly, there aren't enough hyphens to cover all that we've got going on in the family shrubbery). So, I am a bit surprised that Alito has a tender spot about this. As we used to say in law school "WWS[calia]D?"
He's not the first person to make this particular claim about "The Sopranos". It's something that's come up before, though I don't remember who complained last time. And it's completely ridiculous.
Hell, yes, Stephen. Having a little Italian hood "cred" is an asset. [True or not!] It keeps people from ****in' wid you!
I mean, I mention my godfaddah is half Sicilian, it gives people pause.... They don't know if his "Scot=Presbyterian" dad's side is going to show up and demand 50 cents interest on a loan of a dollar, or if his mother's Sicilian "eat the linguini before I kill yas I'm not a restaurant" bust your kneecaps side will show. They don't want to chance it....
Alito should know "Italian hood" in da family is a definite cachet. I always laugh at certain minorities who don't want their ethnic group represented in football team names. I mean, c'mon, you name something after someone because you admire it. You don't have a team named "the fighting canaries."
Karen
Karen - ok, maybe no "Fighting Canaries" but you DO have the venerable "Fighting Artichokes" of Scottsdale Community College....
-Kit (a member of the former, and now emasculated "Fighting Illini")
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