subscribe to this pageCall#: Van Pelt Library HV6446 .R47 2004
In Chapter 2, Italian Gangs of New York: A Place in the Sun, of the book American Mafia, by Thomas Reppetto the author describes the growth of the Italian population in New York and how it led to the eventual growth of a mafia.
In the late 19th century the number of Italians in New York City increase over tenfold. This massive increase in immigration led to the creation of small ghettos known as Little Italy. Many of the Italians that were immigrating to the United States during this time, Reppetto describes as industrious, but most often poorly educated, some even unable to read their own language. These Italians were often recruited to work even before they arrived in America and paid a meager wage for a hard day’s work. Furthermore, they were very often the subject of persecution by other ethnic groups, such as the Irish which made up a strong portion of the police force
These factors and living conditions caused the closely confined immigrants to fomr tight knit groups which relied on themselves internally for most things. Due to persecution and the nature of the ghettos they lived in they often fell short of adequet police protection. It was here that Scicilian gangster would find a home in which to create their illegal organization. It was here that the early families sprang up.
“The Godfather” shows a great number of these characterstics, especially the failings of the American dream and justice system. This motif which is prevelant throughout the movie is evident in the opening scene when Amerigo goes before Don Vito Corleone seeking justice after the American legal system had failed to protect his daughter or punish those responsible for her injuries. The understanding developed in this chapter creates a frame work for the foundation of families such as the Corleone or the Tattaglias.
Call#: Van Pelt Library PS153.I8 B49 1997
Beyond The Godfather, Italian American Writers Writing about the Real Italian American experience is a collection of stories from various Italian authors who offer an intimate and unique insight into what there lives were like completely disconnected from the experiences depticted in a movie like “The Godfather”. This work is not so mucha response to the film “The Godfather” as it is a reaction to those that have seen the film and can not distinguish between reality and fiction or are simply content to place stereotypical
The first story in the book is that of Louise Desalvo called “Finding My Way” and his experiences as a young boy growing up in Hoboken, New Jersey and going to grammar school. This interesting little story shows how important education was this Italian American family and the pride that they felt to become integrated into American society as opposed to the extra legal activities that you would experience in “The Godfather.” Moreover, his real-life experiences at school prove him to be quite astute and polite. This quaint story ends as it had began ground in the real experience of family, one that has no connection to the mafia.
This book takes a step back from the stereotypes that one might decide to adopt from the portrayals of Italian Americans in The Godfather. Understanding the distinction is important not only because stereotyping a group of people is ignorant, but because in realizing that the book or the movie are a work of fiction should increase one’s appreciation of the work.
The article “Italian-Americans in Film: From Immigrants to Icons”, written by Carlos E. Cortés takes a detailed look at the progression of immigrants, especially Italian Americans, in cinema throughout history. The article traces the steps of immigrants or minorities and how cinema affected the way in which they were viewed by society.
From the era of silent films there has been different portrayals of Italian Americans as well as Mexican, Chinese, and African Americans in cinema. These portrayals were often fairly negative however, although Italian Americans were portrayed in a less than favorable light they were significantly better off than the cruel or barbaric depictions of their minority counterparts.
The concern about increasing alien presence/influence in the U.S. led congress in the 1920’s to pass a series of immigration laws that would restrict the inflow of immigrants. This also led to need to Americanize or at least hide one’s foreignness in pursuit of the American Dream. Gradually Italian-American imagery began to move away from their violent portrayals in films such as Lady in the Lake (1946) or Force of Evil (1948). Due to the popularity of people like Frank Sinatra and Joe Dimaggio, Hollywood began to see the possibilities for the commercialization of ethnicities.
In “The Godfather”, the new imagery of Italian Americans begins to take shape in the form of characters such as Vito Corleone and Michael Corleone. The transition from Don Vito to Michael can in many ways stand as a great example of the evolution of the imagery of Italian Americans in Cinema. Vito’s character hold much more true to the traditional Italian values whereas Michael served in WWII and is involved with a traditionally “American “ girl, Kay. The transition from Vito to Michael embodies the way people began to view Italian Americans and their struggles to achieve the American dream.
James Thomas Chiampi takes a detailed look at the novel “The Godfather”, written my Mario Puzo in the article Ressurecting “The Godfather”. He begins with an examination of the criticism of the novel that he has found throughout the years. Some condemn the novel as a mere work of sensationalism that alonbg with a hedonistic atmosphere simply glorifies evil deeds and corruption. Chiampi, however, argues that these critics as well as those that praise it for it’s realism are missing it’s most essential facet, the ability to make the outrageous plausible.
Chiampi also takes a careful look at the characters and the dynamic between them that Puzo establishes. In this examination he builds an understanding of the characters action within the larger and deeper context of the American dream of justice and the fact that the Corrleone family must by their very own nature exist ouside of that reality. He notes the impossibility of the Corrleone family or anyone associated with them to be able to live within the pretense of that dream for very long. He makes a keen observation by showing that any of the characters that act outside of the realm of the scicilian demeanor or embody characteristics that make them inherently American are either traitors to the Corrleones or die, or both.
Perhaps the most poignant of analyses to be found in this article is that of the barbarism in the characters. He qualifies this barbaric nature as one of cold calculations and pragmatic choices, but is quick to criticize any argument that depicts Michael Corrleone as anything but an American. Even though Michael fits all of the criteria to be considered an American (Dartmouth, served in the Marines) he ironically must ultimately come to grips with his own identity through the identity of his father. It is then that Michael must take on the sins of his father and although he does not realize it never be able to reach that American dream he thought he had wanted for so long.
Call#: Van Pelt Library HV6453.I8 C48 1989
The 2nd chapter, The Traditional Mafia: The man of Honor, of Judith Chubb’s book, The Mafia and Politics the Italian State under siege, the author examines the true origin of the word mafia and examines how and why this meaning has changed. She describes the structure of the traditional mafia and what factors have come about to change mafia into the crime syndicates that exist today in the United States.
Today, the word Mafioso or mafia denotes a far flung criminal empire that has a pyramid like hierarchy. However, rather than denote any type of leadership structure it was meant to represent a fundamental identity of values and goals that make up a complex social networks, “held together by traditional bonds of honor, kinship and instrumental friendship.” The author describes the single mafia family, or cosca as being strongly centralized interconnected social network that once established in the U.S. had to adapt it’s structure to accommodate the scale of economic transactions involved. The centralized decision making body was now default to a Cupola or commission. In this way, the author suggest that the current families structure is much more like that of competing sovereign states
The author gives three traits that distinguish “mafia” from other criminal activities. First, violence or the threat of violence is used to acquire a position as a “man of honor”. Second, having a broad base of social supports to legitimize the operations of the organization. In these social supports the head of the “mafia” may even be represented as a social champion. Third, organic linkages to the political environment are usually necessary to remain immune from prosecution.
In “The Godfather”, the above structures of the mafia apply directly to the organization that is developed throughout the movie. Furthermore, the sense of honor and duty within social networks never seems to be absent from the minds of Don Corleone and are essential to the decisions that he makes throughout the movie. Understanding where the term mafia or Mafioso comes from will lend and understanding to why some of the main characters in the movie make the decisions they do.
Call#: Van Pelt Library HV6453.I8 A713 1986
In the chapter entitled The Entrepreneurial Mafia and the Heroin Economy author Pino Arrlachi described the detailed steps that are required to get heroin from Middle East to the United States and once here what is required to distribute it efficiently.
The heroin production starts in the middle east or in Southern Asia as an opium that must be made from the poppy plant. The value of this step in the gradual production into heroin is incredibly low considering what can ultimately be obtained as revenue for fully processed heroin. The author gives the details of prices for both the poppy plant and then the fully processed morphine and shows how the value of the morphine increases as one moves closer to the United States. From Afghanistan to Milan the price of Morphine can increase six fold.
In the next section the author deals with the market for heroine which , he describes as essentially the perfect sellers market with an almost completely inelastic product. In this section the mafia or organinized crime plays its necessary role. According to the author, there are three things that are necessary for the successful sale of opium, they are capital, physical violence, and insurance of inaction from law enforcement. With these established, the returns to heroine sale are enormous and can be anwhere from 10 to twenty times cost of morphine purchase.
In “The Godfather”, the main conflict centers around the character of Sollozzo who brings the possibility of drug trade to Don Vito Corrleone. Sollozzo offers the Don three hundred percent return on his investment inside of a month. The Don intelligently refuse because as was shown in this section Sollozzo was asking the Vito to put up to of the essential factors for the drug trade capital and political connections. Understnading these elements of the drug trade helps to provide some insight into the decisions that were made in the film.
Smith Jr., Dwight C. "Mafia: The Prototypical Alien Conspiracy." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science: Vol. 423, Crime and Justice in America: 1776-1976, p. 75-88.
There seems to consistently exist a sense of fascination with conspiracy theories. In American culture, the Mafia is one specific type of conspiracy that seems to have captured the public opinion. Dwight C. Smith, Jr examines the conspiracy of the mafia in his paper, Mafia: The Prototypical Alien Conspiracy. This paper examines the worries about not external, but internal aggressors that seek to undermine the status quo or legal system.
Smith traces the progression of various conspiracies throughout history, what is required to constitute or create a conspiracy and the way in which these conspiracies affect the mentality of a countries citizens. The eartliest examples of these comspiracies would be the illuminati of the late 18th century, the Bolsheviks of the late 19th century, and now the conspiracies that have surrounded mafia activities. In each of these cases and perhaps with all conspiracies, there is a beginning in which there is only an idea or suspicion. For the Mafia, this suspicion started around October of 1890 in which New Orleans Superintendant of Police David Hennesey and a simple allegation that a group of Sicilians known as the Matrangas were the leaders of a 300 person Mafia. The significance of the Death of the Police superintnedant was clear and retaliation swift.
The work goes on to show the progression of the Mafia as a product of cultural influence to an organization with a complex hierarchy and infrastructure. In the film “The Godfather” one can see the complexity of the organization as well as a necessity to remain “under the radar” even if it was only a formality. For example, Don Vito tells Solozzo that he does not wish to take part in his drug trade no matter how lucrative it is because essentially it would their quiet existence within circle of government officials to public and too loud for them to continue to take part in the conspiracy. This paper offers a historical understanding of the development of a Mafioso culture as a conspiracy along with all of the political corruption that is associated with it.
The influence and penetration by the Mafia into various sectors of the government and legal system throughout the 20th century is an issue of great concern that Earl Johnson Jr. a Special Attorney in the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the United States Department of Justice discusses in his paper Organized Crime: Challenge to the American Legal System: Part III. Legal Antidotes for the Political Corruption Induced by Organized Crime. The paper explores possible remedies to the corruption created by the mafia through four possible measures
The first technique is that of initiating legal action against organized crime even when prosecutors are influenced and bought out not to take legal action. Remedying this situation is essential because if the prosecutor refuses to take action, the court is essentially powerless to react to illegal activity One possible remedy here is for the court to appoint a special prosecutor in the event that it appears the prosecutor is un willing to take any action. Other possible actions include substitution to the states Attorney General, a private person or the Federal Government.
The government and legal body on all levels must also not only discourage officials from becoming corrupt but also try not hire corrupt officials in the future. Sanction both Civil and Criminal can be taken against officials that are corrupt. The author describes the legal process involved in prosecuting someone from start to finish as a set of contest that the court must win at all steps along the way.
This paper sets up an understanding of the legal system and an acknowledgement of the corruption therein. In “The Godfather”, one of the central tools of any organized crime family is political connections. Throughout the movie, one can see corruption present at numerous points throughout the government, from corrupt police officers to an acknowledgment that the Don even has Judges and Senators “in his pocket.” The central conflict evolves from the fact that Don Vito Corrleone has legal contacts which are of tremendous value to other crime organization, contacts that worth killing for.
The Corleone Chronicles: Revisiting “The Godfather” Films as Trilogy, written by Pheobe Poon examines the structure of the narrative of each of the three Godfather movies, what separated these films from other gangster films of the time as well as the legacy that the three movies have left behind.
She starts her analysis of the films by taking a look at their typical narrative structure. Her examination leads her to break the films in four different acts, exposition (prologue), disruption (conflict), transition (bridge), to restoration (conclusion). The film, like other gangster films share some similar motifs, centered around the search or attempt to attain the American Dream through various illegal acts. In this way, in “The Godfather”, Michael Corleone’s character, although calculating and exacting, is transformed into a tragic hero. In this way films are not meant to glorify the gangster, but elicit an emotional response through an understandingof the charaters.
What Poon suggests sets “The Godfather” apart from other movies of its genre is its strong concentration on the family. Vito Corleone although calculating and at times barbaric is not simply portrayed as such. Rather because of the emphasis on the organization as a family, he is seen as the patriarch, the father figure instead of simply the boss. Furthermore, the characters, especially Michael and Vito are not merely acting out of revenge or avarice, but rather are convinced of the necessity of a strict moral code. This moral code comes through a history of ethnicity, being Sicilian. This ethnicity and concentration in a family allow for these characters to become protagonist as the audience can identify with some of their beliefs even if they can’t identify with some of the actions.
The article “New Mythology of Crime”, by John G. Cawelti examines the major popularity and acclaim associated with movie “The Godfather” and the reasons historically and socially for it rise to prominence in the minds of American entertainment consumers.
People throughout history have been fascinated with crime, especially violent crime. In its earliest example we have the Illiad and several works of Shakespeare. This article takes a look at the progression of man’s fascination with crime or violence and how the development of the crime myth has has been shaped as a result the way in which the public identifies with character of the criminal.
Cawelti examines the possibility that “The Godfather” popularity and renown can be accredited not only to what he describes as “Skillful writing, striking and emotionally involving characters and situation, and a powerfully unified action”, but also to the creation of a new type of crime mythology. He goes on to describe the development of the crime myth throughout history and shows its departure from the traditional dichotomy of moral good and sin towards dynamics that place the criminal in the role of the main character. Several factors influenced the development of the crime myth throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Among these are the development of the detective story, which helped to create a sort of intrigue towards stories of crime and criminal activity. Romanticized criminal characters such as Robin hood and Jesse James also developed during the 19th and 20th as well as a deeper insight into the criminal mind through the fields of psychology and sociology.
A unique aspect of “The Godfather” was the importance and imagery of the family to refer to a criminal organization. This conceit began a new type of association with the criminal character, a sort of understanding or identification with character that was never so prevalent in the crime myth previously. Also, “The Godfather” introduced a sense of awe or fascination with the power and respect of the criminal organization as a whole. The combination of these factors are clearly evident in the film as various parts of the movie are defined by family events, whether it is the wedding of Vito Corleone’s daughter or the baptism of Michael Corleone’s godson, the criminal activities are consistently connected directly with the family. The development of these new conceits is just one of the factors that set “The Godfather” apart as unique and help to explain its tremendous popularity.