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.

This article discusses the way in which Italian-Americans have been portrayed in film within the larger context of minority representation in media.  It begins with a statement regarding the announcement made prior to the first showing on television of the first two Godfather films.  The announcement essentially claimed that no particular ethnicity was being depicted despite the fact that the film was taking place (initially) in Sicily, the family is Sicilian, they all have Italian names, and they were speaking in Italian.

The general representation of Italians was simply that of criminals involved in organized crime through their families.  The disclaimer could have been seen as trying to avoid the kind of media influence the film might have, or simply called attention to it.  In either case, it becomes very clear how extensive the effects media can have on the mind and on the belief systems of people, especially regarding minorities.

Immigrant films began in the early 1900’s often focused around the symbolic Italian as the minority.  “Colored” minorities were met with a very different representation than the mildly funny representations of white minorities, but eventually this changed, and the representations were not nearly as harmless as they had once been.

The crime genre started to get big around the Great Depression.  Essentially, in their pursuit of the American Dream, Italian-Americans and Chinese Americans came to be the front runners in media representations.

The American Dream then quickly became twisted into a search for power and money.  Greed and deception, combined with crime and violence became a center for the stereotypes, particularly of Italian-Americans.  It seemed as though everyone Italian had a tie to organized crime. Ultimately, who became known as victims, and who were the victimizers depended on the time during which they were being depicted.

This article discusses the way in which Italian-Americans have been portrayed in film within the larger context of minority representation in media.  It begins with a statement regarding the announcement made prior to the first showing on television of the first two Godfather films.  The announcement essentially claimed that no particular ethnicity was being depicted despite the fact that the film was taking place (initially) in Sicily, the family is Sicilian, they all have Italian names, and they were speaking in Italian.

The general representation of Italians was simply that of criminals involved in organized crime through their families.  The disclaimer could have been seen as trying to avoid the kind of media influence the film might have, or simply called attention to it.  In either case, it becomes very clear how extensive the effects media can have on the mind and on the belief systems of people, especially regarding minorities.

Immigrant films began in the early 1900’s often focused around the symbolic Italian as the minority.  “Colored” minorities were met with a very different representation than the mildly funny representations of white minorities, but eventually this changed, and the representations were not nearly as harmless as they had once been.

The crime genre started to get big around the Great Depression.  Essentially, in their pursuit of the American Dream, Italian-Americans and Chinese Americans came to be the front runners in media representations.

The American Dream then quickly became twisted into a search for power and money.  Greed and deception, combined with crime and violence became a center for the stereotypes, particularly of Italian-Americans.  It seemed as though everyone Italian had a tie to organized crime. Ultimately, who became known as victims, and who were the victimizers depended on the time during which they were being depicted.