Gangsters, Mothers , Sex Symbols and Fessos: Exploring Italian-American Stereotypes in Television

By: Jocelyn Ouellette CMN 758 Media Analysis and Criticism URC 2010 Welcome to the Family

• Italian Americans are almost always portrayed in stereotypical terms in television

Everybody Loves Raymond The Sopranos A Question of Stereotypes • Prior research on Italian-American stereotypes in the media have ignored the stereotypes of Italian American women in The Sopranos, and more subtle Italian stereotypes found in a show like Everybody Loves Raymond Gangsters and Housewives: Previous Studies • Most of the research on Italian-Americans has focused heavily on gangster depictions, studying movies like Scarface and Caesar • Research on stereotypes surrounding Italian American women is limited to images of the Italian American housewife, while ignoring depictions of Italian- American women as sex symbols for men Influence of Italian American Stereotypes • A 2001 Zogby survey of 1,300 teenagers 13-18 found that 44% of teenagers said that Italian Americans would be cast mainly as crime bosses or restaurant workers • Even more astonishing: 46% agreed that Italian Americans are accurately portrayed on television or in the movies Defining Italian-American Stereotypes • Here is a list of the four major stereotypes that I found and defined in The Sopranos and Everybody Loves Raymond: o Mafia gangster oFesso oMother/Matriarch oSex Symbol Research Method

• I chose episodes from the first seasons of The Sopranos and Everybody Loves Raymond as the basis for this study because each show contained shared stereotypes that previously had not been explored Results Common Stereotypes in Each Show Male Stereotypes Female Stereotypes • Inept and Inactive •Wives obsessed fathers with children and home • Still dependent on their Mothers •Mothers are domineering and • Uneducated controlling • Violent •Women can only be • Physically Lazy mothers or a sex symbol Implications • Former stereotypes still persist but new stereotypes have evolved – Creation of new stereotypes about Italian-American women • Italian American stereotypes vehicle for indulging the baser instincts & prejudices of others • America is very comfortable with stereotypes in general References

Quinn, Roseanne Giannini "Mothers, Molls, and Misogynists: Resisting Italian American Womanhood in The Sopranos." Journal of American Culture 27.2 (2004): 166-174. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 27 Oct. 2009.

Cavallero, Jonathan J. "Gangsters, Fessos, Tricksters, and Sopranos." Journal of Popular Film & Television 32.2 (2004): 50-63. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 25 Oct. 2009.

Zogby International. "National Survey: American Teenagers and Stereotyping." The National Italian American Foundation. NIAF, 1 Mar. 2001. Web. 26 Oct. 2009.

Gross, Larry and Suzanne Jeffries-Fox. “What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up Little Girl?” Media Analysis and Criticism Reading Packet Fall 2009.

The Sopranos. Dir. Alan Taylor. Perf. James Gandolfini, Edie Falco. HBO, 1999. DVD.

Everybody Loves Raymond. Dir. Philip Rosenthal. Perf. Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton. HBO, 2004. DVD.