Gangsters, Mothers , Sex Symbols and

Fessos:Exploring Italian-American Stereotypes in

Television

By: Jocelyn OuelletteCMN 758 Media

Analysis and CriticismURC 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:oMafia gangster

oFessooMother/MatriarchoSex 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

Male Stereotypes

• Inept and Inactive fathers

• Still dependent on their Mothers

• Uneducated • Violent• Physically Lazy

ResultsCommon Stereotypes in

Each ShowFemale Stereotypes•Wives obsessed with children and home•Mothers are domineering and controlling•Women can only be 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

ReferencesQuinn, 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 CriticismReading 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.