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Sopranos' Hits Low Note On The Hill
By J. Scott Orr, Star-Ledger Washington BureauWASHINGTON -- (May 9, 2001) Tony Soprano, long the target of fictitious federal agents, is now drawing the attention of the real-life Congress. Fifty-one years after America was confronted with the existence of organized crime by the Senate's Kefauver Committee, Rep. Marge Roukema (R-5th Dist.) wants Congress to condemn HBO's mob drama "The Sopranos" for what she said was perpetuating a stereotype.
In a draft of a resolution due for introduction next week, Roukema, whose maiden name is Scafati, called upon the entertainment industry to "immediately stop the negative and unfair stereotyping of Italian-Americans, particularly the profane criminals as portrayed in the television show 'The Sopranos.' "This program is highly discriminatory. They do ethnic stereotyping and it's Mafia, homicide, cheating, corruption, financial corruption, denigrating women and families, all of it."
Roukema admitted she has never seen the Emmy Award-winning series. Roukema said her resolution is gaining co-sponsors,"and not all Italian-Americans." Not all Italian-American lawmakers are behind the measure. Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) counts himself among the millions of devoted fans of the New Jersey-based show.
"It would be hypocritical of the senator to criticize a program that he regularly watches," said his spokeswoman, Debra DeShong. Torricelli is such a fan, she said, that "he refuses to allow the office to schedule anything during its time slot."
Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-8th Dist.), who once participated in a picket line protesting the show, was one of the first to join Roukema in sponsoring the measure. The show, he said, "is an insult to my grandmother and grandfather... "I watched the show once and it is full of horrible stereotyping. Those who are participating, those actors and actresses and producers, have a responsibility to give a more positive image of Italian-Americans." Dominic Chianese, who portrays the aging mobster Uncle Junior in the series, declined to comment on Roukema's resolution, but he defended the show, saying it focuses more on the tribulations of the neurotic Tony Soprano's home life than his role as a mobster.
The series was created by David Chase, who was raised in New Jersey. "All I can say is David Chase wrote a family drama. The Mafia thing is strictly part of the story, but it's basically family drama. It's about a man who is having problems with his family and there's satire involved," he said.
Jeff Cusson, a spokesman for HBO, would not comment and said Chase was unavailable. Bill Tonelli, an editor at Rolling Stone magazine who wrote a book about his own Italian-American heritage, said Congress has better things to do than worry about a television program. "Ninety-nine percent of Italian-Americans love the show. For years, one thing Italian-Americans took pride in is that we tend not to be whiny little crybabies. The people who are filing lawsuits and introducing bills in Congress are giving up that part of our heritage," he said.
Still, there is serious anger over "The Sopranos" among many Italian-Americans. Enrico J. Mirabelli, attorney for the American Italian Defense Association in Chicago, said Roukema's resolution "adds weight to the claim that the show is defamatory." "We're saying that this negative stereotype reinforces the negative view that a lot of people have of Italian-Americans. When it comes to stepping on the civil rights of an ethnic group, we've been the doormat for far too long."
Manny Alfano, who heads the anti-bias committee of UNICO, an Italian-American civic organization, said: "We've been fighting this for years; it not just 'The Sopranos,' it's all the shows. There are so many of us that do so well, but in the entertainment industry, you always see the buffoons, the bimbos, the bigots and the mobsters."
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