Cuomo Meets The Godfather
I read an article in The New York Times this morning about former New York Governor Mario Cuomo seeing the film The Godfather for the first time. It has been well documented that Cuomo had refused to see the film since it’s 1972 release because it paints Italians in a negative light. He said that movies like this make people think badly about all Italians.
With all due respect to Cuomo he’s missing something here. The idea that someone would see this film and apply an understanding of it’s core characters to everyone within their race is ridiculous. Every race has it’s heroes and villains. It’s bad actors and good of heart. When I watch The Godfather I don’t think “Italians scare me, they’re bad people”. I can view the film and recognize that it is based on a subset of the race it’s main characters belong to. I can understand that although the Corleone’s are a ruthless and violent group they don’t represent all Italians. Or even all Sicilians.
Toward the end of the article Cuomo finally admits that the film was “great, if you’re referring to artistry.” Yes, Mr. Cuomo, it’s a film and not a depiction of real life. Call it art, entertainment, whatever. What’s on the screen is rarely, if ever, a depiction of the full ethnic group it’s main characters belong to.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.