Stereotypes In Godfather Films

Puzo’s writing impacted the mobsters themselves showing the strength of the work. Puzo’s iconic lines such as “I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse” and “sleeps with the fishes” have become common phrases used in actual mobster vernacular, which prior to the Godfather films did not exist. The term “godfather” was also created by Puzo and as stated by Megan Gambino is still used by the FBI and the mob to describe the head of the crime family forty years later (Gambino Web). Audiences were drawn to the early gangster films and were reintroduced to the gangster through the emergence of modern gangster films such as The Godfather, released in 1972. The American gangster appealed to the public because of the “double satisfaction” felt through

The gangster genre created a standardized public image for Americans of Italian immigrants: criminals. The Godfather trilogy set up many stereotypes that are held by the public. For example the term “Godfather” automatically brings up mental images of the Corleone family. The Godfather has also associated food, family and violence with the Italian American image (The Godfather:Stereotype Web). During the production of The Godfather the Italian America Civil Rights League protested against the movie for the stereotypes it was creating. They believed that the movie would only serve to reinforce the negative Italian stereotypes. However, Megan Gambino, a member of the Gambino crime family, believes The Godfather’s addition of family values shatters some of the negative stereotyping. Gambino says “it squashed the idea that Italians were uneducated and that Italians all spoke with heavy accents.” (Gambino Web). American culture has accepted, both negative and positive, stereotypes created by the media regarding Italians. Stereotypes created in mob films go past the image of the powerful, criminal; women are typecast as housewives or overly flirtatious, and Italian men are viewed as lazy (Vaccarello Web). Even in modern times, Italians are stuck with the “gangster” stigma. Stereotypes continue to be displayed in the media and more recently in reality TV. Shows such as the Jersey

The public has romanticized the “outlaw” and their free sense of living, since the early stories of Robin Hood (Reed Web). With the arrival of films such as Little Caesar and Scarface the gangster film rose in its popularity. These films were very different from those being produced at the time. Gangster films did not stray aways from explicit violence and topics of concern. Gangster crime films were modern in comparison to the other films being released that production codes were reevaluated and restrictions were changed. Conservatives were concerned because the lifestyle being shown to the public was outrageous, filled with scenes of girls, money, booze, and bloodshed. Yet, the audience remained enamored by the stories. The Italian American image may have been distorted for the sake of entertainment, but for Hollywood it was a small price to