The Media Are the Mafia: Italian-American Images and the Ethnic Struggle

Abstract

Italian-Americans have been rediscovered by the mass media. With stars like Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Sylvester Stallone, and John Travolta punching, shooting, and dancing their way across the silver screen, the Italians have become, in the words of one critic, "Hollywood's favorite ethnic group." But at what price? And what meaning does it have for the Italian-American experience and, more generally, for the ethnic struggle in America?

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