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NIAF Picks & Pans
home >> Image & Identity >> Picks & Pans >> Spring 2002
THUMBS UP TO:
Ederhostel for its October 2001 course in Manhattan, "Italian New York," which focused on the contributions of Italian Americans to the Big Apple from the 19th century to the present.
Columnist Gil Spencer at The Delaware County Times Daily for his November 14, 2001 column sympathetic to Italian Americans' complaints about stereotyping. Contact him at gspencer@delcotimes.com.
The new CBS television series "First Monday" for its positive portrayal of an Italian American on the U.S. Supreme Court. Joe Mantegna plays Joe Novelli, an Associate Justice. The show's executive producer, Donald P. Bellisario, is also Italian American. Visit the CBS website www.cbs.com/primetime/first_monday.
Diane Ruggiero, the creative force behind the CBS television series "That's Life", who uses her position in the entertainment industry to combat negative stereotypes of Italian Americans. In a recent episode, the main character, Lydia DeLuca, refuses to appear in a mob movie even though she needs the $1,000 paycheck. Visit the website www.cbs.com/primetime/thats_life.
THUMBS DOWN:
WNEW-AM and "The Sports Guys," a New York City radio program whose co-hosts Craig and Blain repeatedly refer to N.Y. Jets quarterback Vinnie Testaverdi as "Vinnie the Guinea." Contact 212-489-1027 or www.wnew.com.
"Philly," a nationally televised ABC series about lawyers that consistently presents unsavory characters of Italian heritage. Contact ABC at 818-460-7477 and the show's producer Steven Bochco at Bochco Productions, BLDG.1-10201 West Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035.
The Vermont Teddy Bear Company for its Valentine's Day promotion of a bear called "Gangster of Love" which wears a fedora, white spats and carries a violin case. The internet ad (see store.yahoo.com/vtbear/vdaygangster.html) reads "Be a goodfella. Send her this Bear and she'll be singing like a soprano!" With a price of $87.00 we don't know who'd buy it anyway. Contact The Vermont Teddy Bear Company, Attn: Customer Service, 6655 Shelburne Road, Shelburne, VT 05482.
The Warner Bros. Rosie O'Donnell website www.rosie.com for asking people to email Rosie their encounters with "Italian Waitresses from Hell." You respond by clicking on an icon of an Italian flag engulfed in flames.
CBS Executive Michael Frost Beckner who remarked on the December 18, 2001 installment of the TV show "Politically Incorrect" that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is a questionable leader because he is "from a country that gave us Mussolini." This overlooks Italy's many other positive contributions to history and stereotypes all Italians.
The website www.afreegreetingcard.com for offering an e-card that is defamatory toward Italians. It's a takeoff on "A Night Before Christmas" with Santa Claus as a murderous mafioso. E-mail contactus@afreegreetingcard.com.
Mercedes-Benz for its New York area radio ads featuring the voices of an Italian-sounding man and woman using mob-type talk. Write to Mercedes North American headquarters in Montvale, New Jersey.
The San Diego Union Tribune for running a weekly ad for Culy Theater Downtown in San Diego which features shows called "Joey & Maria's Comedy Italian Wedding" and "The Soprano's Last Supper." Descriptions read "enjoy some illegal gambling and good old mobster fun." Call the Culy Theater at 1-800-944-5639. Contact the Tribune at Letters to the Editor, The San Diego Union-Tribune, PO Box 120191, San Diego, CA, 92112-0191, or fax (619) 260-5081.
The San Diego Opera, which ran an ad in The San Diego Union Tribune on January 14 for Verdi's Rigoletto opera. The ad features eleven San Diego business leaders clad in dark glasses and monotone dark suits, all puffing on cigars. The tag line reads "They're gonna make you an opera you can't refuse." Contact San Diego Opera, 18th Floor, Civic Center Plaza,1200 Third Avenue, San Diego, California 92101-4112. Telephone: (619) 232-7636; Fax: (619) 231-6915.
The January 9-15 edition of The New York Press for its use of the word "dago" in a review of the Italian restaurant Babbo. Tel. 212-244-2282 or write to New York Press, 333 7th Avenue, 14th Fl., New York, NY 10001.
The website for Bookrags Inc. which features a highly unflattering survey in "mob-speak" called Da Mob Name Generator designed to help users pick out a "mob" name. E-mail admin@bookrags.com.
The NIAF NEWS thanks contributors Manny Alfano, Stephanie Celandine, Lenore Chicka, Alex Cirillo, Gail-Marie Fiattarone, Leonard Giarratano, Christine Marie, Arthur Piccolo and Jim Pignetti.
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