Stereotype of the Day: The Mafia

Al Pacino as Tony Montana in Scarface

Mafiosi have, for a long time, been compelling villainous stock characters that represented the suave organized crime system that is common to many large cities and other areas of the world. There are many, many variants; the Russian ‘Mafiya’, the Chinese Triads or the Yakuza in Japan. The stereotype of organized crime the West is most familiar with is, however, the Sicilian or the American-Italian mafia. These characters live by a strict code of honour and consider family to be the most important. Though especially the actual American mafia has been losing power over the last decades, ‘the Don’ stock character of a shrewd, ruthless, gentlemanly mob boss who makes offers people cannot refuse, still survives to this day. If any character remarks how nice something looks, and what a shame it would be if something happened to it, expect them to be part of the local crime syndicate. The same rule applies to characters saying ‘capisce’ a lot.

Sometimes, the big bad of a story is, for whatever reason, unavailable for the weekly dose of mayhem a series needs. It is not uncommon for writers to then rely on this stereotype, as it provides a simple and recognisable throw-away villain, while also illustrating the depths of depravity in the area the hero is active. The Batman comic series for example, has several Mafiosi as smaller villains, such as Carmine “the Roman” Falcone.

However, there is also plenty of media out there which has Mafiosi as main protagonist or antagonist. Think The Untouchables, a 1987 movie on a group of Prohibition agents in 1920s Chicago. Or, of course, The Godfather from 1972, which tells the story of the fictional Corleone family.

Though the media representation of the mafia and especially the romanticized ‘Don’ image makes for compelling characters, it does have some potential pitfalls. Aside of, in some ways, misrepresenting organized crime and making it look really cool when it really shouldn’t be, especially the way in which the American-Italian mafia has been represented has led to disadvantageous views towards migrants (of Italian descent in particular). Migrants, in any situation, are often suspect to a difficult position in society where they cannot speak a country’s language, don’t understand the culture and have difficulties integrating. Negative stereotyping in the media, in both fictional series or in news reports, can decrease the migrant’s opportunities of getting a job or education and can increase the chances of discrimination. In some cases, this results in marginalization of immigrants, meaning that they cannot participate in society as a whole and are ‘pushed to the edges’. Often, this also means residential segregation, where migrants live in poor slums where opportunities for social climbing are few. Some people in these areas are thus pushed into the criminal circuit, resulting in more negative stereotypes and news attention, creating a loop difficult to break out of. Early Italian migrants in the US were heavily discriminated against, and there are reports how this resulted in them accepting jobs in the bootlegging circuit or the racketeering business, both of which were often related to the organized crime in the area.