I have Italian ancestry and I’ve always found these guys to be cringe, but I also get why they do it . Many people in the United States yearn for meaning and interpersonal connection in their lives. “Being an Italian” provides a prepackaged, very commercialized possibility of community with little effort required - you’re just born to it, so instant acceptance, right?
The reality is often less Soprano’s chic and more “nonno and nonnina were illiterate farmhands who moved to the US for a better life. Nonno died from mystery cancer and all of nonnina’s bones dissolved after birthing her 15th child at 24. Now chew nonnina’s birthday cake for her”.
I have Italian ancestry and I’ve always found these guys to be cringe, but I also get why they do it . Many people in the United States yearn for meaning and interpersonal connection in their lives. “Being an Italian” provides a prepackaged, very commercialized possibility of community with little effort required - you’re just born to it, so instant acceptance, right?
The reality is often less Soprano’s chic and more “nonno and nonnina were illiterate farmhands who moved to the US for a better life. Nonno died from mystery cancer and all of nonnina’s bones dissolved after birthing her 15th child at 24. Now chew nonnina’s birthday cake for her”.