PBS Documentary The Italian Americans

[Bob]

Unfortunately I think this is one of the worst docmentaries on Italian Amercians that I have ever watched (Grandparents immigrated from Tuscany and most of my friends grandparents also came from various areas of Italy - we all grew up pretty Italian)

The problem with the documentary is that the 4 part series is primarily focused on Italians in New York - which is okay but they should have titled Italian Americans in New York.

Although they touched on San Francisco and bit on Chicago, they left cities like Pittsbugh, Cleveland/Akron, Detroit, more on Chicago - my experiences were very different from what I saw in New York - My entire family were either coal miners or steel workers and had little conflict with North/South differentiation (it was there in word but cooperative behavior was the norm - My Nona's best friend was from Sicily and we visited their home quite often. She taught my Nona how to make Pizza for the kitchen at the Garbaldi club - there Italian soocer teams - Italian summer picnics and every ethnic group went there.

In Monessen our mayor, Hugo Parente, Italian, held office for 26 years. Maybe others have had a similar experience to that documented in the series but there is a lot more to Italian Americans than the New York enclaves.

http://www.pbs.org/the-italian-americans/home/

THE ITALIAN AMERICANS, a new two-part, four-hour documentary series about the Italian experience in America, will premiere on PBS on Tuesdays, February 17 and 24, 2015, 9–11 p.m. ET (check local listings). The series, written and produced by John Maggio and narrated by Academy Award-nominated actor Stanley Tucci, explores the evolution of Italian Americans from the late nineteenth century to today, from “outsiders” once viewed with suspicion and mistrust to some of the most prominent leaders of business, politics and the arts today.

[Taste of Death]

Italians in California are some of the kindest and sweetest people I know. New York? Fuhgeddaboudit.

I am not Italian but my family is from across the Adriatic in Dalmatia.

[fuga]

I have not watched it yet. My family came from Sicily to Pennsylvania to Chicago to California.

[edededed]

As an aside, are Italian-Americans a bit more prone to interest in Chinese (and other East Asian) things? I wonder how many others we got here, and I seem to know a lot of Asian-American girls (mostly Taiwanese descent) married to Italian-American guys, although it could be a coincidence!

[Bob]

Growing up in a steel town outside of Pittsburgh, there was only one Asian in our school, Chinese, and his family ran a laundry mat (1960s).

I had my first "Chinese" dinner in 1973 when my girlfriend's mother (white) made us fried rice from a recipe in Good House Keeping. I believed that rice was the only food that Chinese ate and soy sauce was out of this world.

Later in 1976, while doing graduate work in agricultural economics at Penn State, my office mate, from Korea, invited to his home for dinner (his wife had finally arrived). It was a wonderful Korean dish. However he was the only person I met that every put kimchee in their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

When I met my wife, who is from Beijing, the family was a bit concerned - not me being an American but the fact that I had Italian blood - they stereotypically believed that anyone with Italian blood could not be serious about marriage and had to be a playboy.

As time past, the similarity of Italian/Chinese families became evident, at least in my case. There is a great emphasis on food and the importance of family. LOL

Its worked exceptionally well for me.

[yeniseri]

It's the Marco Polo influence! Noodles and stuff.
When I was stationed in New Orleans, LA., the history of Italians were somewhat different to the extent that many had to move to other part of USA due to the hostile atmosphere.

[edededed]

Kimchee in peanut butter and jelly? Blargh!

Italians do have the "playboy" and "romantic" reputation in Asia - they say that in Japan, too (not sure if it holds for Italian-Americans, though). The strong family emphasis is certainly similar with Chinese (and Korean) culture; but not really Japanese culture, though.

Italian food is also as delicious, as is Chinese food! Well, except for the chicken feet, duck tongues, pig ears, etc...

[Bob]

My great grandfather was a chef and tailor at Montecatini Terme in the late 1800s - early 1900s and taught my Nona how to cook and butcher. When she arrived here her Uncle, a Benedetti, furthered her education in butchering meat and sold her his butcher shop. This was during the Depression. She also made her own prosciutto and parmesan cheese.

We still use the 1900s ravioli recipe. Below is a clip from a great series in Italy - Cooking in Tuscany - some of them have English subtitles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivxl0OWZZPs

Cooking In Tuscany - Episode 9 - Arista al Forno





Cooking In Tuscany - Episode 10 - Spezzatino con le Olive


Cooking In Tuscany - Episode 12 - Homemade Pasta

[Drake]

There were some things that rang true, and others that were completely foreign to me. My wife comes from an Italian family in Detroit, and I come from a Sicilian family in Chicago. We compared experiences while watching the program(s), and found that none of my wife's experiences were even close to the programs, *or* mine. My perspective is that both coasts were concentrated on, and the interior of the country was largely ignored. There is a lot more to discover, in my opinion. <<shrug>>

[Bob]

I want to be clear that I am not knocking the Italians and their New York experience but these guys who did the documentary have a pretty elitist posture regarding New York as the center for the rise of Italian Americans.

The New York story is important but not as a documentary on the rise of Italians in America.

They have left out the entire industrial foundation - auto, steel, rubber, coal - in which thousands of Italian immigrants helped build.

Mario Cuomo means little to us - great he is successful but his legacy isn't the legacy of the majority of Italian Americans.

When you look at the commentaries in the film, who does the most talking - actors? Politicians? Academics? Writers?

The blue collar joe gets shafted in this deal - and that is what most of us experienced as 2nd and 3rd generation Italian/Americans

[Taste of Death]

It's the Marco Polo influence! Noodles and stuff.
When I was stationed in New Orleans, LA., the history of Italians were somewhat different to the extent that many had to move to other part of USA due to the hostile atmosphere.

Marco Polo was Illyrian (Dalmatian).

[Ralteria]

As an aside, are Italian-Americans a bit more prone to interest in Chinese (and other East Asian) things? I wonder how many others we got here, and I seem to know a lot of Asian-American girls (mostly Taiwanese descent) married to Italian-American guys, although it could be a coincidence!

Speaking only for myself, as an Italian American, I believe it has to do with recognizing rich culture(familial attitude has already been mentioned). Most Italian Americans that I've met have had similar experiences in that "being Italian" is a thing. Its a cultural identifier that sets you apart to a certain extent, even though my great grand parents were quick to drill home the "we're American now". That kind of perspective can make things that are different very appealing especially when you find pale and pastey culture to be boring.

Oh, and for census purposes, Sicilian from Jersey.

[Taste of Death]

Italians and Chinese, personality-wise, could not be more different.

[Ralteria]

They have left out the entire industrial foundation - auto, steel, rubber, coal - in which thousands of Italian immigrants helped build.

The blue collar joe gets shafted in this deal - and that is what most of us experienced as 2nd and 3rd generation Italian/Americans

Haven't had a chance to sit down and watch, but that's a shame. But I'm pretty sure blue collar guys are used to getting the shaft by now. My grandfather worked in steel, man's grip is like a vice and his forearms look like Popeye's.

[Ralteria]

Italians and Chinese, personality-wise, could not be more different.

That's interesting, most of the older generation Chinese Americans I've met reminded me a lot of my family...loud, bousterious, family focused, and cussed like sailors.