Film 301 Final Exam: Question 2

Amy O'Neil

film 301

July 24, 2008

Martin Scorsese is a seasoned director that has been famous in the film industry for the last forty years. Much of his recognition and fame come from his films many portrayals of the Italian-American community, of which he just happens to be a member. His personal experience within this community brings great insight to his films and opens up a discourse on the formation of identity within the Italian-American community. Questions regarding class, race and gender within the Italian-American identity struggle are addressed in such films as Italianamerican, Mean Streets, Raging Bull, Good Fellas, and Casino all by Martin Scorsese. Scorsese uses these films to show his perception of Italian-Americans’ position and status in American society today as well as how it has progressed and is progressing still from when many Italians first migrated to the United States.

In a deviation from the Italian-American genre of films, Scorsese made the movie Gangs of New York in 2001. The film depicts a similar struggle of Irish immigrants attempting to find their place in the United States. Gangs of New York, along with Scorsese’s earlier work about Italian-Americans as well as several scholarly articles, illustrate how Irish-Americans and Italian-Americans went through similar experiences when migrating to and assimilating in America almost a century apart. The process of racial formation undergone by Irish-Americans was similar to what occurred with the Italian-Americans. Both the Irish and Italians were at some point viewed as lesser people by white, native-born Americans; despite being compared to and having things in common with Blacks, both came to view Blacks as inferior and lazy; and finally, both came to use their whiteness to their advantage in order to assimilate and flourish in American society.

To begin, the formation of Irish and Italian racial identities started with their first introduction to the United States. The Irish had clearly been exposed to the idea of racial status from their interactions with the British back in Ireland. This previous experience with the British can be suggested as the reason for much of the prejudice towards the Irish carried over to the United States. On their arrival to America, Irish were thought of by other Americans as “low-browed and savage, groveling and bestial, lazy and wild, simian and sensual” (Roediger p. 133). As David Roediger states in his article, “Irish-American Workers and Whit Racial Formation in the Antebellum United States,” some people even thought that, “the Irish were part of a separate or ‘dark’ race, possibly originally African” (p. 133). This idea of a relation between Irish and African heritage can be seen in Scorsese’s Gangs of New York when a white native-born American says that “rhythms of the dark continent thrown into the kettle with and Irish shindig, stir it around a few times, and pull out a fine American mess”. This clip from the movie shows how low the Irish were thought of, especially considering the horrendous treatments of Blacks at that time within the United States.

The Irish were not the only immigrants to be belittled and berated by Americans already here, so were the Italians. Italians were excluded from housing, tourmented and even lynched by other Americans. Like the Irish, Italians were often thought of as being from African descent, attributing to their maltreatment by other white Americans. Donna Gabaccia sums up their initial struggles at racial formation in the United States in her article, “To Great Migrations: American and Italian Southerners in Comparative Perspective,” when she said, “nativist fears of Italian criminality, political and cultural backwardness and radicalism shaped how migrants became white and became American” (p. 228). Irish-Americans and Italian-Americans initial rejection by other native-born Americans was the first step in their racial formation. It showed them the need to find a way to fit in to a community that did not welcome them.

The next process in their racial formation that makes Irish-Americans and Italian-Americans similar is their relation to Blacks within the United States and how they ultimately came to view Black-Americans. Both the Irish and Italians have been compared to Blacks, had some very similar experiences that Blacks had, and lived in close proximity to Blacks. Yet despite these commonalities, both the Irish and Italians in America came to be prejudice of Blacks and looked down on them.

As stated in the previous section, the Irish were often compared to Blacks. Besides the racial comparison, they often lived in the same neighborhoods and did the same work. Also, as Roediger puts it, “both groups were poor and often vilified; both had experienced oppression and been wrenched from a homeland” (p. 134). This, for a short time, was a reason why the Irish supported the abolition of slavery in the United States. However, Irish-American feelings soon changed. As a response to the challenge to fit into and strive in American society, the Irish quickly disassociated themselves from Blacks and took up the common opinion of Blacks as lazy and irresponsible. The Irish-Americans joined in and even worsened the maltreatment of Black Americans. Scorsese’s Gangs of New York does a good job showing this transition from friends to foes. There is a young, black, male character in the film that is on the side of the Irish immigrants. However, in this clip it shows an older Irish immigrant, who switched alliances to the natives’ side in order to secure a place for himself in the community, yelling viciously at the black character to get out of the church. This scene clearly illustrates the transformation of Irish-Black relationships within the United States.

Italian Americans also went through a similar experience in their relations with Black-Americans. Again, as stated before, Italians were often with Blacks and thought to have a shared ancestry. Both Italian-Americans and Blacks lived in similar areas, longed for a home land, and had shared experiences of hatred in America. Yet again, despite what they had in common, Italian-Americans came to view blacks as lazy and lower then them. In Thomas Guglielmo’s “No Color Barrier”, he quotes an Italian-American man saying, “Nobody gave us something, so why should we owe them (African-Americans) something? Let them pull their share like the rest of us had to” (p.29). This same sentiment can be seen in Scorsese’s Mean Streets when Teresa snapped at a black maid to hurry up and clean her room, as if she was not doing her job efficiently. Both Irish Americans and Italian-Americans projected the hatred and maltreatment they received form other Americans on to blacks as a way to clearly define their relations to Blacks as separate and in line with the rest of white American society. This brings us to the final step in the racial formation process that Irish-American and Italian-Americans share.

After the Irish-Americans and Italian-Americans not only presented themselves as distinct from African- Americans, but also as having a hatred of Blacks, they then used their newly found whiteness to help them navigate through and find a place in American society. The idea of whiteness for both Irish-Americans and Italian-Americans came from separating themselves from less desirable, “black” traits and using their white skin color to identify and create something in common with the dominate cultural group. White or light skin color allowed them to more easily blend in with the established dominant race and reap the benefits of being considered white.

The Irish-American racial formation happened much as a result of politics, work and the church. David Roediger explains, “Democratic politics and the struggle to secure and redefine the jobs of Irish-American Catholics provide important explanations for that group’s embrace of whiteness” (p. 150). This is also displayed in Gangs of New York. In the movie, some Irish are presented as siding with the natives as a means of survival. Former Dead Rabbits allied with the natives in order to survive. This clip shows a former Dead rabbit that is now part of bill Cutty’s native gang. The natives work with the politicians who recruited Irish votes for their party. It seemed to be one big loop that slowly assimilated the Irish into American society. The assimilation was done with greater ease because of the Irish-Americans ability to pass as mainstream white Americans as well as their desires to their common whiteness shared with other Americans (Roediger p. 138).

Italian-Americans also embraced their whiteness. Although Italians faced prejudice based on where they were from, their skin color and the benefits it provided never seemed to be denied, despite being questioned. Italian-Americans seemed to realize pretty quickly the power conferred with their whiteness. As with the Irish, Italians whiteness “gave them countless advantages over ‘nonwhites’ in housing, jobs, schools, politics, and virtually every other meaningful area of life” (Guglielmo p. 43).

Often times Irish-Americans and Italian-Americans encounter friction in their relationships with one another. One could argue that this could be a result of the similarities they face. Just as often times two people who don’t like each other have much in common. Despite their difference, when it comes to their racial formation within the United States, Irish Americans and Italian Americans have much in common. They both were not initially welcomed to the U.S. and found a need to separate themselves from Black traits they were often associated with. As a result, they embrace their whiteness to show they belonged with the dominant white culture. Italian-Americans racial formation can even be described as a copy of the Irish-American racial formation almost a hundred years earlier. Martin Scorsese’s work in the Italian American genre and Gangs of New York show these similarities.

Film 301/314 Mid-term

America is the most diverse country in the world. Its citizens can trace their origins back from all corners of the globe. Yet despite being built by slaves and immigrants, the popularized idea of American culture has become synonymous with white, capitalist ideals. As time has progressed, descendants of slaves and immigrants have struggled to find a place and assimilate themselves into American society. Martin Scorsese, a third generation Italian-American, and Spike Lee, a second generation African-American urban northerner, are two directors that document the trials of their specific culture in American society. The characters in Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets and Spike Lee’s Joe’s Bed Stuy Barbershop had to deal with segregated neighborhoods, pressures from their family and peers, as well as financial hardships when trying to assimilate more completely into American society.

Segregation, whether de jure or de facto, has always been found in American society. Separations between people of different races or ethnicities can still been seen across the United States today, and is prevalent because of exclusionary reality practices, income gaps, as well as because of feelings of comfort and closeness among members of shared cultural groups. The latter can bee seen as the reason for the segregation of the Italian-American characters in Scorsese’s Mean Streets. Although on occasion the characters interact with people from outside their community, they live and spend most of their time among other Italian-Americans in their community. This segregation, although it may have once been a matter of survival, now seems to be a choice that the characters embrace, as seen in this clip with Charlie, his uncle, and associates at an Italian-American restaurant. Although Charlie could have gone on to college or got a career, he chooses to stay in his community to try to become a gangster. This segregation of themselves prevents the characters further assimilation into American popular culture because it separates them from participating in American life outside their community.

The segregation of the characters’ community in Lee’s Joe’s Bed Stuy Barbershop while in some way may be attributed to a close-knit community; it is more likely from reasons of exclusion and finances. Whatever the reason for segregation, the characters in Joe’s Bed Stuy Barbershop have difficulty as well assimilating into the popularized idea of American society because of their separation. Houston Baker in his article entitled “Spike Lee and the Commerce of Culture” refers to the setting of the movie as taking place “in a deteriorating, black-urban world that seems entirely removed from a dominant white culture” (p. 3). He goes on to say the film is hermetic. As with Mean Streets, this separation prevents the characters in Joe’s Bed Stuy Barbershop from interacting with and assimilating into the rest of American society.

Another challenge to assimilation for the characters in these movies came from the pressures they faced from their family and peers. In Mean Streets these pressures seemed to encourage maintaining the status quo. Charlie is interested in dating Diane a Black dancer from Tony’s bar. However, as Robert Casillo points out in his book Gangster Priest , “to do so risks disaster, as he would be betraying … the values of his community. He would also disgrace himself before his uncle and lose the restaurant he dreams of” (p. 202). Teresa is also shown as wanting to leave the confines of the community, but is resistant because she does not have the approval of her family. In this clip, Teresa is talking again with Charlie about moving up town. Although this shot takes place on the beach, away from the claustrophobia of their community, both Teresa and Charlie are still hesitant to go against the desires of their family and peers.

The character of Zach in Joe’s Bed Stuy Barbershop also faces pressure from his family and peers when trying to assimilate into American society. Zach is trying to make it on his own as a businessman and stick to his ideals, a trait highly valued in American society. However, pressure from his wife Ruth to make money and move out of Bed Stuy challenge Zach’s attempt to assimilate. Houston Baker echoes the significance of the pressure Zach faces when he says, “it is finally a combination… of her [Ruth’s] desire for money and the South (along with Lovejoy’s violent insistence) that forces Zach to give up his idealism and enter the numbers game” (p.5). These pressures on Zach from Ruth and Lovejoy turned out to be a large barrier to Zach’s attempt to further assimilate into American society.

Finally, an obstacle when trying to assimilate into mainstream society faced by many descendants of slaves, immigrants and even lower class white Americans is financial hardship. In Scorsese’s Mean Streets the character of Johnny Boy most accurately illustrates this. Johnny Boy is the most marginalized and dispensable member of his group, not only because of his behavior, but because of his money problems as well. He continually goes deeper and deeper into debt without any hope of getting out of it. He had a job but it did not pay enough to get him out of debt. Johnny Boy’s financial situation makes it hard for him to fit into his own enclave, let alone the rest of mainstream American society. This clip shows Johnny Boy ducking behind a car to hide from his debtor. The scene illustrates his failure in the American capitalist system and shows how it isolates him from the rest of the community and larger society.

Zach also faces financial hardships in Joe’s Bed Stuy Barbershop. Zach’s refusal to do chemical hair treatments or run numbers at his barbershop has left him without any customers. However, because of an attack on Ruth, Zach “faces a dilemma: should he acquiesce or make a stand” when it comes to running numbers as Kaleen Aftab puts it in Spike Lee: That’s my Story and I’m Sticking to it. The challenges Zach faced due to his money problems forced him to turn to illegal activities, furthering himself from assimilating into mainstream American society.

Martin Scrosese’s and Spike Lee’s distinct cultural backgrounds as a third generation Italian-American and a second generation Black urban northerner offer great insight to the trials of their communities when trying to assimilate into mainstream (or white, middle class, capitalistic) American society. The characters in Mean Streets and Joe’s Bed Stuy Barbershop were faced with many obstacles when trying to assimilate, including: segregated communities, family and peer pressures, and financial hardships. However, beyond pointing out these challenges to fitting in, Scorsese and Lee through the characters in their movies, grapple with the question of whether or not assimilation into the mainstream is even a goal for the members of their culture.