I’ll check it out if I get a chance; thank you. I think “Jersey Shore” and “The Sopranos” really set back Italians in a negative way with mobster and “guido” stereotypes, and their civic groups (rightfully) railed against them; they didn’t bust their arses for over a century for that. I recall a made-for-TV parody of “Jersey Shore” (Jersey Shore Shark Attack? Think “Sharknado” with Italian characters) that was laughably absurd - when they come upon a blood-spattered boat one thinks it is covered with tomato sauce, which they normally bring with them when they go fishing. IIRC, the “Jersey Shore” cast (who I believe come from NYC/Staten Island) admitted the director had told them to act over-the-top.
There are still plenty of Italians here in north Jersey (including the descendants of those who fled Newark decades ago) and they are completely assimilated; many childhood friends had Italian fathers and Irish mothers. I couldn’t figure that out; it certainly wasn’t for our cooking - who opens an Irish restaurant? Just cook American farm fare and remove all the taste/spices - that is Irish cooking. I hike along the NY/NJ border, and have seen the remains of Lakeville NY, where a lot of Italians worked in iron mines in the early twentieth century; doesn’t fit the stereotype of hoods landing in NYC and delving into the crime world there. Like the Irish, they tolerated the racism and made a better life for the following generations.
When will “Obama’s people” do the same?