History Main / ItalianAmericanCaricature

* ''Film/TwentyFifthHour'': the five minutes long ClusterFBomb rant of Monty Brogan (Creator/EdwardNorton) about New York City's inhabitants includes:

* ''Film/TwentyFifthHour'': Monty's five minutes long ClusterFBomb rant about New York City includes:

-->"Fuck the Bensonhurst Italians with their pomaded hair, their St. Anthony medallions, swinggin' their Jason Giambi Louisville Slugger baseball bats trying to audition for ''Series/TheSopranos''! Fuckin crack your fuckin head open!".

-->"Fuck the Bensonhurst Italians with their pomaded hair, their St. Anthony Medallions, swinggin' their Jason Giambi Louisville Slugger baseball bats trying to audition for ''Series/TheSopranos''. Fuckin crack your fuckin head open!".

-->"Fuck the Benson Hurst Italians with their pomaded hair, their St. Anthony Medallions, swinggin' their Jason Giambi Louisville Slugger baseball bats trying to audition for ''Series/TheSopranos''. Fuckin crack your fuckin head open!".

Every culture has its requisite stereotype. The French are seen as snooty assholes, Americans are seen as fat, uncultured slobs, and Canadians are seen as polite weirdos with a nasty streak when it comes to hockey. But perhaps one of the most recent developments in the late 20th and early 21st Century has been the Italian-American Male stereotype. Since ''Franchise/TheGodfather'' started it and ''Series/TheSopranos'' further popularized it, your requisite Italian-American Male character will embody one or more of the following stereotypes:

* ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioBrosDic'': Exaggerated. Mario and Luigi are Italian-American New Yorkers described as Pizza-tarians, and while Mario's TrademarkFavoriteFood is pasta, he has also been known to enjoy [[BizarreTasteInFood pepperoni cheesecake and mozzarella milkshakes]]. It helps that both voice actors were of Italian-American heritage, with Luigi's retaining a slight accent.

* In ''Series/{{Cheers}}'', the extended Tortelli family live out this trope. Carla, for instance, is a fiery and temperamental waitress who once punched her on-off husband Eddie across the bar. In the episode ''Those Lips! That Ice!'', we see a card school in Carla's kitchen composed completely of Italian-Americans. They fit this trope to a man, in terms of dress, food preferences, blue-collar status, and their manner of speaking.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit:'' Dominick "Sonny" Carisi. His very first scene on the show has him offering zeppole to Benson and Rollins, and his early characterization leaned into the brash, working-class BrooklynRage stereotype with a thick accent to match. This was quickly dropped in favor of a more mellow, level-headed characterization, but he's kept the stereotypes of being close with his family (his parents, who live nearby on Staten Island and his three sisters, of which he is the OnlySaneMan and their children), the squad's TokenReligiousTeammate whose BeserkButton is corruption within the Church, and having food as a love language. Him being a ThroughHisStomach type partner to Rollins prior to their [[spoiler: RelationshipUpgrade]] bordered on RunningGag, not only insisting she needed to eat more but often seen at her apartment cooking and teaching her oldest to do so, as well. In season 23, we meet his mother, who embodies most of the female stereotypes listed, including a BrickJoke of taking one look at Amanda and insisting "she needs to eat."

[[caption-width-right:720:''Eh Cumpari!'']]

[[caption-width-right:720:''Eh cumpari!'']]

[[quoteright:720:[[WesternAnimation/AmericanDadhttps://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ehcumpari.png]]]]

[[quoteright:720:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ehcumpari.png]]
[[caption-width-right:720:''Eh cumpari!'']]

[[caption-width-right:720:''Hayley, we're listening to Julius La Rosa, SHUT UP!'']]

[[caption-width-right:720:Hayley, we're listening to Julius La Rosa, SHUT UP!]]

* The How You Doin' Boys released a TwelveSpoofsOfChristmas single which focused on what a stereotypical Italian-American would receive from his Paisano. The gifts were as follows:

** Seven [[UsefulNotes/HistoricalPlayersInMLB Mike Piazza]] jerseys
** Eight [[Series/Friends"How You Doin's"]]

* They're always seen in a bowling shirt

-> ''Ma! Ma! I'm gonna be late for Picture Day! Ma, you didn't pack my gabagool! And more cutlets, Ma! I only got one cutlet! Ah, fughettaboutit!''
-->-- '''Tommy Devito''': ''WebAnimation/GridironHeights''

Every culture has its requisite stereotype. The French are seen as snooty assholes, Americans are seen as fat, uncultured slobs, and Canadians are seen as polite weirdos with a nasty streak when it comes to hockey. But perhaps one of the most recent developments in the late 20th and early 21st Century has been the Italian-American Male stereotype. Since Franchise/TheGodfather started it and Series/TheSopranos further popularized it, your requisite Italian-American Male character will embody one or more of the following stereotypes:

* Usually they are in a blue-collar profession.

* If the child (Male or female) of the matriarch does something that disrespects the family's staunch traditions, it will "break their heart"
* They spend a ''lot'' of time at hair salons.
* Their accents are more noticeable than their male counterparts.


Sometimes, a character will come from {{Joisey}}. Other times, they will display BrooklynRage. They might spout off GratuitousItalian or ItaliansTalkWithHands. For those who are ''actually'' from Italy, they might be a RambunctiousItalian.

No Real Life Examples, please! Just because the characters portrayed invoke the trope, doesn't necessarily mean that there needs to be countless examples of it in real life.

[[AC: Film - Live Action]]

* ''Film/MyCousinVinny'': While most of the characters portray Southern stereotypes, Vinny Gambini, Mona Lisa Vito, and, to a lesser extent, Bill Gambini all have strong Brooklynite Italian-American traits, which mark them as outsiders in small-town Alabama. Vinny and Mona Lisa are brash and often bicker with each other, but also have a lot of passion in their relationship, while Bill himself has near-absolute faith his cousin can win their case, despite his lack of legal experience, because he is family and is "the quintessential Gambini" who will argue you to death.

* Creator/EddieMurphy has a segment in the movie ''Raw'' where he riffs on Italian-American stereotypes from the 80s, portraying the men in particular (with his own version of an Italian accent) as massive fans of Sylvester Stallone and the ''Rocky'' movies who are full of machismo and swagger and have a preference for driving Camaros.

[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'': Played straight and invoked in "Undercover". Jake, who has been undercover with the Italian Ianucci crime family since the Season 1 finale, gives the toast at a big Italian-American wedding, where Italian music is playing. Jake tells the newlyweds to "Make us proud, have a son", comments on one man's spray tan, and gets kissed by all the mob bosses. His codeword for the cops to raid the wedding? "The meatballs were a little dry."
* ''Series/{{Castle|2009}}'': "Slice of Death" deals with a Pizza War between rival New York pizzerias, all run by passionate, bowling-shirt-wearing Italian-American men.
* Joey Tribbani from ''Series/{{Friends}}'' fits some of the stereotypes but not others, you don't really see him in bowling shirts as being an aspiring actor he follows fashion a little more than average. However, he has a huge family (being the only boy with [[MassiveNumberedSiblings seven sisters]] whom he is very protective of) who are Catholic (even if he doesn't attend). He is also very fond of both his grandmothers (Nonna and Nonnie) and translates for Nonnie who can't speak English. He's a BigEater who will eat anything but does have a fondness for Italian food like pizza and lasagne in particular, and at one point realises [[TurningIntoYourParent to his horror]] he's becoming like his father when he gets upset and angry about wasted pastrami.

* Played with in ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows'' with the Rinaldis, the vampires' neighbors. On the one hand, Sean and his wife are quite loud and animated, and quite often quarrel with one another, but on the other hand they're a lot more forward-thinking than most Italian-American stereotypes, with Sean even running for office on an LGBT-friendly platform and enlisting the vampires to help him organize a Pride parade.

[[AC: Video Games]]

-->[in a extremely stereotypical Italian-American accent] "Eyyy, whassa-matta-you, Altair?"

[[AC: Web Animation]]

[[AC: Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': In "Shell Game", Francine decides to buy jarred pasta sauce for her spaghetti. The sauce is so good, that the family gradually develops Italian-American mannerisms like Francine sticking to the kitchen and making a big pot of sauce, Stan and Klaus listening to old Italian records with the living room redecorated with Roman Catholic icons, and Hayley and Jeff turning into a bickering couple. Steve in particular has a flashback to life as an Italian-American immigrant youth who ultimately saw his best friend Snot get blown up in a [[ExternalCombustion car bombing]].
-->--'''Steve:''' What the ''hell'' was in that sauce?

** In ''[[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuyPresentsLaughItUpFuzzball Blue Harvest]]'', when Beru yells at Luke, a stereotypical Italian-American neighbor (overweight, slicked-back hair, white tank top, gold jewelry) sticks his head out of a window and yells "Hey! Shut up-a with the noise-a!" He's then joined by a chorus of identical-looking Italian-Americans who all start yelling at each other to "Shut up-a with the shut up-a!"
** In "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS8E15BrianGriffinsHouseOfPayne Brian Griffin's House of Payne]]," Brian cracks an ill-timed World War II joke to some Creator/{{NBC}} executives. He awkwardly asks if anyone's Jewish, causing the execs to look at each other and reveal [[SizableSemiticNoses comically large hooked noses]]. Brian hastily apologizes, but the execs laugh and admit they're just Italian-Americans.

** In "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS10E18YouCantDoThatOnTelevisionPeter You Can't Do That on Television, Peter]]," Peter says his life without a TV show would be like an Italian mother without bad kids. It then shows a cutaway gag where it shows an Italian-American woman yelling at her sons for being such delinquents when they're shown to be mild-mannered straight-A students.
** In "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS11E9SpaceCadet Space Cadet]]," a cutaway gag shows an Italian-American climbing in a space shuttle and going into orbit so just he can say he's "had it up to ''here''" with a friend he's upset with.

** In "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS15E2BookieOfTheYear Bookie of the Year]]," one of the activities at the San Gennaro festival is "teach an old Italian lady how to use an [=iPad=]." Peter tries, gets frustrated at her stubbornness, brings up how she refuses to move past her son Joey's death, and says she's in denial that Joey was [[TheMafia dirty]]. She storms off to church crying, causing Peter to despondently shout "Ma!" as she leaves.

** In "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS17E6StandByMeg Stand By Meg]]," Chris is sent to a vocational school full of Italian-American GreaserDelinquents. He starts slicking back his hair, wearing only white tank tops, and referring to himself as "Chrissy"; Peter only gets him to snap out of it by slapping his face and telling him "You're breakin' ya mother's heart!"

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': "Slice of Death" deals with a Pizza War between rival New York pizzerias, all run by passionate, bowling-shirt-wearing Italian-American men.

Every culture has their requisite stereotype. The French are seen as snooty assholes, Americans are seen as fat, uncultured slobs, Canadians are seen as polite weirdos, with a nasty streak when it comes to hockey. But perhaps one of the most recent developments in the late 20th and early 21st Century has been the Italian-American Male stereotype. Since Franchise/TheGodfather started it and Series/TheSopranos further popularized it, your requisite Italian-American Male character will embody one or more of the following stereotypes:

* There's always some mention of some type of cold-cut. Capicola, otherwise known as Gabagool, is the popular choice.
* There's some fanatical obsession with Italian-American celebrities, Frank Sinatra usually is the go-to.

In a similar vein, there's the Italian-American woman stereotype. There's generally two type of Italian-American women, the matriarchal figure (could be a mother, or a grandmother, or even an aunt in some cases), or the hot-headed strong, independent young woman. There are some overlaps with the male Italian-American stereotype, particularly the importance of family, the regular Catholic Church attendance, and the occasional fawning over Italian-American celebrities. But some stereotypes that tend to skew towards the female version are:

[[AC: Live-Action TV]]

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': "Slice of Death" deals with a Pizza War between rival New York pizzerias, all run by passionate, bowling-shirt wearing Italian-American men.
* Joey Tribbani from ''Series/{{Friends}}'' fits some of the stereotypes but not others, you don't really see him in bowling shirts as being an aspiring actor he follows fashion a little more than average. However he has a huge family (being the only boy with [[MassiveNumberedSiblings seven sisters]] who he is very protective of) who are Catholic (even if he doesn't attend). He is also very fond of both his grandmothers (Nonna and Nonnie) and translates for Nonnie who can't speak English. He's a BigEater who will eat anything but does have a fondness for Italian food like pizza and lasagne in particular, and at one point realises [[TurningIntoYourParent to his horror]] he's becoming like his father when he gets upset and angry about wasted pastrami.
* ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'' is centered around a lively Italian-American family in New York, and all its male characters have something of the stereotype about them. Ray Barone is something of a mother's boy who thinks, in his heart of hearts, that women should do all the domestic work and child-rearing. His brother Robert is a competent street cop who can talk the talk but who still lives at home with his parents. Their friend Gianni is a bluff blue-collar worker and would-be Romeo, who shows great respect for the Barone parents. Father Frank Barone is a boorish patriarch who still attends church and has respect for the structures of family life. And Marie is the overbearing matriarch of the family who sets expectations for everybody, and provides the foodstuffs that hold it all together. If not capicola, there is very definitely braciole. With cannoli to follow.

* Played with in ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows'' with the Rinaldis, the vampires' neighbors. On the one hand, Sean and his wife are quite loud and animated, and quite often quarrel with one another, but on the other hand they're a lot more forward-thinking than most Italian-American stereotypes, with Sean even running for office on a LGBT-friendly platform and enlisting the vampires to help him organize a Pride parade.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreed2'': Invoked as a joke by Desmond Miles, who has been relieving the events the game through his Italian ancestor, thanks to technology from an ancient civilization.

* ''WebAnimation/GridironHeights'': New York Giants quarterback Tommy Devito (''not'' to be confused with the [[Film/GoodFellas mob dude of the same name]] played by Creator/JoePesci) is portrayed like this, wearing a bowling shirt and chain, yelling to his mother, complaining about his lack of gabagool and the fact that he has only one chicken cutlet. He attempts to eat said chicken cutlet, but drops sauce on his shirt and resignedly says, "Ah, fughettaboutit". In a follow up appearance he’s shown working a construction job when the backup quarterbacks recruit him for the B Team. Devito's character is based on his real-life counterpart's embodiment of the tropes as well as the media and the fanbase's embracing of him as a cult hero. Adding further hilarity is that Devito is voiced by a toddler due to the series longstanding tradition of having rookie quarterbacks portrayed with baby voices.

** A cutaway gag in "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS8E21PartialTermsOfEndearment Partial Terms of Endearment]]" shows a Italian-American getting a vision test at the eye doctor's and reading off every letter as "Ey!" or "Oh!"

** In "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS10E18YouCantDoThatOnTelevisionPeter You Can't Do That on Television, Peter]]," Peter says his life without a TV show would be like an Italian mother without bad kids. It then shows a cutaway gag where it shows an Italian-American woman yelling at her sons for being such delinquents, when they're shown to be mild-mannered straight-A students.

* ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioBrosDic'': Exaggerated. Mario and Luigi are Italian-American New Yorkers described as Pizza-tarians, and while Mario's TrademarkFavoriteFood is pasta, he has also been known to enjoy [[BizarreTasteInFood pepperoni cheesecake and mozzarella milkshakes]]. It helps that both voice actors were of Italian-American heritage, with Luigi's retaining a slight accent.