A. Cantor, P. (2019). Chapter 3: “I BELIEVE IN AMERICA”: THE GODFATHER FILMS AND THE IMMIGRANT’S TRAGEDY. In Pop Culture and the Dark Side of the American Dream (pp. 48–87). The University Press of Kentucky eBooks. http://www.jstor.com/stable/j.ctvc77p0j.7
This source delves into the way that the Godfather I and II relates to the foundational idea of the American dream. The chapter focuses on two major aspects: family vs business, Europe versus America (or more
broadly: the Old World versus the New). It delves into how these two aspects of the American dream are in contention with each other. This source will be helpful in helping me explain how the values of of family, love, Justice, and freedom often used as a moral compass for many character in the Godfather comes into conflict with their commitment to one’s business (pursing material success). It will be helpful in exploring how immigrants coming to America are consciously aware that they would have to lose some aspects of their culture to acclimate to American culture. “Coppola portrays what it is to move from Europe to America and from the nineteenth century to the twentieth, and neither journey goes well for the immigrant. Carrying over Old World habits to the New may interfere with pursuing the American dream, while adapting to the fast pace of change in America can be disorienting to the Old World immigrant”. Key terms used include; crime, success, family, American dream, immigrant, old world, new world.
A. Lupsha, P. (1992). American Values and Organized Crime: Suckers and Wiseguys . In American Social Character (pp. 144–154). Routledge. https://crmintler.com/MAD/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/American-Values-and-Organized-Crime-Suckers-Wiseguys.pdf
This source talks about how the values of the American dream have been flipped on their heads by organized crime individuals to serve the needs of society’s alternate belief of the American dream. This chapter will be critical to helping me explain how the values at the core to the American dream and their “new” interpretations are essentially two sides of the same coin, representing parallel manifestations of an identical concept. This source will act as a framework for the definition of the American dream that I plan on using in my essay. “What is American about American crime? Obviously, it is our values, their openness and pragmatism , our beliefs in competition, material success, individual action, freedom, and liberty. The openness of our values permits their reversal, which can be a very good and creative force,
enhancing adaptability and change. As we have seen, it can also be a
rather perverse one. Our values and the needs of our popular political
institutions permit the creation of alternative ethical codes, and thus our
values can be turned upside down”. Key terms include: wiseguy, suckers, material success, opportunity, organized crime, individual action, competition, liberty, individualism, acquisitiveness.
Cortes, C. E. (1987). Italian-Americans in Film: From Immigrants to Icons. MELUS, 14(3/4), 107. https://doi.org/10.2307/467405
This source delves into the way the Italian-Americans in film such as the Godfather have become “symbols for the ethnic experience in
general, particularly for the extra-legal quest for the American dream”. The book mainly focuses on films produced in the 1900s to 1988. Through this source, I will gain a contextual understanding of the Italian immigrant experience surrounding the time in which the book and movie “the Godfather” was created as well. “Italian-American film depictions and propelled Italian-American life and culture into the movie forefront. To a degree, the screen treatment of Italian-Americans reflected general trends in U.S. society, including filmmaking. The various ethnic movements of the 1960s and early 1970s reverberated broadly. Not only did these movements champion civil
rights, social justice, and human equality, but they also popularized the
search for and celebration of ethnic heritage, identity, and pride. Almost
overnight, millions of Americans became enchanted with the discovery
and display of their own ethnic roots. Italian-Americans did not remain
immune to this national psychic contagion. In Hollywood, they took a
leadership role”. This source will also help me understand how the film and movie is representative of the pursuit of the American dream for immigrants who turn towards crime to achieve it. “Throughout Coppola used the Mafia as a metaphor for the American quest for wealth and power, in which the Mafia symbolizes the successes and excesses of American big businesses”. Key terms include: violence, Italian-American, ethnicity.
F. Coppola, F. (Director). (1972). The Godfather [Film]. Paramount Pictures.
The film The Godfather focus on
Gershon, L. (2014, November 25). The Italian-American Immigration Experience. JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/the-italian-american-immigration-experience/
This article explores the perceptions of Italian Americans in American society. It talks about how in the wake of Obama’s upcoming 2014 immigration reform debate, the way in which different immigrants groups “contribute” to American society is being questioned given the influx of immigrants entering the country. “In a 1995 paper for the journal In Defense of the Alien, Rita J. Simons points out that, historically, Americans have been opposed to each major wave of immigration while it is happening… In 1982, for example, only 25 percent of survey respondents said Mexican immigrants have, on balance, been a good thing for the country, while 34 percent said they’ve been bad for it. In contrast, 56 percent said Italian immigrants have been a net positive, compared with 10 percent who said the opposite.”. It does on to further discuss the willingness and openness for Italian Americans to “become Americans” “When Italy declared war on the US in 1941, Italian Americans overwhelmingly declared their allegiance to their new home, but not without misgivings”. With this article, it would help me make a possible claim that white Americans were less apprehensive to ascribe Italians with an American identity. Why? I’m not sure yet. Key terms: Assimilate/integration, ethnic discrimination, Immigrant, ethnic identity.
Puzo, M., J. Thompson, R., & Bart, P. (2002). The Godfather. New York : New American Library. (Original work published 1969). with an introduction by Robert J. Thompson ; and an afterword by Peter Bart.
Shadoian, J. (2003). Dreams & Dead Ends: The American Gangster Film (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press .
Messenger, C. K. (2002). The Godfather and American culture : how the Corleones became “Our Gang.” State University of New York Press.