L'emigrante.
The U.S. is considered the standard bearer of capitalism and, for this reason, it is often condemned for the excesses of the power of money over everything else. (President Calvin Coolidge famously said that "the business of America is business.")
Admiration for American democracy and wealth is often accompanied -- both by Americans and foreigners -- by sharp criticism for our enormous economic inequality and the treatment of the poor, minorities and immigrants (often these three terms go together.)
L'emigrante, under the guise of comedy, presents a rather critical AND PESSIMISTIC view of America.
REPLY to the COMMENT immediately before yours (obviously if you are the first to comment you won't have to do it). Avoid the usual "I agree-I disagree." Does it discuss aspects or details you did not notice?
COMMENT: avoid repeating what your classmates have already said. Pick something original, a scene or a detail, and explain how it adds to the generally critical attitude of the film about the American system.
If you can't find one NEW thing to mention, pick TWO aspects together and show how they reinforce a specific point about the anti-capitalism/ anti-American theme.
A scene from the movie L’emigrante, that truly stuck out to me, was (minute mark 0:30) when Peppino was working as a waiter at the Italian Restaurant, and two English speaking men, identified as “the black hand”, bombed the restaurant. I found this scene to be heart wrenching, because these hard working, Italian immigrants, came to America for a better life. Instead, they live in fear wondering when their small business will be attacked by criminals who conspired “the black hand”. When the owner stated the words “This is America”, I felt a sense of anger. Because America was meant to offer a better life, full of opportunities and equality. Instead, the Italian immigrants experienced mischief and anarchy. Overall, I felt L’emigrante, was meaningful and insightful.
ReplyDeleteI wrote something similar in that Italians seek asylum in America in multiple ways. Whether it be economic or social issues forcing them to leave their place of origin. It is extremely disheartening that Italians escape from mischief and anarchy only to have it follow them in America.
DeleteGood. We should remember from what we learned in class that the Black Hand was associated with Italians. And, as I mentioned in class, all poor communities have gangs of hoodlums who victimize first their own people. This was a perfect example of that dynamics.
DeleteI definitely appreciated the satirical way this film approached these issues. There was a lightheartedness about this film which made it both entertaining yet highly informative on what Italian immigrants truly experienced. This film was very Good Fellas, Godfather-esque, but in a more lighthearted way. A scene that stood out to me was when Rosita refused Peppino because she learned that he was involved with the "Black Hand". That being said, this film adds to the stigma that the only way Italian immigrants are able to make it in America is to turn to the mafia. We see this stigma further intensified during the scene where the restaurant Peppino waiters at gets bombed. It seems almost as if the mafia is inescapable regardless. This also shows how success is defined in the capitalist society in America. "Success" is defined by how much money you have, which may be the case for most people, but all immigrants, not just Italian immigrants, seek asylum in America in more ways that one, but this film perpetuates the idea that they can't escape what they are trying to leave behind.
ReplyDeleteGood. That's one of the clear messages. And that is also why even to this very day when other people hear "Italian American" they almost instantly think of Mafia.
DeleteOne thing that stuck out to me the most from the movie L’emigrante was how the "black-hand" or the mafia was a large presence. The movie comes off as a typical mafia style movie so I assume thats why this caught my attention? But the "black-hand" being a big presence in the movie can be interpreted as a result of the capitalist society America is known as. The "black-hand" to me plays the roll of the mafia and an example of what trying to live in America can make you become. The "black-hand" is not a good character and their motives are all driven by money or power such as, the bombing which consisted of violence and some form of power statement to me.
ReplyDeleteThe first scene where I think the flawed American system is shown when Peppino initially arrives (20:35). Before entering New York Peppino and the others in steerage had to enter through what is titled “disinfestation”. While they were there, they got examined by a doctor then were disinfected by smoke that came out of the pipes on the ceiling. Meanwhile, the more affluent people on the ship such as Rosita went through “customs” which seemed like nothing because the film shows her walking directly from the ship to a car that awaited her. Although this might seem insignificant, I think it displays the importance of wealth in America, and Americas attitude towards the wealthy and the lower classes. The rich passengers who were on the boat could’ve possessed the same diseases that the doctors who examined the passengers in steerage were looking for. But since they had money they were overlooked and as a result their voyage and entry in America was easy. In comparison to those who were in steerage that were cramped up together and then were poked and prodded by doctors.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very good detail that I have not noticed. Thank you for pointing that out. Your details make it clear that the capitalist regime in the United States, people with money have power, and use money to control everything.
DeleteGood. Like Thu, I also had not noticed the difference.
DeleteThe scene with the naked bodies in the large room ends with white steam coming out of the shower heads and filling the room. I edited the scene out while I was doing the subtitles (I wrote the whole English dialogue myself) because it was too heavy handed. The reference clearly was the Nazi gas chambers and I did not think it was appropriate. We could talk more about this if anyone wants.
We can clearly see the power of money through the film L'EMIGRANTE. The details of the movie that impressed me most was when Peppino proposed to Rosita. He was rejected because he didn't have money to take care of her. And Peppino asserted to Rosita that when she returned, he would be richer than her. In order to become a wealthy man in the harsh United States, he knew that apart from joining the mafia, he could not find a job that would make more money. And then when Peppino was successful and rich, he seemed like a different person, no longer a naive and gentle Italian. And the way he shows his love for Rosita is also different than before. So I see this detail clearly demonstrates the power of money. Money can change people easily.
ReplyDeleteThe film does show this theme. Wealth is praised in American society and we can see it even with the mafia. To me, I think that certain characters fell victim to the mafia because of the love of money and demand for wealth in America. Additionally, it is harder for them as immigrants and they have many disadvantages (i.e. Peppino has no formidable job skills) so they have to find a feasible way to get wealth. To me, I find in this case the pressure to blend in with the masses (e.g. through wealth) changed people more easily.
DeleteGood. Peppino's character development is clearly the central part of the message. And you were correct in identifying the message: if you want to succeed as an Italian American, joining the Mafia is the only way. What about the dynamics between woman / man / money? Does it still apply to our society? Does a man eventually become resentful if he is less than his wife? What if a male nurse married a female doctor? Would that be a cause for stress?
DeleteThe scene that was salient to me when Toni, the anarchist was telling Peppino about his life. This scene reminded me of the many political movements that occur in America. I think that it could represent an anti-American theme because Toni brags about how many time he’s been arrested for his political protests. By showing that he gets arrested and then is able to walk free shows that America does not take disruption and crime harshly compared to other regimes at that time. Under other totalitarian regimes Toni would’ve been given capital punishment for his political disruptions but since America is the “land of the free,” Toni is not killed and ultimately released after his sentence is served.
ReplyDeleteGood. Very interesting point, and from a reverse stand point. I wonder though. The film is Italian and in Italy there is a tradition of tolerance toward political dissent, even violent protest. The only exception was during the Fascist regime (1924-1943). Political terrorism (real or imagined) is treated very very harshly in the US (see the film for Tuesday.)
DeleteI think a powerful scene in L'emigrante was Peppino proposing to Rosita. Peppino vowing that he would earn more money shows the power of money in this country. Money can essentially get you anything tangible you want but also puts you in a different social status as well. It also is powerful because it can change a person, like how it changed Peppino.
ReplyDelete@Laurisa Peters: I liked how you contrasted how Toni tells us about his arrests and then quoting about America being the "land of the free". This shows how although we allow freedom in our country, we also allow too much leniency toward criminals.
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According to what we read and watched during the course all immigrants associated America with wealth and by their naivety they left their homes and went in searching better life, but all their dreams were broke about the capitalistic system which changed these people forever. Peppino came to America as a free person and become addicted by money gangster who for the sake of money took gun in his arms. So, this is one more example how freedom for immigrants looked like in America.
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ReplyDeleteThe scene that was unpleasant to me is where Peppino’s job was to be a part of attraction at the rich restaurant where he was sitting on a chair with top hat and a cigar . On my opinion it highlights the discrimination toward Italian immigrants and tells that even immigrnts could put rich suits and tryed to look like odinary American they still would be took place of the second class and their lives depended on the desisions of wealthy capitalist. So this scene symbolizes that Italian immigrants were seen as small puppets in the hands of a big capitalist machine and it reminds me of an anti- Italians cartoon where Italians are depicted as apes or rats.
I agree with your analysis of this scene. The wealthy Americans were throwing an extravagant party and hired Peppino as the "clown" or "act" for the event. They found their amusement in getting to dunk him into the pool while he was obviously trying to avoid it. This also showed Peppino's desperation to do any available job to him even if it was humiliating.
DeleteGood. The scene that comes immediately before is the moment when Peppino becomes a different person: he prays the Madonna ("Madonna" is Italian for the Vergin Mary, the mother of Jesus, the "spiritual girl," not the 'material girl' who topped the charts in the 80s.)
DeleteIn my opinion, a character in the film L'Emigrante that shows a critical view about Americans is Pamela. At first she's presented as this rich "flapper" girl who is sort of crazy. Later in the film we see how crazy her antics are each time she runs into Peppino along with her unsuccessful attempts to lure him. I think she represents the view the world had of American woman in the 1920's as these sex crazed deviants and wild party animals. This portrayal in itself is anti-American because it's a negative representation of American morals. It's almost warning the audience of the horrors of "crazy" American women.
ReplyDeleteGood. Pamela is a parody of America, not just in the 20s. Rich, indulgent, brainless, selfish etc etc etc.
DeleteIn my opinion, i found it disturbing when Peppino had to be part of a attraction (basically his job) for a rich restaurant wearing a top hat and cigar. It shows in a way discrimination because it tells us they can dress rich by putting rich suits and look like they’re an American. Its crazy because the restaurant pretty much hired Peppino to be their source of entertainment by making him a “Clown” doing things that he isn’t comfortable with. It shows that he was desperate to do any job to live by any means necessary. They also could be seen as puppets to higher individuals as they needed money and would do just about anything.
ReplyDeleteYou make a great point about Peppino being desperate. I think in these times of need for poor immigrants, desperate times call for desperate measures. He even showed his ambition in the beginning just trying to get his ticket stamped and then risk dressing like a woman to make it happen.
DeleteThis film really shows how hard of a life it was to be an immigrant in America especially being poor. Peppino was shown that you cannot be naiive in America. You need money to do anything. Not having money will have people judge you and look down on you. This represents Capitalism in America because people are money hungry. When Peppino was working in the pizzeria and the Black Hand bombed it, the owner said that if you don't pay them, this is what happens. He's been so embarrassed by others and felt extremely hopeless about finding his father, a job and a home.
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