Thu, 21 Jun 2007

Way to go, Al!

In response to the question:

Do you think Italian American culture is represented unfairly in film and on TV?

Al Pacino answered:

Explain to me what Italian American culture is. We've been here 100 years. Isn't Italian American culture American culture? That's because we're so diverse in terms of intermarriage. Most everybody who's Italian is half Italian. Except me. I'm all Italian. I'm mostly Sicilian, and I have a little bit of Neapolitan in me. You get your full dose with me.

[Time Magazine, June 25, 2007, "10 Questions"]

I love the response, "Isn't Italian American culture American Culture?" I'm also interested in the statement that most everybody who's "Italian" is really half Italian. I've thought about this before. Just when does a hyphenated American become just an American. And if an American moves to another country do they become an American-Spaniard, or American-Italian? And if you are an Italian-American and you move to Mexico, for example, are you an Italian-American-Mexican? . . . and then you move to . . . well, you get the idea.

It's refreshing to hear this expressed. Why aren't we just Americans? Is the culture in the U.S. that poor that we don't think it worth just being an American even after hundreds of years? Or are we just too diverse that we keep our ancestry close?

And what are some of these hyphenated cultural groups. Just because your ancestors were from some country, does that give you somethng in common or are the differences of income, location, experiences, make more of a difference than any commonality? And how many of us are married to someone from a different culture or had parents who were from different cultures or have grandparents who were . . .

I have never personally identified with any particular hyphenated group despite my mother being first-generation Swedish-American. Yes, my mother made some Swedish dishes, but we never really talked about Swedish culture or heritage. I have always thought of myself as American. But, hey, that's just me and maybe Al.

posted 19:46 [/WhatAreYou] permanent link