Italian Italian

Todd: So Yuri, you’re Italian. What do you think about all the mafia movies? What do real Italian people, people from Italy, think about all the mafia movies that are in American movies?

Yuri: Well we usually watch them and enjoy them very much. They are well done.

Todd: Ok, so you’re not offended? You don’t think that it has a negative image of Italy as just being like crime and gangsters and things like that?

Yuri: No. It think that there were so many good people that went to the States from Italy. Some “bad apples” also arrived there that make a very good business -- we are not proud of it, but the movies themselves they are fantastic. The Godfather is amazing. Later in Italy we also saw The Sopranos and I could not stop watching it. It was great.

Todd: Me too. Me too. So have you actually been to America?

Yuri: Yes, I’ve been. I was lucky enough to go to California and to Nevada shortly.

Todd: Uh huh. So what was it like being an Italian in America?

Yuri: It was funny because when I was at parties or talking to people -- in the beginning I’d just say hello or something, just say I was from Italy. If I didn’t say much they couldn’t realize I was a real Italian and they asked me, “Where are you from?” And I’d say, “From Italy.” And they’d say, “From what part? Jersey?” or something like that. And I’d say, “well, Italy, the country! “

Todd: Right.

Yuri: And then often they’d ask me what generation of Italian I was. And I’d say, “well, forever, we don’t have generations. You’re Italian and end of story. That’s it.”

Todd: Yeah, Italian, Italian. Oh, that’s great. So what do you think about the Italian-American culture in the US. Does it seem very Italian to you or does it seem more American?

Yuri: That’s a very interesting question because I met a lot of American-Italians in Europe and they came to me and said, “I’m Italian too!” And I started to talk Italian to them. They couldn’t say a word. And I said, “Hmm. That’s odd.” And then they would always carry on praising Italy in Italy for which I was very proud. But then sometimes they would do sometimes some stupid things and they’d say, “I do this because I’m Italian.” And I’d think, “No, you do this because you are yourself!”

Todd: Like, can you give an example?

Yuri: Oh the way, some like, some of them they were crazy about women. They were going after skirts we say. And they look at me like, “Oh, I’m Italian.” And I’d say, “Not everybody does it.” So it’s a kind of urban legend or something like that.