"Little" Italy

[HagensBing1977]

I found the Little Italy scene interesting. The tour guide was overheard to say that Little Italy in NY was once over 40 square miles in its heyday, but now it consists of merely a single row of shops and resaurants on one street.

This was the scene were Butchie was talking to Phil. It seemed as if Phil lost Butchie's confidence at this point and made it worse by hanging up on him. It almost served to become the point where he changed his mind on matters. And then when Butchie looked up, it appeared as if he was suddenly out of this area, and the faces he saw were of Asian variety.

We've seen in the pilot of this series some various comments about the mafia being past its prime. In this last episode, "Made in America", I thought this was just another example of the social cultural commentary that Chase brings up.

Any thoughts on the additional significance of this scene?

[jayneezy]

That scene made me laugh because by the time he was done with the call it looked like he was in another country...lol

I guess it is just showing how times have changed and how things are so different from years ago....Something that seemed like it would never be gone and be there forever oneday was almost reduced to nothing.....

[HagensBing1977]

The same thing happened w/ the Rocky movies. Take a look at the Italian neighborhood from the inspirational running scene in "Rocky II" (rememer all of those Italian flags in that sequence of events... spectacular!). What a magnificence of cinema. However, by the time of this last movie entitled "Rocky Balboa" was released, that same neighborhood is now Viatmamese!! No kidding, the same set of blocks in Phily has completely changed ethnic groups in what, 30 years?????

Chase sees that and this was his way of weaving the commentary into "Made in America".

[valpo034]

I found the Little Italy scene interesting. The tour guide was overheard to say that Little Italy in NY was once over 40 square miles in its heyday, but now it consists of merely a single row of shops and resaurants on one street.

This was the scene were Butchie was talking to Phil. It seemed as if Phil lost Butchie's confidence at this point and made it worse by hanging up on him. It almost served to become the point where he changed his mind on matters. And then when Butchie looked up, it appeared as if he was suddenly out of this area, and the faces he saw were of Asian variety.

We've seen in the pilot of this series some various comments about the mafia being past its prime. In this last episode, "Made in America", I thought this was just another example of the social cultural commentary that Chase brings up.

Any thoughts on the additional significance of this scene?


Also...I am pretty sure the tour guide said 40 square blocks, not 40 square miles

[Cold Cuts]

Looked like Butchie moved from Little Italy to Chinatown. In the old days, little Italy would have kept going, but by the end of his call, he had moved into Chinatown.

The famous film Chinatown is a crime story where the lead character is tricked and betrayed. Butchie decides to betray Phil as he walks from little Italy into Chinatown.

Maybe a reach, I don't know if NY's Chinatown is anywhere near little Italy, probably not. But that's what it looked like while watching the show.

[pxc]

Maybe a reach, I don't know if NY's Chinatown is anywhere near little Italy, probably not. But that's what it looked like while watching the show.

Chinatown is right next to Little Italy, and is pretty much the sole reason it shrunk as buildings changed owners, as the Italians moved out to the 'burbs and more and more Chinese immigrants came over. It has nothing to do with the movie Chinatown.

It is however, in keeping with one of Chase's themes that times have changed, even for the mob, and that the 'old school' isn't relevant anymore. Remember when Patsy and Carlo try to shake down a Starbucks (or was it Jamba Juice?) earlier in the season, and are told everything goes through corporate? "What's this world coming to?"

[cob]

This all plays into the theme of the loss of culture and identity among the italians. Once a hard-working minority group fresh off the boats from Europe, Italians are now in positions of power, and other minorities and ethnic groups have moved into the role of what Italians used to be. Now, some italians (the ones that moved out of little italy) are 'americanized' to the point where theyre just white guys with vowels at the end of their names.

[gamecock]

Chinatown is right next to Little Italy, and is pretty much the sole reason it shrunk as buildings changed owners, as the Italians moved out to the 'burbs and more and more Chinese immigrants came over. It has nothing to do with the movie Chinatown.

It is however, in keeping with one of Chase's themes that times have changed, even for the mob, and that the 'old school' isn't relevant anymore. Remember when Patsy and Carlo try to shake down a Starbucks (or was it Jamba Juice?) earlier in the season, and are told everything goes through corporate? "What's this world coming to?"

I just wanted to correct something. It was not Patsy and Carlo. It was Patsy and Carlo's cousin Burt. Burt was killed by Sil at the beginning of the last ep.