That's just it, Klyd. You have to ask yourself, if it were an Irish American stereotype being depicted, would it bother you then? And if not, hey, more power to you. You have a thicker skin than I do.

I think I'm a little more sensitive to "Summer of Sam" because a lot of it was filmed right in Throggs Neck (there's actually a shot of our old pool and beach club off Clarence Avenue). And it's ironic, but I have to note that, regardless of some of the high profile Italian mob guys who have lived here, Throggs Neck has always been an Irish neighborhood (I'd have to say Irish, then Italian, then German).

Anyway, you know me well, Klyd. You're my pal. I'm just asking you to put the shoe on the other foot. If the depiction was of an Irish American beat cop, drunk and on the take, a bottle of Jameson's in one hand and a bottle of ketchup in the other, wouldn't it bother you just a little bit?

And for the record, I think Spike is a great fimmaker and a decent man. I just think that he might unknowingly have some anti-Italian bias in him. And contrary to popular opinion, I don't think a litle bias necessarily makes someone a racist. It's what you do with that bias.