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?
I'd be confused by the bottle of ketchup.
I get the whiskey-gulping couch, but I think I'm missing something about my heritage about the ketchup.
I think it comes down to whether the depiction is gratuitous. Does it advance the theme, art, entertainment of the movie. For instance, I think a far more nefarious image of Italians is portrayed in mobster films, but films like The Godfather, Goodfellas, etc. employ them necessarily. A lot of Italians, including my late father-in-law disliked these movies because of it.
But I realize that one of the fascinating things about movies (and I admit I don't often watch movies) and life is that we all look at them from a different point of reference, and therefore we don't always see the same thing.
When my daughter was about 8 or 9 we watched Rear Window, and through it all her eyes were like saucers. After the thrilling ending, she excitedly said that was a really good movie. I asked her her favorite scene, and still excited, she answered, "When they lifted the puppy in the basket." I wish I could still view life and movies from that frame of mind.
Now, pizzaboy, fill me in about the ketchup reference. St. Patty's Day is coming up and I have to be ready.
