Anthony Bourdain said the single
greatest thing regarding Italian culture and the Mafia. It was during
a segue portion of his show, Parts Unknown. It was so poetic and to
the point that I needed to put it down on paper – and share with
everyone.
Let's refresh our memories:
Anthony Bourdain is a chef/author/tv personality. He currently stars in CNN's Parts Unknown. The premise of the show is simple: Anthony is sent to different areas of the world to experience local customs and cuisines.
On Sunday, October 13 2013 – Anthony traveled to Sicily. He started the show off with a comment about how the town was “ where the Godfather was filmed.” He imagined how annoying it must be for the locals and the town itself (which has stood since the 1100s) to be overshadowed by the movie and tourists.
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| Overhead map of Sicily |
The show
progressed – and mentioned a great deal of anti-Mafia ideas and
ideals. It brought on one local who extolled the virtues of an
anti-Mafia movement known as Addiopizzo. Addiopizzo ( Addio
means goodbye – pizzo is a term used for extorted money). This
movement has grown across Sicily and the mainland.
 |
| Addiopizzo sticker for storefronts |
Even though the show featured a heavy, anti-Mafia message – the best was Bourdain's anti-Mafia soliloquy. Here is what he said:
"I love the films Godfather I and Godfather II but they had nothing to do with any organized crime from reality- they're opera. Magnificent opera. But basically, a morality tale about loyalty and destroying the things you claim to love and want to protect... "
"Actual organized crime members, generally speaking, are a bunch of spectacularly uneducated, lazy ass sociopaths who have no problem stealing from their own harder working neighbors. Here, in Sicily, their interests are less glamorous than gambling and prostitution. They are, and have traditionally been, a gigantic, parasitical organism - one that has now grown to near equal size of its host."
There you have it. In a few short sentences, Bourdain was able to reduce the Mafia media image into two parts: reality and fiction. The Godfather is appealing because it was crafted to be appealing. Same for all other Mafia media. But the real Mafia? Unrefined, uncivilized, unappealing – it lacks any type of redeeming quality.
But, the most compelling thing to remember is this: Bourdain mentioned how the Mafia steals from its harder working neighbors. Well, in Italy – that means that the Mafia is shaking down its own. And lets not forget, the Mafia would have had no chance of surviving in America had it not been able to shake down fellow Italian immigrants for monthly extortion money.
Addiopizzo indeed.
Follow Anthony Bourdain: @Bourdain
Watch Parts Unknown : Sundays at 9PM on CNN
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