tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8778001285727771343.post5637807791885448143..comments2009-06-26T17:06:42.363-07:00Ercolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07624336130332596024noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8778001285727771343.post-69407044762652660472009-06-26T14:52:59.838-07:002009-06-26T14:52:59.838-07:00It is true that pressure should be exerted on Italian and Italian-American producers and actors to reject roles and productions that play into stereotypes. But it&#39;s naive to expect that all individuals will always put their interests as members of an ethnic community before their personal and career interests. It&#39;s also incoherent and therefore not &#39;reasonable&#39; to apply a term like &quot;hypocrisy&quot; to a group instead of an individual. Using it in this way implies that the claims of individuals are somehow lessened if they are not shared by all members of the group to which they belong. But it&#39;s the essence of stereotyping to regard the members of an ethnic group as thinking and acting &#39;as one&#39; and not as individuals. The wrongness of stereotyping Italians in the ways that are commonly still done in the media is quite independent of whether or not there are individual Italians and Italian-Americans who, for their own reasons, are willing to accept it or benefit from it.Peteramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04327682428224044173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8778001285727771343.post-45809043311618575642009-06-04T07:09:34.295-07:002009-06-04T07:09:34.295-07:00Gentlemen,<br /><br />While I’m acutely aware of the almost universal and rather casual attempts in the various media to denigrate and/or diminish the accomplishments of the Italian people and even to challenge the integrity and essential character as this incredibly talented cultural group, having Italian/Italian American actors/producers/directors contributing mightily to these productions is not helpful. Coercing Miller Coors to remove the ads is appropriate, but Italian-American organizations might want to lobby the Italian American actors/producers/directors and impress upon them that such activities contribute to negative and even pernicious stereotyping. Otherwise it will be construed by other groups, quite reasonably, as pure hypocrisy.Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16558424820424726809noreply@blogger.com