I am a huge Soprano fan. I love the series because of its storyline, the characters, and the overall plot. However over time many people have become skeptical of the Sopranos, especially Italian Americans. I myself have received criticism from my grandparents for watching the show because it gives off a bad image of Italian Americans.

I can understand where my grandparents are coming from, their parents immigrated to this country in the early 1900’s and had to make their way in America with a then small Italian music company. The fact of the matter is my Grandparents felt that it portrayed Italian Americans incapable of hard labor and truly working hard for every dime. I disagree.

What I see is a difference in Italian American styles. I can easily say that my Uncle from Long Island acts and has almost the same exact mannerisms as Tony Soprano. However take any of my family born and raised in upstate N.Y and you will see a big difference. I believe that the series “The Sopranos” shows that of an urban Italian family. My immediate family in upstate N.Y is much more quiet and subtle than our Family from the city. We share the same taste in food and culture, however our image is different.

Popular culture has fallen in love with the N.Y city “Goomba Italiano”. This has been the Popular image of Italians for years. So therefore I believe that the Sopranos does show an accurate image of a different style of Italians, not Italians as a whole. Even at this very moment I have friends that call me “The Godfather” and “Goomba”. They get their images of Italians from the Sopranos and films like Goodfellas. I guess that in the end its a stereotype I’m gonna have to live with.