The Godfather And La Ragazza Ribelle Or The Sicilian Girl

The mafia has had history of violence for various reasons as the mafia has been glamorized through US film and literature as gangster culture. The Godfather has had one of the biggest impacts to the world, shedding light on how “cool” the mafia can be. There are many factors to show how appealing the mafia can be to others, as many of those factors are exaggerated. The authors and directors portray many things that are similar things and differences between the American mafia movies and Italian mafia movies. In The Godfather and La Ragazza Ribelle or The Sicilian Girl there are many different portals of the Sicilian people and the mafia in general. One shows how family is the most important aspect of the organization, while on the other hand;
“The concept of honor referred intrinsically, to two fundamental ideal attributes: virility in the case of men, virginity and sexual shame in the case of women. In a mafia area, to be a man meant to display one’s pride and self-assurance, and to show oneself ready and able to respond quickly to the threats that life constantly posed to one’s own honor and that of one’s family”(Arlacchi 6). Along with the two attributes of honor, being venality and sexual shame, one must first acquire honor. “At initiation, the new Mafioso swears obedience-the first pillar of the code of honor” (Dickie 29). A Mafioso will gain respect by acts of murder while everyone else will obtain it by being born into the family, or by being good citizens by paying their “il prizzo”. “In order to reassure our clients that we can supply credible protection, we also need strength, both physical and psychological. The capacity to command respect, to inspire awe, has frequently been attributed to Mafiosi of stature. But above all, Mafiosi must be able to resort to violence; the ability to inflict punishment is crucial to the role” (Gambetta 40). The concept of family is such an important part of The Godfather as it always comes first. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that you do your part in supporting the family and making sure that every generation is setup for success. In reality, the mafia puts business in front of family at
In some cases the Italian mafia can differ themselves from the others, by how they are structured just like a successful company. That keeps them at the top of their game, but being so quiet and organized. Not only does Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs apply to audiences’ appeal to The Godfather, but also it applies to the members as well to a degree. Even though the family concept is not as valid as The Godfather shows, the Mafioso feel a sense of protection, loyalty, strength, and the ability to raise through the ranks. “So honor translates as a sense of professional worth, a value system, and a totem of group identity for an association that regards itself as being beyond good and evil”(Dickie 33). Even though loyalty seems to be present for the Mafioso, there also seems to be a degree of paranoia present. The Godfather shows paranoia from its members because of other rival families, but in The Sicilian Girl the Mafioso are actually paranoid because of their own members, because there is always so much on the line that they know that they cannot screw