Italian-American Identity Crisis

First of all, please remove the comment by bking74 for being offensive, vulgar and obviously from a low-life psycho who could benefit from intensive therapy!
I like this video and encourage you to post it in several social media for others to see.

Capisci.!

great documentary...informative and funny!

Great job fellas. It's been a pleasure to watch both of your talents develop from backyard fun to inspiring change. Both of your consistent dedication and passion serve to motivate me daily in my own endeavors.

As for the content I feel a certain kinship to the message. Although I don't look the part, I am half Italian. My paternal great-grandfather emigrated to the US via Ellis Island at the tender age of 16. All alone, he was searching for his biological father who had left the family in Italy some years before. After some time he found his father, who had since started a new family, wife and all, who turned him away as his son. Like most of his time, he learned English on the job and proved to be quite successful owning the largest truck dealer in downtown Manhattan. Although the Italian heritage surely passed on to my grandfather the dissolution is quite evident as the only culturally Italian "thing" I can claim is my love for family and food. Gone is the language, the religion, the history, the wine(sort of..) etc.

Watching your video, and understanding first hand the dichotomy that exists between our generation and those before us is both disheartening but also exciting. In creating an American culture of our own its a given that we will lose aspects of our individual heritage. That is an exhilarating concept as it should allow us to take the best of whats around. The unfortunate reality is that, as was said in an earlier post, the American media standard of portraying the extremes as beacons of truth is serving to, at best, promote mediocrity at a time when we so sorely need more people like you both.

Congratulations again on producing a great product and inspiring those around you. I am proud to have you both as friends.

Good message. Well produced. Nice job guys.

Lou and Erick,

First off, I want to commend you guys on the awesome job with the video. It was a very sobering and real look at the unfortunate identity crisis of italian americans and I hope this video gets viewed by as many people as possible. We tend to see only one side of the story, mostly due to the attention that the "bad apples" tend to attract and bask in. Even the focus was on italian americans, the beauty of this video and its message is universal and applies to every single culture. I really enjoyed watching this video. It was very well produced. Keep up the great work!

-Eric

Being a new yorker i know plenty of italians. Hell im 25% italian. It really bothers me that so many people actually believe in these stereotypes. Fucking ignorance is rampant in this country.

If Lou and Erick's message has provoked some thought for all families to re-evaluate their priorities, then this is "mission accomplished"
I was delighted to see my son and Erick take pride in something this important.
Maybe if we had more young men and women make a postive contribution (like this video) we could preserve our Italain American heritage for generations to come.
One last thought for the generation after mine:

You may think this is all about you, your toys, instant gratification and believe you're entitled to something extra but you're not. Life does not work like that!
My Grandfather came here from Italy with nothing and worked extremely hard. Two jobs, learned English on the job, cared more about his Family than himself, and NEVER complained. When we sat around the dinner table on Sunday, that was his reward.

Good job guys!!

Louis, I've always been proud of you,however this is superb! You and Erick have done an outstanding job with this. Yes we are proud of our heritage and also want people to see our ethics and kindness,caring and love for others. I
truly hope viewers will feel this! Love you!

I hope Current TV picks this up,as I really believe more people should see this!
Everyday people like our family are truly Italian Americans.

Good Job guys! Need any music for anything you create and we are your band! :D

italian americans that aren't like that just aren't perceived as very "italian" in general. they're just loped into the generality that is "white people." The same is for irish people too, they're only called irish when they're drinking for the most part. I don't think this is a big deal, stereotypes are stereotypes and it's up to the individual to perpetrate or deny them in themselves. If someone wants to be called a guido, we're going to call them a guido. Notice how people didn't freak out (in terms of an "identity crisis" anyway) when african-american culture threw up all those "gansta" motifs back in 2003 (and beyond). I think it's because african-american culture is comprised of a single race of people, and thus there's no other group of people to compare the "G's" to. These "identity" crises are really only apparent in white people b/c we are so many radically different cultures that are all considered the same race.

I've spent every summer of my life here at the Jersey Shore too, and I don't think anyone's disputing the existence of these stereotypes - I agree that there are *many* of them out there, it's just unfortunate that they receive so much attention. People end up believing that the majority of Italian-Americans or for that matter Jersey Shore residents are fist-pumping juiceheads or thugs, and it's both sad and untrue. Diabolical, I'm part Irish also and wish that those stereotypes weren't given so much consideration or influence either.

if italian americans wish to stop being portrayed as gangsters , mobsters, and party going narcissists; then they should try not being all those things all the time.

and then maybe my Irish ass will put down the whiskey bottle and my black neighbor will stop eating so much fried chicken and watermelon.

come on people. stop being so goddamn sensitive, the reason stereotypes exist is because ethnic groups really do have those distinguishing tendencies. they don't come out of thin air. As a person who has spent every summer of my entire life at the Jersey shore, I can tell you that guys like those on the tv show are not uncommon. there are thousands of them. and they're all the same.

On the plus side, Italian actors have plenty of work.

Doing this project was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. It reaffirmed how much I sincerely respect my heritage and love my family. Thanks for the comments everyone, hope you enjoy.

- Lou Rinaldi

Nick - Thanks, man. That really means a lot to me. It makes me really happy to know that you felt proud after watching it. Making you (as well as others) feel proud is the greatest reward I could hope for.

Dion - Thank you sir. It's true, people do seem to have forgotten. And Nick's right: when get Italians get thrown under the bus, everyone just looks the other way. I won't mention what television station is currently doing exactly that.

Nice work guys. Nice to see some truth behind a topic that many of us have forgotten the real meaning of.

As a friend and an Italian-American, I was really proud to watch this and to know that you guys produced it. It is really unfortunate that Italian-Americans are sometimes portrayed in the media as nothing more than mafiosos or booze-fueled, fist-pumping clubgoers. Those people certainly do exist, but their influence shouldn't cast a shadow on the legitimate and positive accomplishments that Italian-Americans have contributed to our society - and our media shouldn't keep glorifiying the antics of those giving Italian-Americans a bad reputation. When the names of other ethnic groups are tarnished, there are protests and rights groups raising all kinds of Hell, but when it happens to Italian-Americans, rarely does anyone bat an eyelash (or pump a fist, if you prefer). I hope that one day people will receive more of a glimpse at the good things that most Italian-Americans have contributed to society, instead of the violent or cartoonish behavior displayed by the minority element.

Thanks so much Zichi. I genuinely appreciate it. I see you've been living in Japan since 1994. I lived in Japan (Kofu, Yamashi-ken) for the better part of 2009, and it was an amazing experience that I'll never forget. Thanks again.