Reputation of Italy in the Entertainment World

Rating: Null/10 (10 February 2006)

What do the following Italian gentlemen and ladies have in common?: St Francis of Assisi, St Clare of Assisi, Dante, Duccio, Giotto, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Della Francesca, St Bernardine of Sena, Donatello, Ghiberti, Bramante, Masaccio, Botticelli, St Catherine of Sena, Raphael, Leonardo, Michelangelo, St Charles Borromeo, Ariosto, Tasso, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, Marini, Caravaggio, Carracci, Reni, Domenichino, Guercino, Bernini, Monteverdi, Galileo, Torricelli, Giordano, Tiepolo, Volta, Goldoni, Metastasio, Vivaldi, Corelli, Scarlatti, Boccherini, Cherubini, Rossini, Paganini, Verdi, Mazzini, Garibaldi, Cavour, Collodi, Bl Pius IX, Leo XII, Mother Cabrini, Fermi, Marconi, Puccini, Toscanini, Caruso, Gigli, Tebaldi, Moffo, Bartoli, Lanza, Pavarotti, Malipiero, Pirandello, Bl John XXIII, and La Guardia. Answer: they were all honest, honorable, upstanding citizens who never did anything bad, but instead did a lot of good for humanity. In other words, as far as Hollywood is concerned, they were a bunch of nobodies who do not deserve to be remembered. As far as Hollywood is concerned, the great contribution of Italy to the world is neither art, nor music, nor literature, nor religion, nor science, but the Mob. You don't believe me? How many biopics have been made about Michelangelo? ONE: THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY. On the other hand, Capone has been the subject of so many movies, TV shows and documentaries, he could easily fill an entire shelf in BLOCKBUSTERS. HONOR A QUIEN HONOR MERECE=LET US HONOR THOSE WHO DESERVE HONOR. Truly the motto of that very honorable bunch of people, the film makers, particularly those who take pride in their Italian ancestry.