10/12/2012
OUGD405RESEARCH BREIF.
MY GIVEN SUBJECT - THE MAFIA.
DICTIONARY DEFINITION OF MAFIA - http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/MAFIA?s=t
I already have a vague idea on what a Mafia was and that there are many different factions all over the world associated with this name (Criminal Gangs). I also know that the Mafia is stereotypically seen in Italian cultures.
THE SICILLIAN MAFIA AKA COSA NOSTRA.
THE ORIGINS OF MAFIA CULTURE.
CRIMINAL SYNDICATE - Organised Crime (The engagement in illegal activity as part of a group or enterprise to gain financial profit.)
PROTECTION RACKET - Type of extortion (a criminal group or individual force a victim through threats to pay money or supply protection.
SOVEREIGNTY - the quality of having a high independent authority over a specific area.
Because I'm not that familiar with the in an outs of the Mafia as it is something i've never found interesting, this has made me take on board the stereotypes and characteristics that have been pinned to the word 'Mafia. I would like to look into these charactoristics more because the more you think about it the more you realise how many different aspects there are that make up the stereotype of the Mafia.
As primary research i decided to post a question on Facebook to clarify what how i believe the Mafia are seen.
QUESTION - When you think 'Mafia', what are the first 4 characteristics that come into your head?
FACEBOOK SCREENSHOT
I am glad i decided to get these thoughts from others. There are many suggestions made that I hadn't considered, however totally agree and relate with such a corruption.
I think with in these characteristics there are a wide range of information that conform in to these such as suits, guns/weapons, coffee, etc. because of this i wanted to look at the wider picture and to define these characteristics. I also want to have a brief look at why we have these opinions and were these stereotypes come from.
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MAFIA STEREOTYPE
DEVELOPED DURING CHILD HOOD.
TOP CAT
Top Cat is an animated television series that was originally created in early 1960's and was regularly shown through out my child hood on Cartoon Network. The show evolves around a gang of alley cats that constantly attempted to create scams to make quick money. They are always being overlooked by the local NYPD officer who constantly tries to catch and evict the gang, however never does.
10 SERGEANT TOP CAT
Right form the begining of this particular episode there are already a massive stereotype
of the mafia presented through the shoot out between police. the gunmen adorn rimmed
hats with sashes and suits as well as using the renowned tommy gun.
Through the accents of the cats in the gnu and the items of clothing they were a
stereotype is suggested. The constant petty feuds with the policeman also reflects
the untouchable feel that the Mafia in the real world obtain.
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THE SIMPSONS
The mafia characters in the animated comedy series the Simpsons are very stereotypical. the leader of the Springfield mafia is known as 'Marion Anthony "Fat Tony" D'Amico' adorns many characteristics such as cigars, gelled hair and jewellery. Throughout many of the episodes Fat Tony and his henchmen; Legs, Louie and Johnny Tightlips appear largely in the background of the running storyline taking part in suspect activities.
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BUGSY MALONE
Bugsy Malone was created in the mid 1970's and is loosely based on events that took place concerning the Mafia in chicago in the 1920's and 30's. This film is made up of child only actors and is aimed to tell the story to a young audience. Because of this the subject matter has been severely lightened.
Gun's used in this film are called 'plurge guns' which rapid fire custard. If a character get shot (splurged) his career as a gangster is officially over as hi is 'all washed up'. The shape of these guns are very recognisable to the tommy gun which was a popular weapon used by the mafia.
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SUITS.
There are two type of suits.
SINGLE BREASTED
More popular than double breasted suits. Either made with 1, 2 or three buttons.
DOUBLE BREASTED
IMAGE & INFORMATION GATHERED
The lapels are triangular pieces of fabric that extends out across the chest of the jacket. The type of lapel helps determine the formality of the jacket.
SHOULDERS
The Shoulder refers to the area of the jacket where the sleeve attaches to the body of the jacket. The shoulder of the suit is one of, if not the, most complex areas of the suit.
ARM SCYE
The Arm Scye refers to the hole the arm goes through in the jacket. Some tailors will refer to them as Arm Holes.
A place for pocket squares, pens, glasses and whatever else you would consider carrying around.
BUTTONING POINT
The point where the jacket is buttoned.
GORGE
Gorge refers to the distance from the neck of the shirt down to the buttoning point of the jacket.
BUTTON STANCE
Button Stance refers to the distance between the buttoning point and the natural waist of the wearer. A high Button Stance will make for a high gorge, a low button stance will make for a low gorge.
QUARTERS: Quarters are the very bottom of the jacket, below the waist. When a jacket is worn, the quarters will either spread apart in a sort of upside down V or they will lie flat and there will be no space between them.
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| NOTCH LAPEL |
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PEAK LAPEL
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| SHAWL LAPEL |
This is a characteristic that is constantly appearing through my primary and secondary research. Because of this I did some research into why the Mafia are usually adorned in pinstripe suits. Even though I couldn't find a direct reason explaining the connection to such suits and mafia members, I did find out that pinstripe suits came into popularity through businessmen. Men working in companies and corporations usually wore pinstripe suits as they indicate they are men of business and money (as they are usually designer and expensive. Therefor i believe the mafia wear these types of suits to represent that they are men of business and wealth however it being organised through crime and corruption.
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INFAMOUS GANSTERS.
I already know the names and nicknames of some notorious gangsters such as al Capone (scarface), Baby-face nelson, Vito Genovese (Don vito). however I used the aid of the internet and the knowledge of some friends that are fans of various gangster films and television series's to find other mobsters.
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WEAPONS.
To gain more knowledge on the type of weaponry used in the 19th century when the mafia culture was at its prime, I watched the recent TV series Boardwalk empire. These videos in particular show shootouts were various types of guns are used.
A few of the characters with in this series have been based on actual members of the Mafia.
WEAPONRY. pistols/handguns, revolvers,magnum
machine gun
knife, flick blade
baseball bat, knuckle duster, crow bar
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I also wanted to look at other accessories, items and styles that are associated with the Mafia. I have already had a few suggestion through my Primary research such as cigars, slicked hair & coffee.
CIGARS
A cigar is a similar concept to a cigerette how ever the tobacco rolled into a cigar differs. They are stuffed with dried, fermented tobacco which is mainly grown in Brazil, Cameroon & Cuba
The outer wrapper of the cigar is made by the widest part of the tobacco plant. The type of cigar can be identified through the colour of the wrapper. There are over 100 shades of cigar wrapper however the 7 most common are listed below.
IMAGES & INFO:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigar
Cigar smoking was seen as a sign of wealth.
Cigars were mostly used by wealthy folk as they were quite an expensive habit. They were usually smoked to celebrate special occasions.
Cigar users often had special cigar lighters which gave of a bigger flame so it was easier to light the larger end of a cigar. There were hand held lighters or table lighters (used at dinners and in restaurants).
LEFT - HANDHELD LIGHTER
RIGHT - TABLE LIGHTER
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POCKET WATCHES
After watch various episode of the hit TV series 'Boardwalk Empire' I notice that many of the characters have pocket watches on a chain. I decided to look further into this accessory.
SHOTS FOR BOARDWALK EMPIRE
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