In the article, “Denunciation and the Illusion of Social Control:  The Case of the Nevada Black Book,” authors Carole Case and Ronald A. Farrell discuss the exclusion of organized crime figures from the gambling industry in Nevada.  These individuals’ names are written in a black book and remain there forever, thus insuring that they are excluded from the gaming industry. 

Based on previous fears in the mid 1950s on congressional hearings and the results from the President’s Task force against organized crime in 1967, those that were put into the black book were ones who had the mafia stigma associated with them, which tended to be Italians. 

By the mid 1940s, in the post World War II era, Las Vegas was undergoing immense economic growth, and gambling played a critical part in this.  In the early 1950s, hearings were held expressing concern over the involvement of the Mafia.  This led to concern directed towards Italian Americans.  In the end, there was a disproportionate amount of Italians on the black book.  The black book’s purpose was to provide security to the public in believing in a clean and lawful gaming system, however based on social stereotypes, a large number of names that appeared on this black book were Italian.

The fear of Italian Americans involved in the gaming industry leads to an increased amount of depth of the movie.  The movie is able to play off of current events of the period in order to add strength to the movie.  The movie plays off of many of society’s stereotypes in order to convey subtle messages.

Smith Jr., Dwight C.  "Mafia:  The Prototypical Alien Conspiracy." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science: Vol. 423, Crime and Justice in America: 1776-1976, p. 75-88.

 

    The article, “Mafia:  The Prototypical Alien Conspiracy,” written by Dwight C. Smith Jr. discusses the role that the “Mafia” has played in American society, and the ways in which America has tried to deal with this issue.  The term “Mafia” became popularized before the 19^th century, when people began to develop conspiracy theories against Sicilians.  Stemming from the Hennessey murder case in New Orleans, a stigma was developed against the Sicilian population of the town.  Although there was no real proof of mob ties, these Mafia rumors lived on which led to support and implementation of immigration laws. 
    During the post World War II era, the “Mafia” legend was revived.  Beginning with the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, rumors persisted about the Mafia and immigrants.  These rumors reached its pinnacle when the President’s Crime Commission agreed with the concept of a Mafia conspiracy.  Smith Jr. writes that the reason behind the creation of this “Mafia” myth is to explain the failure of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics to eliminate the existence of narcotics in America.  By using the “Mafia” as a scapegoat for their failures, the Bureau popularized this idea.  Whether or not it actually existed is debatable, but it led to changes in society.

    From the popularization of the “Mafia,” those in entertainment began to capitalize on it by selling it as a product to the public.  Mario Puzo wrote the book, The Godfather, which focused on the world that America was so worried about. 
    This article gives background into the reasoning behind the making of the movie, The Godfather, as well as providing explanation of the content of the movie.  The movie is a period film, set post World War II, which as the article has shown was the era in which the “Mafia” conspiracy was being revived.  In the movie, the reason that the five families began to fight was due to introduction of narcotics.  At this time, drugs were a big problem in America, thus showing parallels between the period of the movie and societal problems.  Also, Paramount capitalized on the publicity that the “Mafia” genre was receiving by producing Mario Puzo’s book.  This led to The Godfather becoming one of the most successful movies of all time.

This article written by Earl Johnson Jr. is used to express the influence of organized crime on American society.  Johnson discusses and analyzes the reasons behind the difficulty in suppressing organized crime through traditional methods.

Throughout the essay he discusses the influence that organized crime has ranging from entertainment such as TV, books and newspaper articles, to the economy.  He states that the action of organized crime takes money away from society and law abiding citizens, thus being a detriment to society.  Organized crime also participates in other illicit actions such as violent crimes and getting rid of free competition.  All of these tactics are used in order to give the organizations power.  Johnson believes the reason for this immunity from the law is due to the fact that these crime organizations buy politicians and enforcement agents, corrupting the system and ruining its integrity.  In addition to this, Johnson points out there is a distinct structure within these organizations to make insure that the leaders are safe from any prosecution.

Johnson refers to two other main attributes which protect organized crime from any problems is the corruption throughout the American legal system as well as the façade that these organizations establish. 

From these reasons it is easy to see why these organizations continue to exist.  Despite the knowledge of the government, they continue to be above the law and have nothing standing in there way.

These themes were all present throughout the film, as the Corleone family held many politicians “in their pocket.”  Government officials were never present in the film, as they held no authority over these families.  The only form of regulation was through the interactions between the five families.

In the article “Resurrecting the Godfather,” author James Thomas Chiampi analyzes Mario Puzo’s, The Godfather, and the themes that are consistent throughout the book.  In addition to this, he compares and contrasts the book with the film made by Francis Ford Coppola, to show the difference in the overall message of these two mediums.  Quoting The Godfather Papers, Chiampi informs the reader that Puzo’s overall intentions of writing this book was financially motivated, and according to Puzo, writing this book caused him to “sell out.” 

Chiampi analyzes Puzo’s writing, showing that the book is a social commentary.  He states that Puzo’s writing shows that crime in America is in response to “alienation and powerlessness.”  In order for one to attain power, Puzo shows that one must revert back to the Italian customs.  Chiampi emphasizes that these Italian customs are conveyed through themes that run throughout the book:  a code of behavior, courtesy and strong family ties.  These are expressed through the characteristics of the characters.  Chiampi points out that Sonny’s spontaneity can be categorized as “American,” while Michael’s demeanor is more Sicilian.

Chiampi believes that a theme Puzo tried to develop was the fact that Sicilian culture is better than that of America, and tries to convey that American society is irrational compared to Sicilian.

One can see that Puzo’s beliefs and character development are conveyed through the characters of the movie, insuring that his overall message is captured by the movie.