The Bronx Tale
Prof. Wilkes
SOC 31
5/9/11
The Bronx Tale
The Bronx Tale is a movie based in the 1960’s. There were a lot of differential discrepancies between races. In this period of time, it was taboo for a white Italian to have any kind of relationships with a person of color. One of the main characters named Calogero was surrounded by friends who discriminated against blacks. However, Calogero was raised in this kind of environment, he seem to be optimistic about black people. In this Italian neighborhood, where Calogero grew up, there were many different dynamics. His father was a bus driver for the city, and always looked out for his son not to get into trouble. One of the main deviant influences in the film was an Italian mafia that operated in a bar across the street. Every day as a young boy, Calogero mimicked what the mobsters were doing, especially Sonny. Sonny was the mafia boss in the neighborhood; Calogero saw how everyone respected him. One day Calogero witnessed Sonny kill a guy in front of his house, which seemed to be over a parking space. When the police came upstairs to ask the boy who did it, he did not “rat.” After the questioning, Calogero said to his father “I did a good thing right? I didn’t rat.” His father responded and said “yes you did a good thing for a bad man.” Calogero didn’t understand why his father said that. The next day Sonny took Calogero under his wing, when this happened he noticed that he was treated differently. And Calogero liked how this new found of respect he got from people in the neighborhood. A couple of mafia guys even offered Calogero’s father a job, but he denied their offer. Calogero’s father chose to live a straight life as a conformist he did not want to affiliate himself with the mafia. No matter how much the family was struggling, no matter how much his wife told him that they can use the extra money. He still did not give in to any of these deviant behaviors. During this time, when he was young, Calogero was
SOC 31
5/9/11
The Bronx Tale
The Bronx Tale is a movie based in the 1960’s. There were a lot of differential discrepancies between races. In this period of time, it was taboo for a white Italian to have any kind of relationships with a person of color. One of the main characters named Calogero was surrounded by friends who discriminated against blacks. However, Calogero was raised in this kind of environment, he seem to be optimistic about black people. In this Italian neighborhood, where Calogero grew up, there were many different dynamics. His father was a bus driver for the city, and always looked out for his son not to get into trouble. One of the main deviant influences in the film was an Italian mafia that operated in a bar across the street. Every day as a young boy, Calogero mimicked what the mobsters were doing, especially Sonny. Sonny was the mafia boss in the neighborhood; Calogero saw how everyone respected him. One day Calogero witnessed Sonny kill a guy in front of his house, which seemed to be over a parking space. When the police came upstairs to ask the boy who did it, he did not “rat.” After the questioning, Calogero said to his father “I did a good thing right? I didn’t rat.” His father responded and said “yes you did a good thing for a bad man.” Calogero didn’t understand why his father said that. The next day Sonny took Calogero under his wing, when this happened he noticed that he was treated differently. And Calogero liked how this new found of respect he got from people in the neighborhood. A couple of mafia guys even offered Calogero’s father a job, but he denied their offer. Calogero’s father chose to live a straight life as a conformist he did not want to affiliate himself with the mafia. No matter how much the family was struggling, no matter how much his wife told him that they can use the extra money. He still did not give in to any of these deviant behaviors. During this time, when he was young, Calogero was