In the second of a series of commentaries by Italian-American intellectuals on Roberto Saviano's recent talk about Mafia at the New York University, sociologist Jerome Krase “agree(s) wholeheartedly with Saviano, that in order to escape from ‘unbearable’ anti-Italian prejudice of which they are victims, those people who label themselves or are labeled by others as ‘Italian Americans’ should ignore the lucrative excesses of the likes of David Chase, Francis Ford Coppola, and Martin Scorsese but instead learn and share the reality rather than the reality shows of Italian and Italian American history.”
However, he adds: “Saviano seems not to know the ‘American’ version of the Italian scene. As do others, he expresses an Italocentric view of both Italians and Italian Americans. Unfortunately, Italians are as little interested in the real Italian American experience as Italian Americans are in the real Italy.”