Thursday, September 20, 2001

 

Despite the fact I've heard military aircraft overhead all day, I'm going to put the impending war aside for a moment and write about something else.

Judge Dismisses Suit Against 'The Sopranos'. No folks, the next season hasn't started. This isn't in the plot of the wildly popular HBO series about mobsters. This is an actual headline from iwon.com. It seems lawyers for the Chicago-based American Italian Defense Association (AIDA) had not sought damages from HBO owner Time Warner Entertainment but wanted a declaration from the judge that the popular show violated a "dignity clause" in the Illinois constitution that protects individuals from communications that incite hostility based on religion, race or other affiliation.

Cook County Judge Richard Siebel ruled that AIDA had no standing to sue since it had suffered no injury from HBO's "The Sopranos," and the show had a constitutional right to air its depiction of a fictional New Jersey mob family. Lawyers for Time Warner, in arguing for a dismissal of the suit, said condemning the show in court would open it up to suits seeking monetary damages and could pave the way for censorship of other fictional works.

Can you say "frivilous lawsuit?" Where have these people been for the last, oh, thousand years or so? Have they ever heard of "The Godfather?" Better yet, how about "Goodfellas," a true story?

Before I go any further, let me point out that I'm half Italian and proud of it. My family doesn't have any mob ties. None of the Italian families I know have any mob ties. So, I'm not sticking up for the mob. I'm also not offended by "The Sopranos." I think it's exceptional entertainment. Key word: Entertainment.

When did people start taking everything on television as personal attacks on ethnic groups? What happened to the days when you could watch television and enjoy it instead of having to analyze it? Not everything on television is a documentary or meant to be a true representation of whatever is being portrayed. It's about time people started remembering that. If they want reality tv, there's plenty to go around.

I'm going to give AIDA the benefit of the doubt because they filed their lawsuit before Sept. 11. Let's hope they can concentrate on more important things now. United we stand.

posted by Anne 9/20/2001 12:58:00 PM