It’s time for Tumblr to get educated about the cruel reality of organized crime in Southern Italy. I have seen far too many posts romanticizing Mafia and I know I should blame Hollywood for this but I won’t, because I will not blame movies to excuse your stupidity.
I grew up in goddamn Melito, a town between Giugliano and Scampia, which is where the bad things happen. Contrary to popular belief, the real danger is not in Naples but in the metropolitan area around the City, especially in the North (Melito, Giugliano, Arzano, Acerra, Casandrino, ecc.). This is where I spent twenty years of my life and where I will spend my summer hanging out with my friends. This is where I have learnt that the most dangerous feeling in the world is not love, hate, or fear. It’s desperation. Desperate people are terrifyingly easy to manipulate and take advantage of.
This is why organized crime exists, and why it originated in Southern Italy. To cut it short: people living in the South have always been “left alone” by the government, giving the organized crime an opportunity to “replace” the government itself. You’re poor and unemployed and you can’t feed your family? Better call the local boss. (Given the black-and-white Tumblr mindset you guys would blame these people, but I won’t). Mafia is a system that thrives upon hopelessness. Many people don’t see bosses as criminals, they see them as the good guys.
Now, the only language Tumblr understands is the language of fiction. I am not here to write a long-ass post about the Camorra, I am here to recommend a tv show. It’s called Gomorra. You can easily download the show with English, French or Spanish subs. Gomorra aired on Italian television with Italian subs because the main language is Neapolitan. They are currently filming the second season.
Gomorra is one of the best shows Italians ever made, and unless you’re watching Daredevil or Sense8, is probably better than anything you’re watching right now. Gomorra is “dark and gritty” as it’s supposed to be. It offers a very realistic portrayal of the Neapolitan organized crime. The main characters are cruel, plain evil and unsympathetic. The most disgusting thing (which is based on a real life event) you’ll see is done by the protagonist. Writing and cinematography are both amazing and despite them being scum, the characters are great. I had an hard time watching Gomorra because it felt too real for me, more like a documentary than a tv show. Nothing is really made up.
(Donna Imma, one of the main characters, has a memorable line: You believe the world is split in two categories, people who kill and people who don’t, and just because I am a woman, you think I belong to the latter.)
her husband, their firstborn son, the father’s brother’s son, a handful of freedmen, three of the next-door neighbors, twenty people off the street, julius caesar off in gaul, gaius gracchus from the grave: yes?
From the excellent account Italians Mad At Food, which you should follow – I can’t decide which of these is my fave but it’s probably “what’s next? Killing some infants?”
I like that almost all of them mention their grandmothers. I thought that “Italians: if you don’t use the left leg of a pig from this one village in Tuscany my grandma will haunt you” thing was a joke but apparently not.
NONNAS ARE NOT JOKES. NONNAS WILL BEAT YOU WITH A WOODEN SPOON FOR NONSENSE BULLSHIT PASTA MAKING.
Italians are purists regarding their cuisine. You KNOW it. You admire us for this. If you bastardize it and have the gall to call it Italian in any way, and then receive vehement insults and threats, you had it coming. (PLEASE REMEMBER THAT ITALIANS CAN SHOUT AT YOU AND EACH OTHER AND STILL CALL YOU A PAL. I WOULD NOT TAKE THREATS SERIOUSLY. BUT I WOULD NOT CROSS THEM AGAIN ON THE SUBJECT, JUST IN CASE).
Ruvido: rough, uneven ~ usually said of surfaces. The rolled -r, and -v make the word sound coarse.
Arrabbiato: mad, angry ~ the double -r creates a vibrant, harsh sound; the double -b stops the air from flowing regularly, the -t- makes a dry sound.
Scivolare: to slip, slide ~ sc- /š/ makes a sound similar to that to of the wind blowing or of water splashing. Similar words include pesce (fish), scendere (go down, get off), sciogliere (melt, unleash).
Frusciare: rustle, swish ~ /š/ sound, same as above.
Liscio: soft, smooth ~ /š/ sound, same as above.
Ruggire: roar ~ the double vibrant -r resembles the sound of a roaring lion.
Ardere: to burn, to be aflame ~ consonant cluster -rd- followed but another -r- contribute to making the word sound coarse reminding of the cracking of fire.
Rumore: noise; Old Italian romore rumour ~ vibrant -r- in both the initial and final syllable.
Sferzare: to whip, to lash ~ consonant clusters like -sf-, -rz-, -r-, all sounds that contribute to making the word sound extremely harsh.
Rena: sand ~ initial r- is reminiscent of other words containing -r- having to do with sand, like deserto (desert), riva (shore), rivo (river).
Swearing in Italian is simple, but not quite. Italy has 20 different regions and 101 provinces. That means that swearing may significantly vary from region to region according to each vernacular spoken in each city. For this reason, I’ve paid particular attention in avoiding those swearwords that aren’t commonly used in Standard Italian. Thus words like cazzimma, guallera, latrina, chiavica, madò etc, used, in this case, in my vernacular (Neapolitan) are not listed.
cazzo: fuck(literally: dick, cock) – cazzo can be used in combination with chi (who), che (what), dove (where), quando (when), perché (why), e.g. chi cazzo sei tu? (who the fuck are you?); che cazzo fai? (what the fuck are you doing?); dove cazzo vai? (where the fuck are you going?); quando cazzo torni? (when the fuck are you coming back?); perché cazzo non mi rispondi? (why the fuck are you not replying?).
cavolo: frick (literally: cauliflower, used instead of cazzo)
me: *crosses the road even though the little man is red, because there are no cars in sight*
The Germans:
*meanwhile in Italy*
Australian Friend driving: *lets a man cross the street* * man raises hand to thank him* you know, italian pedestrians are so polite, they usually thank you for letting them cross the street
Me: we acknowledge that the person in the car had the opportunity and the will to run us over but had the mercy not to
persephone's corner 