MovieChat Forums > Patton (1970) Discussion > Stereotypes Italians

Stereotypes Italians

posted 11 years ago by bloody-3
13 replies | jump to latest

In this movie Patton says words like "the Italians didn't know what a latrine was" which is the standard American propaganda view of Italians during world war 2 as bunglers or cowards who didn't want to fight.
In real life when Patton's landing barge went ashore in Sicily it was strafed by an Italian fighter plane (Macchi 202). Why didn't they include this in the movie? It would have made an exciting scene.
The Americans didn't have any moral high ground. When they invaded Sicily they worked with the mafia. Mussolini and the fascist government were the opposite - they cracked down on organised crime. http://codoh.com/library/document/2593/

[–] shantytown1212 11 years ago

Hey want-a you a mean-a they stereotype-a the Italians?

[–] herbsuperb 11 years ago

I only seem to recall a bunch of Italian soldiers sitting around eating Pepperoni Pizza Poppers. Seemed pretty authentic to me.

[–] pgharett-676-553123 10 years ago

Mussolini and the fascist government were the opposite - they cracked down on organised crime.

Are you serious? Mussolini was a criminal allied to one of the worst criminals in history-Adolf Hitler. Yes, the US government used the mafia, but that pales in comparison to Hitler.

[–] zod9992000 10 years ago

When Patton was in Tunisia, he wondered how they could tolerate animals in their huts. When Patton was in Sicily, he wondered how the animals could tolerate Sicilians in their huts.

The reference is from his book: War as I Knew It. ISBN 0-553-20491-2

[–] angelosdaughter 10 years ago

That line really teed me off. The Romans had a very advanced plumbing system in the cities and before that they were farmers. The Italians knew what latrines where before George Patton was even thought of.
I think Patton was the prototype of the Ugly American.

I could be a morning person if morning happened at noon.

[–] porfle 10 years ago

Oh well, big *beep* deal.

[–] angelosdaughter 9 years ago

You must have been desperate for something to post. Your comment adds nothing to the discussion. If it's no big deal why waste your time commenting?

I could be a morning person if morning happened at noon.

[–] porfle 9 years ago

Wow, you must've been really desperate for something to post by wasting time telling me that my comment added nothing to the discussion.

[–] angelosdaughter 9 years ago

Oh, get lost troll.

I could be a morning person if morning happened at noon.

[–] porfle 9 years ago

At least I'm not the one who's butthurt about the big bad Patton latrine remark.

[–] Prismark10 8 years ago

It looked authentic to me. I saw Italians running away from the battle field.

It's that man again!!

[–] !!!deleted!!! (23568926) 8 years ago

The alternative to organized crime is disorganized crime---the first is much better. No city can function without it. I know, I know...in a perfect world---but in the one we live in, the better it's structured the better.

[–] TimMC (9143) 6 years ago

Pass the gabagool.