Made Men

by Marcel Danesi

Criminal cultures continue to thrive in affluent areas of the world because they are attractive to largely bored youths who are seeking a form of escape from the ennui through gang membership. But this theory does not explain how criminal societies came into being or why their reach has become truly extensive. Boredom and escapism are factors, of course, but even more powerful factors are the attainment of power, sex, and money. The real achievement for the Mafioso is to see people lower their heads before him and cower at his presence. But power without a code of omertà would quickly dissipate, since it would be seen as part of street hooliganism.

  But even this does not explain why criminal organizations like the Mafia persist. As we argue in this book, the likely reason is to be found in the instinct for symbolism that guides human beings unconsciously throughout life and the influence of cinema and television. Portrayals of criminal thugs on the screen has given rise to an unconscious “Godfather culture.” And this type of fantasy is more believable than the reality, as Reynolds so eloquently notes, because it filters out unsavory reality:

  Viewers of The Godfather left the movie theater feeling that they had acquired an insight into the operations of Cosa Nostra, but few felt any new threat to their lives. Both the film and the book it was based upon ignored the historic heritage behind the organization, choosing to focus on actions of ruthless criminals united by blood and marriage who saw their work as simply a means of doing business. The groups were real, but the threat, while also real, remained distant, and the Mafia’s historical roots were never addressed.[5]

  While a gang like the Hells Angels is born from antagonism to certain social conditions, it grew into a mythic organization because of the movies and various tabloid media exploiting outlaw culture as entertainment. Outlaw culture offers an outlet for imaginary escape. As John Dickie writes with reference to the opera Cavalleria rusticana, the time has come to see through the lure of criminal mythology:

  What is less known about Cavalleria is that its story is the purest, most anodyne form of a myth about Sicily and the Mafia, a myth that was something akin to the official ideology of the Sicilian Mafia for nearly a century and a half. The Mafia was not an organization, it was believed, but a sense of defiant pride and honor, rooted deep in the identity of every Sicilian. The notion of “rustic chivalry” stood square against the idea that the Mafia might even have a history worthy of the name. Today, it is impossible to tell the story of the Mafia without reckoning with the power of that same myth.[6]

  Bombings, murders, drug trafficking, and the assassination of Giovanni Falcone have contributed somewhat to shattering the myth of rustic chivalry. No one really believes the myth any longer, but it endures because of the reasons given in this book. The idea of omertà is so intrinsic to Mafiosi that it is used as a beacon in a world of dishonor and putrid secularism, as they call it. As a case in point, the day of the memorial service for a Mafia boss, Calogero Vizzini, who died on July 10, 1954, a ceremonial text was hung over the church door of Villalba. On it, the following words could be found:

  With the ability of a genius, he raised the fortunes of the noble family. Clear-eyed, dynamic, untiring, he gave farm laborers and soulful workers prosperity. Constantly worked for the good and made his name highly respected in Italy and beyond. Great in his enterprises, much greater still in misfortune, he always kept smiling, and today in the peace of Christ, reunited with death’s majesty, he receives from all of his friends, and even from his enemies, the finest testimonial. He was a galantuomo (“true gentleman”).[7]

  In this citation, one can discern the need for men of honor to be perceived as honorable and thus to be respected. That is the strongest motivation for criminality, and can even be seen in pop culture domains such as in youth slang referring to the “dis” or the “dishonor” as one of the strongest instigations for revenge.

  Our view is that the best approach to criminal culture is to ignore it. The moment that it is no longer glorified on the screen, on the printed page, and in other media, it will die its own death by turning criminals back into mere criminals, not chivalric warriors. Even though criminals now form mergers, like legitimate corporations do, they are still criminals, and, unlike a real code of omertà, there really is no honor among thieves, as the proverb so cogently informs us.

  Take the case of Giovanni Brusca, known as Lo Scannacristiani, which literally means “he who cuts the throats of Christians,” with the latter term, cristiano, generally meaning “any good person” in Italian. Brusca was a hitman for Totò Riina. Among his many criminal activities, he ordered the murder of Santino Di Matteo’s son, because the father had turned state witness. The child, Giuseppe, was kidnapped and held for twenty-six months in a basement. He then had the boy strangled and his corpse dissolved in acid. Brusca lived in luxury. The police officers who arrested him in May 1996 found a wardrobe filled with designer clothes, cell phones, Cartier watches, jewelry, and other pleasures of the affluent lifestyle he so obviously enjoyed. While in jail, he confessed to having murdered more than 100 people. Brusca is what the Mafia, and any criminal gang, is all about—a man “made” into a hardened brute. Dickie elaborates as follows:

  The terrifying thing about the Sicilian Mafia is that men like “Lo Scannacristiani” are not deranged. Nor are their actions incompatible with the code of honor or, indeed, with being a husband or father in Cosa Nostra’s view. Until the day he decided to turn state’s evidence and tell his story, nothing that Brusca did, including murdering a child not much older than his own, was considered by Mafiosi to be inherently dishonorable.[8]

  Not all Mafiosi are like Brusca, of course, and, by and large, the murder of women and children is carried out by Mafiosi only if strictly necessary. But breaking the code seems to be as prevalent as abiding by it, especially when it comes to gaining power. Made men pledge not to become involved in prostitution. They promise not to gamble, womanize, or ostentatiously show off their wealth through gaudy appearances. But they do so frequently, despite the risks that await them.

  Telling stories like the one of Brusca, without the myths and many rationalizations that criminals utilize, will go a long way in turning the tide against the Mafia. Removing the veil of silence is a start, but it is not enough. Another approach is to tarnish the image of outlaw culture by demystifying, or, more accurately, “defictionalizing” it, which is what we attempt to do in this book. This occurs in two stages. The first is becoming aware of the mystique itself—ridding ourselves of the mythological elements to discover the underlying meanings. Then we must ignore it so that it can die its own natural death. The heroic and fearless judge Giovanni Falcone observed that the “interpretations of signs, gestures, messages, and silences is one of a man of honor’s main activities.”[9] Understanding and unmasking these activities will lead, as judge Falcone’s statement implies, to an unmasking of the Mafia myth itself. He also realized that diminishing the power of the Mafia was an uphill battle, comparing the made man to a fanatical religious convert: “You never stop being a priest. Or a mafioso.”[10] Without a code of honor, the Mafia would have disappeared long ago, as Dickie eloquently asserts:

  The historical question raised by the picture of life inside Cosa Nostra is simply: “Was it always like this?” The equally simple answer is that no one will ever know for sure. Pentiti may have talked to the police on many occasions, but when they did, they tended to talk about specific crimes and not about what it felt like to be a Mafioso. But what evidence there is does suggest that something along the lines as this code of honor existed all along. After all, if it had not existed, then the Mafia would not have survived so long; in fact, it might never have emerged at all.[11]

  There have been some developments that may herald significant changes. The bosses in American Mafia culture are virtually unknown outside of law enforcement circles, a trend that goes back considerably in time, when Mafia dons maintained low profiles, unlike Capone, Luciano, Gotti, and other flamboyant capi. In addition, the number of informant
s breaking the code of omertà has never been higher. One of the more recent informants was Joseph Massino, the powerful boss of the Bonanno crime family, based in New York, to avoid the death penalty. Still, criminal activities like the pizzo and loansharking continue to flourish because human weakness is still human weakness. Luciano left a brilliant legacy for the Mob, allowing the rigid code of honor to be adaptive to changes in society and criminal culture itself. Moreover, the lure of criminal societies will endure, not because of economic conditions, but because of the power of outlaw symbolism and the promise of fame and fortune that it brings with it.

  If the lure persists, it is because criminal gangsterism is now an intrinsic part of popular culture, where it is seen as part of an ongoing reality show. The adoption and cooption of Mafia and other criminal gang symbols is now visible throughout the pop culture sphere. A sure sign that Mafia culture is now an intrinsic part of mainstream pop culture is the fact that Mafia Wars 2 is a popular Facebook application and that there are now Mafia museums in places like Las Vegas.

  There will always be criminals, serial killers, and all types of heinous human beings, but through the kinds of reflections suggested by this book, they will be recognized for what they really are—street thugs, not knights in shining armor. The testimonies of previous gangsters are also key in stemming the tide. For example, as Antonino Calderone, a former boss of Cosa Nostra who passed away while in hiding under the witness protection program, puts it, “I experienced first-hand the infamy of Cosa Nostra, its violence, its blood, its false rule, its false values, its use of words of honor that are then defiled. My nightmares are still shaped by these ghosts. What I have tried to do in retribution will never be enough” (translation ours).[12]

  It is appropriate to end with the words of the anti-Mafia crusader Judge Cesare Terranova, assassinated by the Mafia in the 1980s. His admonition says it all:

  It is necessary to dismantle the myth of the Mafioso as a brave and generous “man of honor,” since the Mafioso is characterized by a totally opposite character. . . . The Mafioso shoots to the shoulder, by treachery, when he is secure to have the total control of the victim. . . . He is ready to any compromise, to any renunciation, and to the worst mean actions in order to save himself in a dangerous situation. . . . The consciousness that nobody will denounce him, and that hidden and influential forces will rush to his help, gives the Mafioso arrogance and boldness, at least until the right and severe application of the law will reach him.[13]

  1. Marcel Danesi, Geeks, Goths, and Gangstas: Youth Culture and the Evolution of Modern Society (Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press, 2010), 243.

  2. Danesi, Geeks, Goths, and Gangstas, 243.

  3. Jean Genet, The Thief’s Journal (London: Blond, 1965), 13.

  4. John Lawrence Reynolds, Shadow People: Inside History’s Most Notorious Secret Societies (Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2006), 192.

  5. Reynolds, Shadow People, 204.

  6. John Dickie, Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2004), xiv.

  7. Cited in Henner Hess, Mafia and Mafiosi: Origin, Power, and Myth (New York: New York University Press, 1998).

  8. Dickie, Cosa Nostra, 11.

  9. Cited in Dickie, Cosa Nostra, 6.

  10. Cited in Dickie, Cosa Nostra, 15.

  11. Dickie, Cosa Nostra, 18.

  12. Cited in Nicola Gratteri and Antonio Nicaso, La mafia fa schifo (Milano: Mondadori, 2011), 14.

  13. Cited in Antonio Nicaso and Diego Minuti, ’Ndranghete (Vibo Valentia: Monteleone, 1994), 38.

  Notes

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