I found this image randomly on my computer and it cracked me up!

I feel like it sets the tone for what my project is to be! I mentioned in the Project Mafia section that I will be researching the Mafia this semester, so I figured it would be cool to share what I research or come across here. Not everything will be explicitly tied to my project- and this post is an example of that. But I will post some things about Movies I watch and primary sources I gather.

Today I just wanted to talk about out current obsession with the Mafia, and using the Zynga Game, Mafia Wars as an example. I am sure we have all heard of it, or at least some part of it on Facebook. I actually do play it to help kill time, or procrastinate. I believe that this game has become so successful because it appeals to our romanticized version of the Mafia. We are constantly being battered with more films, books and documentaries about the Mafia. Through this game we can pretend that we can be our own Godfather and make our own millions through corruption and various scandals. Even though in real life, none of us would ever imagine doing so.

Where did this obsession begin? I believe it began a long time ago, around the same time that Hollywood began making it’s debut. While the Mafia has been around in the U.S. since the end of the 19th century, around the same time as the rise of industrialism, most of our modern conceptions of the Mafia did not begin until the Prohibition Era. The 1920′s was an era famous for flappers, speakeasies, boot legged alcohol and in general a care free way of life. A perfect time for notorious Mafia Criminals such asAl Capone and Lucky Luciano to rise to power and gain fame.  (As a side note, I am incredibly sorry about using the History Channel but you see History as a subject has been rather slow on embracing the internet, so to find great articles and sources I would have to go through databases which are not commercially available to everyone.) It is no wonder that during this time film makers see the potential in releasing many Mobster related films. Then when the stock market crashed in 1929, the people needed an outlet, and somebody to pin as the “bad guy.” And who better to pin than actual bad guys? Which is why in the 1930′s there begins a rise in mobster films beginning with such films as Little Caesar (1931),  The Little Giant (1933),  and the original Scarface (1932). Which I plan on watching Scarface sometime this week, and of course there will be a blog post about it.