Washington — "The Sopranos" may be the most popular show on cable television, but try telling that to Rep. Marge Roukema, R-N.J., who plans to introduce a resolution this month officially condemning the HBO series as an affront to Italian Americans.
In the latest congressional blast at Hollywood, Roukema's motion calls upon the entertainment industry to "immediately stop the negative and unfair stereotyping of Italian Americans." It points specifically to the acclaimed series about a Mafia kingpin from New Jersey who hangs out in a strip bar called Bada Bing and suffers from suburban angst.
"This program is highly discriminatory. ... It's Mafia, homicide, cheating, corruption, denigrating women and families, all of it," said Roukema, an Italian American and 10-term moderate who has never watched the show but was spurred to action by constituent complaints she heard at shopping malls and the supermarket.
While several lawmakers have climbed aboard as resolution co-sponsors, at least one rose to the show's defense � Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., an Italian American who is such a devoted fan that he asks his staff to avoid scheduling appointments during its Sunday night time slot.
"It would be hypocritical of the senator to criticize a program that he regularly watches," said Torricelli spokeswoman Debra DeShong.
The resolution, if passed, merely expresses the sentiment of the Congress and would have no power of law.
Hailed by critics as both "troublingly seductive" and "irresistible," the show centers on Mafia boss Tony Soprano, a paunchy, wildly violent yet at times sympathetic character whose life is filled with aggravation. He and his underlings commit a vast array of crimes while living by a code of honor; anybody who breaks the code gets it.
"I can only reiterate that we are not alone in our assessment that the show is an extraordinary artistic achievement," said HBO spokesman Jeff Cusson. He noted that several of the characters are positive Italian American role models, including FBI agents and Dr. Jennifer Melfi, a psychiatrist who is the show's moral conscience.
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