The Italians – seducers, spaghetti munchers and Mafiosi

This year, the red dot: junior prize with its 10,000 euros prize money goes to Dennis Dominguez from Cologne for his book “Stereotype”. This publication deals with prejudices and national stereotypes, a topic that is visually presented in a highly entertaining as well as bold way, like this example of the Italians. 

When we think of Italy, we think of “dolce vita”, the proverbial sweet life; this means sun, beach and the sea, picturesque landscapes which already sent famous German poet Goethe into ecstasy, and of course pizza, pasta, wine and passion. We could easily start raving about this country, which arouses feelings of longing in us, if it wasn’t for the Italians. Because they are vain and arrogant, shameless and cheeky, all of them hypocrites, thieves and Mafiosi, who have only one thing on their minds. Their head of state, Silvio the Great, who thinks he is Superman and claims with utter conviction that “the Italians want to be like me”, clearly models this behaviour. Despite their big mouths, however, Italians are comparatively small, because their parents are said to have told them: “When you’re big enough you will have to work!” The family, and hierarchies in general, play a significant role in their culture. This also applies to the Cosa Nostra. What appears to be fairly outdated to others, and western nations in particular, probably has its roots in Catholicism and thus in backwardness. The following joke illustrates these circumstances in more detail. What are the three reasons why Jesus must have been Italian? 1) Only an Italian lives with his mother until age thirty. 2) Only an Italian can believe that his mother is a virgin. 3) Only an Italian mother believes that her son is godlike.

More information about the red dot: junior prize are available here.