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Thread: I Know It Was You Fredo

  1. #1
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    I Know It Was You Fredo

    I see Chris Cuomo had a meme-worthy hissy fit after being called “Fredo”. Claimed it was an n-word equivalent, although I can’t see it unless perhaps he meant nonentity. I would have found his outburst more credible if he hadn’t responded with B-movie mafioso dialogue.

    Have we reached peak manufactured outrage yet, or is this one not ridiculous enough to burst the offense bubble?
    Last edited by LDAHL; 8-15-19 at 10:49am.

  2. #2
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    I'm fairly tuned into NYC Italian-American culture, and I was unaware that "Fredo" is some kind of deadly insult. An insult, sure, but a dismissive one. Certain not equivalent to "the n-word."

    In Cuomo's case, I might see why he's so sensitive. Dad a governor of a major state, brother a governor of a major state, and he's a cable news yakking head. On the other hand, he probably makes 10 times his brother's salary.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by oldhat View Post
    I'm fairly tuned into NYC Italian-American culture, and I was unaware that "Fredo" is some kind of deadly insult. An insult, sure, but a dismissive one. Certain not equivalent to "the n-word."

    In Cuomo's case, I might see why he's so sensitive. Dad a governor of a major state, brother a governor of a major state, and he's a cable news yakking head. On the other hand, he probably makes 10 times his brother's salary.
    A bit too close to home, was it?

    Why do people try so hard to make everything an ethnic slur? Don’t most of us provide the world enough material to insult us in our own right?

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    Some interesting background on the real Fredo, as well as on John Cazale, the wonderful actor who played him and who died too young.

    My favorite Cazale role wasn't Fredo, though, it was Sal, Al Pacino's dimwitted sidekick in the great "Dog Day Afternoon." I don't think there's a film ever made that captures the zeitgeist of NYC in the 70s the way that one does.

    Interestingly, I may have seen Cazale on stage--his Wikipedia bio says he was in "The Iceman Cometh" at the Long Wharf Theater in the early 1970s. I saw that production when I was in high school.

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