So there's a big flap over by a Chicago suburban middle school about the kids putting on a Mafia farce play. Seems the Sons of Italy are calling for a formal protest of the school on performance night, while the school principal is standing firm on the grounds that the play is just a bit of pre-teen fun, in the lighthearted spirit of oh, let's say, The Godfather and the Sopranos.

I have to admit I'm torn on this issue.

My kneejerk reaction is to say, "Damn right!" Why is it OK to portray Italians in everything from TV shows to films to pizza commercials, for godsake, as bumbling, opera-singing, red-wine-swilling, pasta-snapping, pizza-flipping guys (or gals) with big black moustaches, yelling "At's a nice!"

Try replacing the goofy (or mobbed-up) Italian stereotype with Amos and Andy, Stepin Fetchit, or the Frito Bandito (anybody remember him?). Black and Latino groups would rise up in righteous outrage, even if the stereotype was a "good-natured" poke at their ethic group. (I mean, come on -- Chief Illinewek? Yeah, he's had a huge impact on unemployment and fetal alcohol syndrome among Native Americans, right?)

On the other hand, though, I want to say, "Go for it!" Hell, I like the Godfather and the Sopranos, and will be the first to admit that -- at least in the case of Italian stereotypes -- most contain at least a grain of truth.

More to the point, it's too bad that the no-holds-barred attitude our society has about stereotyping Italians can't be applied across the board. Not that I'm advocating a return to minstrel shows, but even the most politically correct of us has to admit that in spite of the elimination of these stereotypes, our collective sense of humor is more mean-spirited now than ever.

We've become a dour, humorless prig of a society, in so many areas -- from humor to smoking in public. I suppose you could make the case that both smoking and ethnic stereotypes can hurt people, even indirectly. I prefer to think that incendiary comic legend Lenny Bruce was right when he advocated the open use of all sorts of language, including what could be construed as ethnic slurs. Say them out loud, drag the sorry old stereotypes into the spotlight, and they lose their power to harm us.

Or maybe I'm just a crazy wop bitch. Abbundanza!