Every now and then kpop fans (and non) bring back the mafia "meme" and every single time I see red. Today is the day again, so here I am.
There is something seriously wrong with people in this world, if you use Falcone and Borsellino in a fucking mockery of the mafia.
If italians are telling you to educate yourselves instead of romanticizing the mafia aesthetic, pick up a book and read, search up a film and watch (and no, not the fucking godfather).
If you think that is a funny meme or a nice aesthetic, let's learn what the Italian mafia actually looks like.
The bosses are not 20 something hunks, they are disgusting old men in their 60s. So no Avery, no one is going to be sweeping you off your feet. They could kidnap you and rape you, sure. They could dissolve you in acid, alive obviously; or just permanently disfigure your face to keep you in your place. They could blow up your car, house or whatever they need to get rid of you. Or put a bullet in your head if they must. They kill indiscriminately, children are not off the table.
They are a plague in this country because they do not parade around, they work in the dark, they hide, they infiltrate politics, they are involved in the exploitation of immigrants and lower class workers, they blackmail businesses to pay the pizzo, so they can have control of every little thing they can. Mafia is one of the most prominent causes of corruption here (especially in southern Italy, but don't be fooled, it's everywhere).
Do you understand how disrespectful it is to the people affected by it and to the families it destroyed and continues to destroy?
Now going back to Falcone and Borsellino, here is a little history lesson for the interested.
Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino were two judges and prosecuting magistrates who conducted the Maxiprocesso (Maxi Trial, linked), one If not the biggest trial against the Sicilian mafia.
Needless to say, they were targeted by the mafia. What happened to them?
Giovanni Falcone was killed on the highway on his way home from the airport. "Four hundred kilograms (881 lbs.) of explosives were placed in a culvert under the highway". Yes, they blew him up on the middle of a highway. He was killed in May 1992 alongside his wife and the officers tasked with his security.
Paolo Borsellino died at the hands of the mafia not long after, in July 1992. He was killed by a car bomb after exiting his mother house. With him died 5 security officers.
But ah ah ah "I cook da pizza" right? That meme should disappear and no, people aren't just being too sensitive about this.
On the aesthetic: I understand what dark romance is, and i'm one that is mostly for "read whatever you want". But I need you all to keep that in the fictional world and be aware of what it actually entails. When you bring that shit into reality, we have a fucking problem, you are not "preparing my bags, going to Italy hehe" when talking about mafia. You simply do not. Get your head out of your fucking ass and go back to school.
