Essentially, Gardaphe and other researchers argue that the myth of the Italian gangster has allowed American audiences to cinematically oppose the Protestant work ethic while at the same time reaffirm their belief in its value. In media-generated images of the mafia, the gangster succeeds by stealing money rather than working hard (Comeau, 2000). Thus Gardaphe argues that the American fascination with the mafia lies in its connection between criminality and capitalism. The gangster is often portrayed merely as a particularly ruthless businessman or entrepreneur (Comeau, 2000). GardapheÆs argument is supported strongly by the literature of researchers who have studied the portrayal of the Italian mafia in the 1950s.

In her essay titled ôRomanticizing the mafia,ö Megan Sharp argues that the American post-World War II television audience was first introduced to the idea of an Italian mafia during the 1950 Kefauver Committee hearings. That year, Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee chaired the Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce (Sharp). This committee was officially charged with determining the extent to which ôcorrupting influencesö were using the facilities of interstate commerce to conduct illegal activities.

In his book titled The greatest menace: Organized crime in cold war America, Lee Bernstein also argues that the representation of the Italian mafia in American media relies more on a mythology of the mafia generated by the media than on any empirical reality. Bernstein draws on an analysis of government records, films, television shows, and pulp novels to argue that the media-generated image of the mafia has persisted because it fulfills a psycho-social need in American society (Von Lampe, 2003). In particular, Bernstein argues that the image of the Italian mafioso offered a common enemy for Cold War Americans living in a time of great uncertainty and rapid social change. Americans were willing to believe in the idea of a nationally-organized group of foreign-born criminals rather than focus on native-born lawbreaking whites and the troubling social problems and remedies associated with such ôhomegrownö criminals (Von Lampe, 2003). Bernstein argues further, however, that the myth of the Italian mafia allowed Americans to experience the titillation of detailed accounts of people who transgressed the boundaries of social propriety, but who were then punished (Von Lampe, 2003).

Sharp maintains that CostelloÆs testimony was the high point of the hearings and she notes that news media around the country carried it live on radio and television. But Costello would only agree to testify if his face was not shown on television. Thus, the cameras focused instead on his ômassive, calloused handsö as he testified in what Sharp calls a very ôwitty monologue.ö Thus, Sharp argues that thirty million Americans formed their first impressions of the Italian mafia from the mysteriousness of CostelloÆs facelessness, the olive-colored skin of his hands, the ethnicity of his name, and his heavy Italian accent (Sharp).