by any means necessary

8/3/2019 By Any Means Necessary

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By Any Means Necessary 1

By Any Means Necessary: Immigration and Marginalization Recast the American

Frontier in The Untouchables

--by TwistaSista

Ethnic assimilation has been one of the preeminent success stories of American

history. Indeed, it has often only been through assimilation that the idea of an

American unity has taken root, considering her relative youth in the time span of

nations, and the disparate cultures that have made up her masses. This process has never

been smooth for any of the ethnicities who have made the decision to raise stakes and

come to America. Sometimes this difficulty can be a rallying point for public, political

struggle, particularly if group marginalization occurs, and the nativist viewpoint

increasingly casts dispersion upon specific groups due to variances in race, language, and

custom (especially as population rates begin to increase). But, in almost every case,

nativist bigotry has forced those marginalized populations to band together in some

fashion at least, be it public or private, in order to exist withinand withoutthe status

quo of American culture.


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A prime example of this dualistic tendency occurs throughout the cinematic

version of The Untouchables (1987). When considering the films physical setting of

Chicago, in concert with its historical setting of the Prohibition Era of the 1930s, the idea

of a frontier saga is pertinent. However, the American frontier in many minds most

likely has a different kind of fixed imagery attached to it: brave cowboys fighting against

warlike Indians on horseback (and indeed, some homage is paid to that imagery in the

film), dust and tumbleweeds. But while the mainstays of the frontier imagegood guys

and outlaws, guns, saloonsfigure prominently in The Untouchables, cultural,

technological, and population shifts have changed some of the physical aspects of the

frontier, as well as the faces and voices of those cast in the outlaw mode. In addition,

those groups who have been deemed the ethnic outlaws in this particular period of

American history not only figure prominently in the movement of the films plot, but also

in the social and moral pressures that have gone into creating this particular version of the

western frontier.

As Eliot Ness performs the role of nativist representative of law and order, the

principal bad pennies on the scene in the film (and within the time period the film is

set) are Irish and Italian-Americans. These two ethnic groups have had a tremendous

amount of influence on the look and feel of America over the past several decades,

particularly once their assimilation into the mainstream was assured. The successes of

the Irish and Italian Americans have indeed been so profound that it may be difficult to

fathom that each group was once victim to the sidelining tendency America has always

employed when considering status and human capital within her borders. The films

subplot does an effective job of bringing aspects of that unfortunate history to light, as


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well as demonstrating the multifaceted dilemmas immigrants can face in reaction to

marginalized identities and ethnic prejudice.

As the plot proceeds, the threat of illegal alcohol infiltrating speakeasies and

American sanctity lies solely at the feet of Italian mobsters, most famously represented

by Al Capone and his Chicago network. At the same time, the depiction of the Chicago

police force, as represented by Irish officer Jimmy Malone and police chief Mike Dorsett,

also comes under suspicion, not only for its own unethical behavior, but also as an

institution in which the ethnic Irishstereotyped as unclean, uneducated, violent, and

perhaps worst of all, Catholichave perhaps overrepresented themselves. In this way, a

two-pronged struggle emerges: in one sense, both groups must push against nativist

perceptions and expectations of their proper roles in society, and in another, both groups

are forced to reassert their own particular ethnic identities in unorthodox ways, which the

larger culture cannot fully appreciate. This is key when considering just how much Ness

needs the dark insight of Malone in order to fight against Capones regime.

A microcosm of the ethnic divide appears once Ness has convinced Malone to

join ranks with him in stopping Capone. In his interview process for new Treasury

Department recruits, Malone rejects those whom he feels dont seem to possess the

necessary ruthlessness needed for such an arduous endeavor. However, one of the

candidates excels at proving his mettle, and their exchange is telling:

Malone: Stone. George Stone. Thats your real name? Whats your realname?

Giuseppe Petri (as George Stone): That is my real name.

Malone: Nah. What was it before you changed it?Petri (hesitating): Giuseppe Petri.

Malone: I knew it! Thats all you need, one thieving wop on the team.

Petri: Whats that you said?

Malone: I said youre a lying member of a no-good race.


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Petri: Its much better than you, you stinkin Irish pig.

Malone (to Ness): Oh, I like him. Youve just joined the Treasury

Department, son.

The two, perhaps in an unconscious mimicry of the Old West style, have just

simultaneously pulled out their respective weapons on one another as Malone says the

last linehis a razor (of a sort), Petris a handgun. Though a moment of levity does come

of this exchange by the end, the stalemate reinforces not only the readiness of each man

to settle an issue with a weapon if necessary, but also points to the inter-ethnic bigotry

that can exist when two groups are forced to run the same streets with limited recourse in

restrictive societies. That Petri initially responds with a clearly Anglicized name when

asked who he is underscores the external pressure upon Italian immigrants to submerge

their true identities in a kind of murky attempt at passing, a tendency ironically

associated with native-born African Americans with visible markers of European

ancestry.

Further, Malones agreement to align himself with traditional institutions of law-

and-order indicates a turning point not only for his particularly personal motivations, but

perhaps also signals a departure for the Irish-American ethnicity as a whole, with an eye

towards real assimilation. Petris willingness to also cast his lot with American law and

order suggests similarly conflicting interests in ethnic identity and social responsibility.

Whatever the result, these two figures represent the maverick spirit commonly associated

with the Wild West; they possess notions of the conservative rule of law, but are just

ruthless enough in their own ways to make it up as they go alongor to break the rules in

the service of a greater good.


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Of course, Malones usefulness to Ness is the fact that he is so well-versed in the

ways of corruption, and the lawlessness that has festered on the Chicago streets.

Ironically, both he and Capone, as symbols of their respective ethnic groups, serve a dual

purpose in their usefulness to the larger culture, illustrated in Capones comment about

his business, that on the boat its bootlegging; on Lakeshore Drive its hospitality. On

the one hand, they can be maligned for their involvement in nefarious, anti-establishment

activity, but on the other, that same activity may be valued as an avenue to indulging in

illicit commodities (such as alcohol and prostitution) for some members of straight

society. But in order to make these connections possible, a figure like Malone (as well as

Capone, and even perhaps Petri) must be able to speak the language of the streets, to

know how to live by its often brutal codes. Ness fully understands how much he needs

Malone (even if it means selling a small piece of his own soul to trust him), as his sage

words you must be prepared to go all the way resonate throughout the entire film.

Though the chance exists for Malones Irish ethnicity to be less of a factor in his

status as an American, the attainment of this position is not easy for him. Again, he is a

character with two feet in two different codes of conductone of the status quo with its

courts and due process, and the other of the streets, with its brutality and its underhanded

way of doling out justice. While his actions and his conscience tell him he is doing right

to offer himself in service of conservative social values, he cannot just walk away from

the foundation that has created him. In a confrontation with Dorsett, which concerns

information that could put Capone away for tax evasion, the dilemma comes to the fore:

Malone: My people are being killed.

Dorsett: Your people? Were your people!

Malone: Youre my people?

Dorsett: Yes, were your people.


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Malone: You fuckin run with the dagos!

A conflict of loyalty to Dorsett and the law of the streets does exist for Malone

here; however, he has made his choice, in no small part to the understanding that the

Chicago police department is flawed, and that his people (in both heritage and profession)

are part of that flawed system, by being in league with Capone. This scene is a pivotal

moment, as it could suggest Malones symbolic stance as the Irish-American identity

trying to turn a corner in American life by standing up for justiceeven if that means

disowning his own to do it.

Irish and Italian Americans cannot be considered as anything less than fully

integrated, assimilated ethnic groups in the America of 2010, as many of their ranks have

been integral parts of her culture for decades now. But at one time, each group suffered

through difficult trials by fire against ethnic prejudice, stereotype, and poverty,

perpetuated through nativism designed to humiliate and marginalize. Today, other waves

of ethnic immigrant groups are traveling down the rocky road of finding their own seat at

societys table. In this fashion, the American frontierif only as a potentially optimistic

state of mind, if not always physical placecontinues to exist in a rapid and dynamic

state of flux, absorbing and reshaping cultures, while those cultures serve to also reshape

it.

In direct relation, issues of crime, poverty, corruption, and cultural differences

also continue to plague the newer groups in ways that the larger culture cannot always

fully fathom. The Untouchables underscores both conflicts and pressures associated with

being the new guys on the block, especially when nativist, and often racist, contempt

takes part in writing the rules by which non-native groups should play. In light of this


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unfortunate tendency, perhaps a time in America will come when the reality of the

frontier is not one where people are being pushed out onto the fringes of society and,

therefore, no longer feel the need to adopt the reckless and destructive mantra of by any

means necessary.


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Works Cited

The Untouchables. Dir. Brian DePalma. Perf. Kevin Costner, Robert De Niro,

Sean Connery, and Andy Garcia. Paramount, 1987.

by any means necessary

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