michael murray

A few weeks ago I wrote a review of the new A & E show Runaway Squad for Pajiba.com. I’m going to excerpt the very start of the review directly beneath.

*****************************

Joe Mazzilli has the blunt appearance of guy who really likes to eat meat.

Sausages, in particular.

Looking at him, you’d think that in his younger days his buddies on the Jersey Shore might have called him The Mazz, or maybe The Mazzurbator.

He has that sort of vibe about him.

Likely closer to 60 than 50, Mazzilli is pumped up and beefy, proudly sporting his thinning, dyed hair like it was some studly crown. Always in a tight, black muscle shirt and wearing a jangle of classy jewelry, he’s an utter cliché, the sort of guy who probably sits around laughing his ass off while watching ancient DVD’s of Andrew Dice Clay. And it’s this man who is the PI at the helm of A&E’s new reality series “Runaway Squad.”

The review gets softer, but not by an awful lot. I eventually concede that although it’s manipulative and insufficient in depth, it is consistently touching, in that happy reunions (runaway and parent) are irresistible.

Shortly after the review appeared, Joe Mazzilli, the heart and focus of the show, wrote to Pajiba, and this is his letter:

Normally I wouldn't respond to a person like
you, someone I never even heard of, but, it is
a beautiful sunny Sunday morning, here in the USA,
and thought I would say a few words. First of
all I would like to say that I am very happy to hear that a racist, like yourself, does not live
in our wonderful country. Secondly, I find you as
disgusting as Andre Dice Clay. Finally, I don't
really care what you say about the show and I have
no control over the editing process, but, I have
brought home many children, saved them from dieing, got them proper medical attention and worked hard to change laws, to help the children
of the world. So, Mr whatever your name is, WHAT
ARE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN LIFE, oh, thats right,
you write trash articles, tell lies, make ethnic
slurs and you are a racist. Please stay in Canada.

Joe Mazzilli
Runaway Squad

This took me back a little bit, and not just because he’s a massive, ex-cop from NY who knows how to shoot a gun, but because he makes a few good points.

Although I don’t think I’m a racist, I have no doubt that I took more liberties in describing an Italian-American in the manner that I did than I would have from people in other minority groups. Part of this is because of the aggressively Italian, almost ironic way the show depicted the Runaway Squad, but part of it is probably because the community is so well entrenched and successful in North America that it’s a part of the cultural mainstream, and not on the margins. No matter, it’s really not for me to say whether my use of caricature was offensive, and if Joe Mazzilli says it was—and he did—than I will simply have to take him at his word.

As for what my accomplishments in life are, well, that’s a good question. I've done absolutely nothing as substantive as helping to save children from lives on the street, and I should sit down and figure out how I can be more useful in the world.

Writing for a web site that publishes “scathing reviews for bitchy people” it’s often easy to forget that there are real people behind the images we celebrate or crucify on the TV screen. On a “reality” show like Runaway Squad, we’re seeing both a condensation and amplification of a person. In the case of Mazzilli, the production team has chosen to stress the aspects of him that they think will make the best TV, and that’s exploiting the Badda-Bing tough guy persona that’s instantly recognized at a glance when flipping through the channels. Whatever Mazzilli’s intentions are, and I have no doubt that he does want to rescue kids, which is noble and beautiful, he’s also in the business of selling us product, and in that, he’s the one who’s allowing his ethnic heritage to be exploited by the producers of the show.