Funny, not Funny

Manny Alicandro is a NYC lawyer that ran for NY Attorney General and NYC Advocate. He specializes in Compliance, Regulation and Governmental Law. He is mostly Conservative and defending CNN’s Chris Cuomo is not something he is used to doing. When Cuomo’s argument with someone calling him “Fredo” went viral, he had to weigh in.

Manny Alicandro

While the heckler had every right to say it, people don’t have to approve of it.

“Fredo” refers to Fredo Corleone. A fictional character in the classic movie “The Godfather”. His general description is a son of a Mafia Don that thinks he is smarter and more capable than he really is. Everyone around him knows this but caters to his delusions to keep the peace. When a heckler in a bar called Chris Cuomo “Fredo”, he got all bent out of shape and went on a viral tirade.

Even one of the former actors in the movie, Gianni Russo (who played the character Carlo Rizzi) thought it was an excessive reaction. He even suggested that his father, Mario (the former governor) would slap him for letting the heckler get that kind of reaction from him. The memery from this has been brutal, showing that indeed the reaction was unwise, as he himself now admits.

Manny Alicandro: Overboard? Maybe a bit.

The Fredo comparison may initially elicit a chuckle, but it probably deserves to cease being so funny after a while. While he compared it to “the N-Word for Italians“, clearly saying one but being afraid to say the other proves it is not. It seems to be more about the opinion about the similarity in ineptitude, arrogance, and delusion between the CNN personality and the movie character.

If “The Godfather” was about the Japanese Yakuza, the character reference would be to a Japanese version of Fredo, whatever that name ended up to be. That being said, if it upsets anyone to hear it, we should probably respect their wishes and not continue using it. At the very least it probably aggravates all Italians and those of Italian heritage with the name Fredo.

Short for Alfredo, it is a reasonably popular name. Like Fritz or Manuel for German and Hispanic guys, some people interpret it as a slur if used as an insult. Rather than get into it and cause an issue, best to let cool heads prevail or at least stick to generic traits to lampoon people with. While the heckler had every right to say it, people don’t have to approve of it.