WHAT'S IN A NAME? IN CORLEONE, SICILY, A LOT

[AussieMark]

What's in a Name? In Corleone, Sicily, a Lot
ROME (Reuters) - Quick. What comes to mind when you hear the word Corleone?

If you said Mafia, some people in the Sicilian town think that may be part of the problem and not the solution.

Local lawyer Antonio Di Lorenzo began a signature drive on Tuesday to change the name of the hill town south of Palermo made famous by "The Godfather" books and films of the 1970s.

He thinks enough is enough and wants the city's name changed to protect the innocent, so to speak. But not everyone agrees.

"Some people come all the way from countries such as Denmark to get married here so they can say they got married in a Mafia town," he told Reuters by telephone.

"It's an historic illness that we have to cure. As an honest citizen, I can't tolerate this kind of stuff. If this is the problem, let's change the name," he said.

Corleone was made famous in the celluloid world by Don Vito Corleone, played at different ages by Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro. But it is the real-life birthplace of a number of top Mafia bosses whose ruthless bloodletting make the film look tame by comparison.

They include Toto Riina, who ruled the Mafia supreme until his arrest in 1993, and his heir-apparent Bernardo Provenzano, who has been on the run for four decades.

Di Lorenzo said Corleone should revert to its earlier name, Cuor di Leone (Lion Heart), which is what it was called centuries ago. He wants an historical commission to decide.

"This is pure folly, total rubbish," Corleone Mayor Nicolo Nicolosi told Reuters by telephone.

"Corleone and its people must take advantage of its fame to seek positive things, such as the fight against the Mafia and the economic and cultural advantage of everyone here," he said.

"Our notoriety can help our rebirth," he said.

Even some of the most active anti-Mafia campaigners have ridiculed Di Lorenzo's scheme.

"I think the only signatures he will get are his own and that of his wife," said Dino Paternostro, editor of the local anti-Mafia newspaper Citta Nuove.

"It's the Mafiosi who should be ashamed of the name they have given to the city, not the honest working people," he said.

[Stephanie]

I've seen that movie many times, and I always thought that it was a fictional town. Thanks for the story!

[Guest]

It's not a matter of name, mafia is a culture and a merely name's change will make no difference.
Mafia exists everywhere you face the "take it or leave it" concept. Italy's full of mafia concepts, everywhere, from deep south to far north.
It's a way of thinking, a way of living, a way of accepting things. We call mafia octopus, because its tentacles are everywhere.

Sicilians should stop their consiparcy of silence, instead of changing city names. They're all mutes. Honest people is killed everyday during shoot-outs but nobody sees, nobody hears, nobody knows. They know they have to pay for having a job, they have to pay for keeping their businesses open, but nobody talks.
Why? Simply, it's a matter of survival. Because the state is not protecting honest people, because the bank system is encouraging the usury.

That's the way we try to solve the problem: let's make believe mafia doesn't exist. Corleone is famous for its mafia? Ok, change the name and mafia magically disappear. Ask Corleone citizens "Where mafia is?". The answer is "what's mafia?". Need to say more?