A star of Martin Scorsese-directed GoodFellas has slammed AMC for slapping a 'trigger warning' ahead of the iconic mobster flick.
'This film includes language and/or cultural stereotypes that are inconsistent with today's standards of inclusion and tolerance and may offend some viewers,' a message warns when screened on the network.
The disclaimer earned the attention of not only the greater American public, but actor Frank Sivero, who played mobster Frankie Carbone in the 1990 film.
He called the message'an insult to [him] and De Niro' - who starred alongside heavy hitters like Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta in the decorated drama - and filmmaking in general.
'I'm kind of a little bit perturbed in a way, that AMC - that even AMC - cuts the movie,' the 72-year-old native Italian said, framing the move as a tell-tale sign of cancel culture.
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Italian-born actor Frank Sivero slammed AMC Monday for slapping a 'trigger warning' ahead of it on TV screenings
A message ahead of the film warns viewers: 'This film includes language and/or cultural stereotypes that are inconsistent with today's standards of inclusion and tolerance and may offend some'
'You don't hear the language, they delete the language, so why are they so upset?' he told TMZ Monday of edits already made to the network TV version of the film.
'I'm a little perturbed, because - thank God - I was able to do my job by improvisation,' he went on, referring to a particular scene where he came up with some lines on the cuff, offering some of the fellow movie mobster some coffee.
'I created that,' he said, referring to the exceedingly natural exchange with Pesci, now 81, that eventually made the final cut for theaters and TV.
'I made those moments real, to take the tension away from those gruesome moments.'
He went to insist there is nothing stereotypical about either the film nor his character, not to mention those of the main cast - who helped propel the movie to greatness.
They did this largely through improvisation, he said - 'by bringing some dark humor into these people's lives.
'Not just make a violent scene, like a horror movie,' he explained further of the intricacies that go into filmmaking that he said are being hindered by edits after the fact.
'A horror movie you will have dreams off of it, you know? You're not going to have dreams of just that [with Goodfellas].
He starred as mobster Frankie Carbone in Martin Scorsese-directed flick, which after more than 30 years, is still one of the most beloved films of all time - despite its adult themes
He called the message 'an insult to [him] and De Niro' - who starred alongside heavy hitters like Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta in the decorated drama - and filmmaking in general
Sivero is seen here in a scene he said he improvised - a facet of filmmaking he says is being hindered by disclaimers, nixings, and additions
'You're going to remember the coffee pot scene. You're going to remember me warming up the car,' he continues, as streaming services continue to get flak for removing potentially offensive scenes or themes from their titles.
'Instead of thinking, what's the scene, what's-his-name getting shot and getting killed, I'm thinking about the card game,' he said.
'"I got a full house, I just lost,"' he recalled of another classic, organic scene. 'So, I'm making humor. "I just lost, with a full house, a big pot of money."'
He went on to conclude that people already know what they are getting into when gearing up for GoodFellas, citing how its been out for decades and is widely accepted as one of the most seminal films of the past century.
Not only that, the film is considered by some to be among the very best ever made,inductedinto the National Film Registry for perpetual preservation in 2000.
That saw it join classics like Casablanca and Citizen Kane, both of which were made more than a century ago, but still endure today.
Such films serve as a sort of time capsule that hark back to a different age, critics like Sivero, who was born in Sicily, have said, and don't need to be changed.
He said he and the other actors improvised a lot of the film - and said such choices were made tactfully and in good taste, not in need of a trigger warning. StarsRay Liotta, Robert de Niro, Paul Sorvino and Joe Pesci are seen on the 1990 film's set
Actors also improv a lot of moments in such films,Sivero on Monday explained - insisting such choices were made tactfully and in good taste, and thus are notin need of a trigger warning.
'Why are they so upset about a movie that's known throughout planet Earth in every language you can think, and all the leaders of the world have seen that movie?' he said.
He concluded that improvised, and at-times risky exchanges are what make characters, particularly in the mob film, more real and 'likable'.
He called it an insult to write them off as offensive stereotypes.
