The Subtle Bigotry of Conan O'Brien

This post is quasi-serious.

Now, i am a HUGE fan of Conan O'Brien and have been for years (not to toot my own horn, but i was the first person i know into Conan - we're talking Pimpbot/Andy days), but i've noticed something recently with Conan that my fellow paesanos with thinner (olive) skin may take to heart more than i do, and i feel that it is a case of people just not giving a shit about Italian-Americans.

So, Max Weinberg is on vacation, and the de facto leader of the Max Weinberg 7 is Jimmy Vivino, the guitar player for the MW7. In fact, the band is addressed during Max's absence as "Jimmy Vivino and the Max Weinberg 7."



Whenever Conan introduces the band, he takes on an almost Super Mario-esque accent and says "Ah-Jimmy Vee-vee-no and-ah the-ah Max-ah Weinberg 7!"

Now.

Let me say again, i don't care. I make jokes about being Italian all the time (like that i sweat olive oil), but here is where i have a slight issue with Conesy:

Imagine if every night, Conan adopted a Jackie Mason inspired accent and introduced the band as "Eh? Max Whine-bug and the eh Max-eh Whine-bug-eh seven?" Or gave it a Woody Allen-esque treatment? The ACLU would be over that in a matter of minutes.

Imagine the absurdity if Yo Yo Ma ever sat in and Conan did a traditional 'replace the l's and the r's' and said something like "Putting down his flied lice, Yo Yo Ma and the Max Weinberg Seven!"

I hope Vivino's back-up isn't MW7 bassist, and African-American gentleman, Mike Merritt isn't in charge of the band, leading to an Ebonics infused introduction!

Of course, i really don't think O'Brien is conscious of this, nor do i really have a problem with it. What makes it even more curious, is that unlike Jon Stewart who adopts a Jew-y voice frequently, but can because he's Jewish, O'Brien is not Italian at all.

I also understand that Italians have not suffered the discrimination of the Jewish, Asian, or African-Americans of late, but i still see this as an interesting double standard.

So, the question is begged, how can Conan redeem himself to the Italian-American community? Easy.

Have me as a guest on the show.