Real mafiosi actively engaged with their own cinematic mythmaking.

Evidence

There is evidence that American mafiosi took a keen interest in The Godfather even as it was being shot. “I still vividly recall listening to an undercover FBI tape recording of a sombre gathering of mafiosi. The subject under prolonged discussion was the casting of ‘The Godfather.’ Everyone’s favorite (to play himself, naturally) appeared to be Paul Newman … It was myth making at its most magical” (Peter Maas, New York Times, September 9, 1990). — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 956

Categorization

• XREF: Directly bears on the reader’s project: the real Mafia’s interest in The Godfather shows the fictional text being absorbed back into the extralegal institution, a feedback loop between Puzo’s novel and the audience it depicts.
• CANDY: Delicious trivia: actual mafiosi debated casting for the film about themselves, wanting Paul Newman to play the Don.