My Cousin Vinny is a story centered around the trial of Bill and Stan, two Italian-American high school graduates from New York City who happen to get into trouble on the way to Los Angeles. During a stop in Alabama, they stop at a convenience store to get some food and accidentally shoplift a can of tuna. Soon after they leave, the store clerk is shot and killed and Billy and Stan are arrested and charged for murder. Since Bill and Stan, Italian Americans, are foreigners of the South and New Yorkers, also known as Yankees, the town people raise suspicion towards them. This comes from history of the feud between Yankees and Southerners as a result of each group’s largely different beliefs. Bill's family organize for a relative lawyer who is from the Bronx to defend them. Vinny, the lawyer, is inexperienced. Vinny comes to Alabama with his fiancé Lisa. Vinny and Lisa are both Italian American and New Yorkers. They are portrayed with a common mob culture stereotype associated with Italian-Americans. When they first get to the town they are dressed in all black leather, wearing gold and silver jewelry, and black sunglasses. Also when Lisa first steps out of the car she asks about …show more content…
They are loud, talk fast, and dress differently. In the court room, Vinny, has a tough time with the judge due to the way he is dressed for court, not the way the judge expects him to be dressed in a court room in the South, fails to stand up when he addresses the judge, and also forgets to properly plead guilty or not guilty in his appeal. Vinny slowly begins to progress to Alabama courtroom norms throughout the film, by wearing formal suits, clearly articulating his thoughts, and following the courtroom procedure. Then again, Bill, Stan, Vinny, and Lisa, are not used to the ways of the South. For example, being awaken by a town alarm, pigs, and a train at 5am each