Random US gangbangers? Barely human savages
Mexican Drug Cartels? Heavily armed savages
Russian Mob? Well dressed savages
Random muslims that just so happen to be criminals? I can’t even type what they call them.
But the Italians? Suave, well-spoken, extremely resourceful and classy.
I’m not sure what causes it. The most famous mob movies all talk about how they’re ultimately a bunch of backstabbers but they’re still so heavily mythologized. It wasn’t even that long ago that they had influence, we’re talking the late 80s where things started to take a turn.
I think it’s because Italian isn’t really seen as an ethnic minority anymore. All the ones you mentioned are generally ethnic minorities, or “othered” so they are, of course, “savages.” The Russian mob is also more recent given the whole, yknow, fall of the USSR thing, so the experience might be more “raw” per se.
Yakuza also get a good pr treatment, although that may be more outside Japan than anything.
A good example might be peaky blinders, although I haven’t watched the show it’s about organized crime and, to my knowledge, more “respectful” [per se] to the mob than theu would be otherwise