Growing up in an Italian family means that there is a very specific set of films we have on repeat through holidays. From my mother continually saying she won’t rewatch movies and yet always sitting down when The Godfather was on to my brother quoting Joe Pesci’s lines from Goodfellas, there were plenty of iconic films in our rotation.

But the one that stuck out the most to me (because of one specific character) was My Cousin Vinny. For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved Marisa Tomei, mainly because she was a fun Italian woman who didn’t fall into this mold that I’ve seen so many others do. More often than not, the women of these movies fall into matriarchal roles, forced to cook and clean the kitchen and be there for the men in their lives.