Cornuto Contento

This topic is going to stray from the usual content on this blog — please forgive me, dear readers, but after watching Deep Water last week, The House has an overwhelming urge to explore the second meaning of cornuto.

Faithful readers will recall that the mano cornuta, or horned hand, is a gesture used as an act of reproach and a potent symbol against the evil eye. (Those who wish to read more about this amulet should take a trip over here.)

But there is a second, more derogatory usage, which implies conjugal infidelity. Branding a man Cornuto (“horned”) is essentially calling him a “cuckold” (or as the kids say today, a “cuck)” a reference to the cuckoo bird’s habit of laying its eggs in another bird’s nest.

There is an Italian film called Il Magnifico Cornuto (“The Magnificent Cuckold”) about a man who begins to have doubts about the loyalty of his beautiful wife. When doubt becomes an obsession, his behavior becomes completely crazy, stalking her relentlessly.

Il Magnifico Cornuto (“The Magnificent Cuckold”),1964.

A Brief Detour Through Evolutionary Biology

The House is going to take a two-paragraph detour through evolutionary biology now because it’s relevant background information.

The driving force behind evolutionary biology is the concept of reproductive fitness, that is the ability to pass one’s genes into successive generations by successfully mating with another. In order to be chosen as a mate, one must signal to others that they are reproductively fit. For females, this usually means having a pleasant appearance and good health, which acts as a proxy for the ability to procreate. For males, it’s not enough to look good — one must also have resources to attract a female’s attention. After all, a female can mate with only one male at a time; while a male can mate with as many females as he can attract. Which means that females are generally more choosy about their mates. The choosy female values a male’s resources — strength, territory, food, etc. — because they help ensure that her offspring will be protected and well provided for, which in turn increases the offspring’s chances of surviving and being able to reproduce, thus ensuring the passage of genes to the next generation.

But wait… the optimal reproductive strategies for females and males seem to be at odds. Exactly.

For males, the best reproductive strategy is to attract as many females as possible and mate with all of them. But females are choosy and only want to mate with the strongest and wealthiest males. So what happens to all of the other males who can’t attract a female? And what about the female who has to share her mate with other females and their offspring?

Well, for some, the optimal strategy may be cuckolding. In other words, female finds a male with resources but then secretly procreates with another male (usually a good looking one who does not have a lot of resources), thus tricking male #1 into raising the offspring of male #2. These offspring have genetic material from the female and male #2, but none of male #1’s genes. This is a reproductively unfit outcome for male #1 — he has become a cuckold.

This is a terrifying and disappointing outcome for a male because it means that he will have failed to pass along his genetic material and is instead stuck (unknowingly) caring for another male’s offspring.

Is it clear that we’re talking about animals here? No? That’s ok, because this digression is also relevant to humans. Today, in the human context, the expression “cuckold” can apply to a man whose female partner is… uh… “actively mating with” another male.

OK! Now with this background, let’s get back on track.

For our purposes, Cornuto (i.e. the one who wears the horns) refers to a man who accepts — and in some cases even relishes — his wife’s infidelity.

There is a great scene in Goodfellas, which situates the idea of long-suffering cuckold in the appropriate social context.

Goodfellas: “He’s content to be a jerk.”

In the scene, which you can watch below, Tommy DeVito (played by Joe Pesci) and friends are sitting around a table when his mother starts telling a joke. (By the way, this entire scene was improvised so you won’t find this dialogue in the script.")

“When we were kids, the compares used to visit one another. There was this man. He would never talk. He would just sit there all night and not say a word. They would say to him, ‘What’s the matter, compare? Don’t you talk? Don’t you say anything?’

He says, ‘What am I going to say? That my wife two-times me?’

So she says to him, ‘Shut up. You’re always talking.’ [laughter] But in Italian, it sounds much nicer.”

Joe Pesci steps on her line and says, “Cornuto contento.”

She replies: “That’s it.”

Pesci translates: “It means he’s content to be a jerk. He doesn’t care who knows it.”

Now, Pesci says, “jerk,” but a more accurate translation would be “cuckold.” He’s talking about this man who “wears the horns.” His wife cheats on him, and he accepts it. He admits it freely to his friends.

Exploring the Cornuto Motif in Deep Water

Contrast this depiction of the cuckold with Deep Water, a film about Vic Van Allen, a man (played by Ben Affleck) who has been cuckolded by his wife, Melinda. Subtle references to HORNS are worked into the film at key moments. [WARNING: MILD SPOILERS AHEAD]

For example, in one of the early scenes of the film, the Van Allens attend a party and a guest is wearing an elaborate headdress made to look like animal antlers, or horns. This imagery appears immediately before Vic sees his wife kissing Joel, her young paramour.

We next see the horns when the detective is questioning Vic about Charlie DeLisle’s suspicious death in the pool. The detective asks him, “Was your wife sleeping with Mr. DeLisle?” To which Vic replies, “I don’t know. I don’t ask her those type of questions.” And at that moment, the shot is lined up so that the animal horns on the wall directly line up with the detective’s head.

Party Guest “wears the horns” right before Vic Van Allen sees his wife kissing another man.

The detective “wears the horns” when he confronts Vic Van Allen about his cheating wife.

Finally, Melinda Van Allen meets with a private investigator in a cafe called Horn’s. (This is an actual restaurant located at 1940 Dauphine Street in the Marigny district of New Orleans, LA.) When Vic interrupts them, he sits directly beneath a sign that says “Horns.”

So while much is made of the significance of the snails in Deep Water, there is more going on. Keep your eye on the cornos.

Ben Affleck’s character is “content to be a jerk” in Deep Water.