Tweet
Never watched The Sopranos,never will I don't subscribe to HBO, I just don't like the channel. I'm not a fan of modern gangster movies, I was exposed to the Godfather when it came out and I just didn't like it much then nor now. I don't hate on the movies or the genre it's self. I do like the movie Goodfellas probably the only one I've ever liked but that's because I had read Henry Hill's book. I grew up in Brooklyn and I knew guys who were involved in the mob one of my mom's bosses was involved but I saw him as an Uncle who treated my mom great and they ran a legit business that put food on my table, my mom worked for him and his brothers till they all passed away. What he did elsewhere was none of my business.
-
-
Yeah, part of this is about what you're saying: movies that make the bad guy the hero of the story, but it doesn't stop there either. I mean, look what happened with The Joker. The Joker was exciting, but he's a fairly boiler-plate movie bad guy. So what does that mean? We should make bad guys boring from now on because of one nut?
My personal thinking is that it's almost impossible for filmmakers to control how their creations are going to be taken. To me, The Godfather movies, "Goodfellas" and "The Sopranos" are complex movies about how crime fits into our society and culture. That's just a reflection of reality. They're not simple morality tales - in those works there are ways that crime DOES pay, and there are LOTS of ways crime DOESN'T pay. I don't think we can restrict the kinds of stories that are told just because of how they might be misinterpreted by people who can't deal with the complexity.
I think that "Scarface" is a bit different. To me that movie is a one-note cartoon morality tale. Tony Montana is a bad dude, a murderer and dictator drunk on power, and he gets his comeuppance. I enjoyed watching it, but I don't think it belongs in the same company as "The Sopranos". I think that's why "Scarface" is a more popular movie in thug culture, it's simpler. I think that's why so many people didn't like the last episode of "The Sopranos"; it's NOT a soap opera about gangsters, and I think they're missing that point.
Even in the case of "Scarface" MOST people who watched that movie did not become gangsters. I find it a little hard to believe that a person without any criminal inclinations would just flip like that after watching a movie, no matter how glamorous the criminals seemed.Comment
-
...and the flipside of that, is that a "connected" guy was in your family's circle, and, as a result, something negative and gangster-related COULD have befell your family, just by happenstance of criminal enterprise... and then it *would* have been your business. It all depends on how practical you want to be in judging gangsters, and just how you look at the whole shabang in general."No. No no no no no no. You done got me talkin' politics. I didn't wanna'. Like I said y'all, I'm just happy to be alive. I think I'll scoot over here right by this winda', let this beautiful carriage rock me to sleep, and dream about how lucky I am." - Chris MannixComment
-
I agree with Dwayne. Hollywood has certainy glamorized the mobster mentality. And movies like the God Father and Good Fellas play to that image. But for me, I always measured these characters for what they did and where they ended up. Not what they owned or where they lived. Hollywood always glamorized mobsters as this cushy life full of entitlements, muddled with this twisted air of "family values" as if the concept were some how a principle they lived by. Total BS. These were corruptable people who brain washed their own to support their own crime syndicate. In short it was nothing but a collection of stooges bribed to do as they were told. If they screwed up, or wanted out, they were killed. Yeah... some family. This false sense of "honor" was just a tool to manipulate. Just a bunch of hoods. Now this in no way is a knock on the actor who just died. That's a fictional character played by a very capable actor. No disrepect intended to him whatsoever. I never watched the show because I simply had no interest in the subject matter. And that type of subject is not something I equate to "entertainment". Any way you describe it, I don't condone depictions of crime as a life style choice, regardless of how the money is spent or whether they live in big or modest size homes. If you're hurting others to benefit yourself, you're a hood. Period.Comment
-
Even Hell has its heroes.Comment
Comment