Your thoughts on movie and TV mobsters...

[enyawd72]

Just read about James Gandolfini's death...it really had very little impact on me because I've never watched a single episode of Sopranos.
People are always shocked when I tell them that...they then usually go on and on about how I've missed out and what a great a show it was, but I don't like mob movies and shows in general, and here's why...

Call me old fashioned, but I really think it's wrong the way Hollywood has glamorized and made idols out of characters like the Godfather, Scarface, and Tony Soprano. I see teenagers sporting Scarface shirts and collecting posters and figures and I think to myself, WOW...your idol is a psychotic drug dealing murderer?
That's NOT a good thing for kids to emulate.

Now I realize the same could be said about characters like Heath Ledger's Joker, or even Darth Vader, since Lucas made him a mass child killer (which I also have a problem with since they're marketed to children)
but at least they're fantasy characters. Organized crime is very real, and movies and TV have always glamorized it and made these criminals seem like heroes.

[Mikey]

Good topic, my view is even if they don't glorify the life everybody will take away from it what they want.

A good example is Goodfellas ... I love the movie but consider the characters dumb jerks.

[Zemo]

Well, there are people who live a bad life style that are good. So to me it's just real life. Take Tony Montana ( Scarface) for instance. Being a decent human being to some point, is what got him killed.

[Hector]

I disagree on the Sopranos being romanticized, it was quite the opposite.

Most of the gangsters in the Sopranos were not rich, many lived in apartments, had average cars, and lived paycheck to paycheck.

Tony himself lived in a nice suburban house, but it was far from being a mansion.

His kids went through the same problems many teenagers go through.

Tony and his wife had fights like many couples, even about money problems.

The Sopranos portrayed gangsters in a realistic light in my opinion.

The Godfather on the ofher hand did romanticize gangsters, no doubt about that.

[Hector]

Just read about James Gandolfini's death...it really had very little impact on me because I've never watched a single episode of Sopranos.
People are always shocked when I tell them that...they then usually go on and on about how I've missed out and what a great a show it was, but I don't like mob movies and shows in general, and here's why...

Call me old fashioned, but I really think it's wrong the way Hollywood has glamorized and made idols out of characters like the Godfather, Scarface, and Tony Soprano. I see teenagers sporting Scarface shirts and collecting posters and figures and I think to myself, WOW...your idol is a psychotic drug dealing murderer?
That's NOT a good thing for kids to emulate.

Now I realize the same could be said about characters like Heath Ledger's Joker, or even Darth Vader, since Lucas made him a mass child killer (which I also have a problem with since they're marketed to children)
but at least they're fantasy characters. Organized crime is very real, and movies and TV have always glamorized it and made these criminals seem like heroes.

Kids have no business watching R rated films.

[Mikey]

I know a lot of people probably don't consider it a gangster film but I always loved Harlem Nights

"he shot my pinkie toe"

[BlackKnight]

Being a decent human being to some point, is what got him killed.

There's Been a Few Like That ....
Even Vader was just brought up ..., well Because Vader Chose to Save his son ...., It costed him is Life as Well ...


It's difficult with some of these Characters. .... Whether it's Soprano ..., Scareface, Vader ... Sons of Anarchy .. or Even this Dexter Guy Everyone Seems to Like. Hollywood Glamorizes these Characters, makes them Larger than Life, Develops them into these Killers, but then Opens up a Side to them that sometimes many people can relate to , if Have lead that life style, and then the compassional Writes of some of these Guys might Lure Others into interests of characters.

It's difficult for me..., as to which side of the Fence I am on .... , I guess it depends on the Character ..., or whats Exzactly being Talked about. But I'm not gonna Buy a Charles Manson Shirt or Go Down and Have Lunch with Gary Ridgeway Anytime Soon Either.

[BlackKnight]

What did Scarface say ?

Something like ...

" Hey Chico ...., the World Loves a Bad Guy ..., it Give Everyone Someone to point a Finger At when they walk By, and say Hey !..., Thats the Bad Guy right there " .

Something like that.
Where Ever there is Good ...., There's gonna be Evil.

BTW there Enyawd ...
I am Confused.
Your the Painter ..., right ?.
I have Scene painting from U of, Thge Wicked Witch, Aliens, Planet of the Apes ..., and whatever Else. Seemlingly Glamorizing Villians by your own Hand, Sharing, Selling and Profiting Off of Villiany.... But Yet you claim your Old fashion ...., and its wrong Hollywood does the same ? .... Come On Man.

[Hector]

Without villains, all movies would suck, plain and simple.

[Brazoo]

I was a late Sopranos convert, mainly because I originally thought of it as 'Goodfellas the TV show'. Yes, the catalyst for the show is a suburban family of mobsters, but what they ended up achieving with the show is so much more than that. Like all great art, I think it ended up doing much more than even what the creator originally wanted to achieve. In many ways it's nearly a perfect snapshot of our society over the period of time it took place, and this will sound cliche, but it was a mirror and a magnifying glass for America at that time.

Tony is one of the most baffling and clearly defined characters I've ever experienced. You'll want to root for him and then prosecute him - often in the same episode. When the show does glamorize mob life it will instantly do something to make you question why you feel that way. It's not the lighthearted mobster romp some people sell it as. It's often satirical and its observations are often deeply troubling.

[Brazoo]

Most of the gangsters in the Sopranos were not rich, many lived in apartments, had average cars, and lived paycheck to paycheck.

I always loved that element of the show. Most of the criminals were working their asses off, and risking everything to make a few bucks, then handing huge portions off to "the boss". Most of their earnings were spent lavishly on clothes, gambling and partying, while paying all their bosses expenses as well.

[enyawd72]

BTW there Enyawd ...
I am Confused.
Your the Painter ..., right ?.
I have Scene painting from U of, Thge Wicked Witch, Aliens, Planet of the Apes ..., and whatever Else. Seemlingly Glamorizing Villians by your own Hand, Sharing, Selling and Profiting Off of Villiany.... But Yet you claim your Old fashion ...., and its wrong Hollywood does the same ? .... Come On Man.

I don't know if you're being serious or not, but if so, that's about the most insulting comment anyone's ever made to me. I do not "profit off villainy". I paint pictures of FANTASY characters. Last time I checked, impressionable kids don't grow up to be Wicked Witches, Aliens, or General Ursus, but they DO grow up to be Tony Montanas, Tony Sopranos, and Godfathers. Then they end up dead or in jail, ruining their lives and the lives of others. It's no secret that many teenage gang members want to be like Scarface.
If somebody turns to a life of crime because of one of my paintings, I promise you I'll stop. I'll leave you now with this paragraph taken directly from a recent Toronto newspaper...READ IT.


"Nowadays, gangs have become part of a regular society. Some are small and some are big, but they are spreading everywhere. Recently, gangs in Canada have been becoming a part of a large network working together - all sharing the same goal - FAST MONEY! Mafia and gangster movies plus
hardcore rap music are a perfect provoking recipee for these gang members to cause ruckus. Also a
youth growing up without a father can be put into a situation where he has to trust or depend on gang members. More than three quarters of Toronto residents say that the city is now a more dangerous place, than compared to five-six years ago. These growing gangs in Canada, especially in Toronto and Scarborough area, have been getting worse in the last six years and have been the cause of much rising violence in Canada.

In 2005, a notorious gang in Toronto called 'Malvern Crew' was raided, sixty-five alleged gang members were arrested as a result. Toronto's police officers made early morning arrest making the largest anti-gang take down in the city's history. These gang members seem to have been heavily influenced by rap music and mafia flicks - some police officers say, during the raid of the malvern crew, alot of mafia movies like 'Scarface', 'The Godfather', and rap music such as of 50 cent and G-Unit were seized. The influence of these movies can be seen on the streets when you see local gangsters calling themself 'Scarface' inspired by the role 'Al Pacino" played in the 1983 film, Scarface. Rappers like 50 cent are also a bad influence on these teenage gang members. The influences of these rappers can also be seen on the streets, when you hear them listening to songs called 'I do mine the fast way, Ski mask way' and then actually see them doing it for real. The behavior and attitude of these guys are mirrored to those rappers and characters from songs, videos, and movies."

[Brazoo]

That's from a recent Toronto paper? Weird. Which one?

[Brazoo]

Honestly, I don't know which paper published that, but I'd be skeptical about it coming from a news paper. It's got a few spelling errors that i noticed, for one thing. For another the violent crime rate in Toronto is steadily dropping year to year right now. It's referencing 2005, which was locally dubbed The Year of The Gun by the politicians and news outlets, but I don't think this article sounds current.

[huedell]

And nobody in this thread has made the distinction of that the gangster characters being brought up here are the main hero/anti-hero of their respective films/tv shows.

Anakin Skywalker doesn't count because if Lucas woulda done it the right way and made Obi-Wan the main protagonist of the prequels instead of forcing Darth Vader's story on us as the main focus there, Vader wouldn't even be an issue in this discussion's context.