Darryl Wiggers has described Tony Soprano's appeal, similar to that of
most sympathetic mobster films, in the most clear and succinct fashion I
have yet seen in any publication.  I agree with his point about classes
of other villains getting underrepresented in truly compelling ways.  The
Clintonesque Presidential candidate and wife in "Primary Colors" might be
an exception, and there are plenty of other politicians and capitalists
as villains in movies, maybe they just seem a bit cardboard compared to
others.  However, I also think The Sopranos is meant as a capitalist
metaphor, like the best mobster movies such as the second Godfather
movie.  The show emphasizes the economic interconnectivity of the entire
New Jersey locale community, and the most recent episode even underlines
the mobsters as "pigs" in the final shot.

While Tony Soprano lives by a certain code that is appealing in its
consistency, the images he brings into being are obviously horrific.  His
brutal, anti-social behavior preys on the weakness of others, and his
actions often cause a chain reaction of pain, while he ignores the
consequences.  He allows a compulsive gambler into a high stakes poker
game and ultimately dismantles his life, he bribes a respected
African-American reverend to lead his flock in a protest that gets them
beaten so he can extort more money from the beleagered construction
company, he cheats on his wife under there is nothing left of his
marriage, and he runs a team of extremely violent men who will kill
business rivals in the garbage collection business who won't knuckle
under.  And Tony handles all these situations with either the threat of
or actual violence.  The gambler doesn't pay, he doesn't get to go to
court and declare bankruptcy.  Not if he wants to live, which isn't quite
how legal debt situations work.

In the most institutional sense of right and wrong, the cops are the good
guys and the gangsters are the bad guys.  While the fantasy, and
occasionally the reality, of organized crime providing more "real"
justice and even safety than the police can be very appealing, the fact
is that if a gangster makes you pay extortion so there won't be an
"accident" at your business, you're not going to call him a hero.  Tony
stays a hero precisely because the show's creators keep him just this
side of the line where we write him off.  We sympathize with the suburban
plight side of his story, and he only seems to hurt other criminals or
those who won't play ball (usually a middle class patsy of some sort) or
those who play in his arena and screw up.  So we don't lose our empathy
for Tony in the fantasy world.  In the real world, I would argue, the
extorting, drug distributing, loan sharking numbers running, money
laundering, and yes, tax-dodging Tony Sopranos are just villains, plain
and simple.

(I also want to note that Tony Soprano's physicality is made monstrous by
the shot choices, making James Gandolfini appear more menacing through
low angle shots emphasizing his bulk, as well as high angle close-ups of
his face, often sidelit, to force a corrupt or demonic visage.  The
show's creators do similar shots with other characters, most notably
Pussy.  I would contrast it with the sympathetic shooting of Dennis
Franz, of not entirely dissimilar physicality, whenever he's not drinking
on NYPD Blue.)

Using a consistent code of conduct combined with a corrupt environment to
provoke audience indentification is an ancient strategy (manipulating
"the center of good").  We are drawn to living the taboo life
vicariously, like Tony's shrink, Dr. Melfi.  Where I disagree with Darryl
Wiggers is in blurring the line between the fantasy world of the movies
or television, and real life.  Yes, I think a guy like Slobodan Milosevic
is about as evil as they come, but two wrongs don't make a right, and I
wouldn't want to condone a real life Tony Soprano either.  I'd rather
keep the evil hero contradiction on the screen, where it's most
attractive, because it's the most safe.

Mark Netter
[log in to unmask]

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