Obvious spoilers ahead, so I wouldn't recommend venturing into this thread unless you've seen the show...
I'm going through "The Sopranos" for a second time, and have never wanted to discuss something so badly. Mostly, I want to talk about Tony Soprano and how the show handled his character.
I know David Chase sort of mocked the audience for simultaneously condemning and condoning his behavior on the show, but I'm not so sure that his intentions weren't to get the audience to question their feelings toward his character. There are brief glimpses of Tony being a inherently good human being -- often times when the rest of his mafia family isn't able to focus on anything but how things used to be done. A few examples would be in season six when everyone wants to see Vito dead, or when he first comes out of the coma.
The glimpses are few and far between, but I can't help but feel like the entire show was built up to blame Tony's nature on the people around him. In the few moments he has a chance to show some kind of raw human behavior without being judged for it, he behaves like a good human being typically would.
Obviously, these few moments don't outweigh all of the terrible crap his character pulled (killing Chris just to make things easier, cheating on his wife over and over again, picking fights with people all the time, etc.). But I think Tony's character and his moral standing in the world is at least worth discussing.
I say all of this, because at one point in "The Second Coming", Tony tells Melfi in therapy: "I'm a good guy... Basically." And ultimately, that's what it comes down to it for me. At his base, Tony seems like a decent human being. It wasn't until that base was rocked by the people and lifestyle around him that things changed. This doesn't excuse action, but it might give us a reason to empathize, and I always felt like Chase couldn't have expected anything different. I've never faced such a dilemma as to whether I like a character or not, and even with everything I've said, I'm leaning towards not like his character as a person.
I know this is an issue talked about a lot among The Sopranos fandom, but I figured I'd raise the question here. Did you like Tony Soprano?
I'm going through "The Sopranos" for a second time, and have never wanted to discuss something so badly. Mostly, I want to talk about Tony Soprano and how the show handled his character.
I know David Chase sort of mocked the audience for simultaneously condemning and condoning his behavior on the show, but I'm not so sure that his intentions weren't to get the audience to question their feelings toward his character. There are brief glimpses of Tony being a inherently good human being -- often times when the rest of his mafia family isn't able to focus on anything but how things used to be done. A few examples would be in season six when everyone wants to see Vito dead, or when he first comes out of the coma.
The glimpses are few and far between, but I can't help but feel like the entire show was built up to blame Tony's nature on the people around him. In the few moments he has a chance to show some kind of raw human behavior without being judged for it, he behaves like a good human being typically would.
Obviously, these few moments don't outweigh all of the terrible crap his character pulled (killing Chris just to make things easier, cheating on his wife over and over again, picking fights with people all the time, etc.). But I think Tony's character and his moral standing in the world is at least worth discussing.
I say all of this, because at one point in "The Second Coming", Tony tells Melfi in therapy: "I'm a good guy... Basically." And ultimately, that's what it comes down to it for me. At his base, Tony seems like a decent human being. It wasn't until that base was rocked by the people and lifestyle around him that things changed. This doesn't excuse action, but it might give us a reason to empathize, and I always felt like Chase couldn't have expected anything different. I've never faced such a dilemma as to whether I like a character or not, and even with everything I've said, I'm leaning towards not like his character as a person.
I know this is an issue talked about a lot among The Sopranos fandom, but I figured I'd raise the question here. Did you like Tony Soprano?
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