The Sopranos

We missed this series when it was on TV, but recently watched it on DVD. To say that we were amazed that it was ever shown is putting it mildly. The foul language is more plentiful, but no worse than one hears on many other programs, but how the incidence of what is these days called politically incorrect ever got past modern day censors is astounding. This however is not the main problem.

The series frequently referencing the Godfather films, another take on the Mafia in America, but there is a vast difference.

The films were basically about how a decent, intelligent, and brave man, became corrupted by the world in which his family lived, eventually becoming one who could order the death of his own brother, having lost all sense of morality as the head of one of the five criminal families of New York. It was a tour de force by Al Pacino, ably supported by Marlon Brandon, Diane Keaton, Robert Duval, and others, and was memorable for its musical score, and its portrayal of the experience of many Italian Americans in the new world.

The main characters in The Sopranos were very different, being basically murdering thugs, badly educated, showing no mercy to any who stood in their way, as they shot down often unarmed victims, including women. They erupted into violence for the most minor of reasons, often lashing out without warning, or any rational reason. Treating women as sex objects, pushing drugs and battening on law abiding people were rife. In the end there were almost no sympathetic figures, as even those who ended as victims had themselves treated others in the same way.

Unquestionably the series was popular, and the actors talented, but eventually the relentless violence, and total lack of any redeeming stories made it difficult to continue watching. No doubt it reflected more of the reality of criminal gangs that did the Godfather, but, as entertainment, it left a bad taste in the mouth.