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these pieces which make all italians look bad make my blood BOIL. end of story.

An excellent piece, Eric. It always amazes me that people like DNDI in comment #2 never actually read anything or pay any attention to what's actually being said, opting for scanning the world for keywords and kneejerking their way through life.

Here's a clue for DNDI: the piece doesn't make Italians look bad; some Italians do, but only to very narrow-minded people, such as those who think we're all stupid enough to believe that all Italians are bad after reading a piece about a TV show about some bad Italians.

Thanks Jim!

I would imagine that the other commenter feels that The Sopranos defames Italians in some way (something I strongly disagree with) and, therefore, the defamation continues with anything written about the show.

Interesting article!

"The Sopranos" doesn't make Italians look bad.

My family is one-half Italian, and though I can see similarities between Italians of all stripes (legal or otherwise), I was always told that Mafiosi are pigs and barely above human refuse in my house, and as I have grown older, I have seen no reason to alter that assessment, despite the best efforts of Hollywood to glamorize their behavior.

Still, I never miss "The Sopranos". We are well aware going in that these characters have one BIG fatal flaw, but this show does a very good job in displaying that there are truths universal to every Italian household, the most obvious of which being that Italians do INDEED spend most of their family time in and around the kitchen. I might add that Chase & Co. do a masterful job of showing the role of Catholicism in a typical Italian household.

This was a great review of a great show. Thanks Eric.

"The Sopranos" doesn't make Italians look bad, it makes humans look bad. Amazing to me that we've lionized gangsters so greatly in this society. Is this evidence of hidden, violent, poorly suppressed hatred of society itself?

Let's see, several of the cast members are Italian and this episode was directed by one. Exactly how does this piece defame them?

Bliffle, on the contrary, The Sopranos is so compelling because of how subversive it is, how it plays with the notion, the lionization of the gangster (or gangsta, if you will, if you'd like to take it out of the Italian-American stereotype), and turns it on its head. Tony Soprano is at base utterly human: he takes out the garbage, his wife yells at him, his kids don't listen, etc. Just when you feel for him -- and Gandolfini makes you feel for him through the magnificent range of human emotions and flaws he portrays -- he figuratively punches the audience in the gut by revealing his capacity for detestable actions.

That most -- myself included -- tend to generally "root" for him nonetheless as the anti-hero of the story is where the truly interesting questions come into play.

It really is a show that works on multiple levels. I can't help feeling sad that some people won't allow themselves to see that.

I'm sorry you feel sad. It makes me sad. But not nearly as sad as when I watched "The Sopranos" and realized how sad and frustrated so many people must feel that they find Tony Soprano interesting, and that egregious garbage disposal humanizes a despicable person. What sad deprived lives my fellow citizens must lead.

Bliffle said,
...and that egregious garbage disposal humanizes a despicable person.

Personally, I have a large spark of despicable in me, but I don't think a TV show should be made about it. It's bad enough that a few days ago my guard dropped momentarliy and I suffered a few moments of chagrined reflection on some of my past despicable behaviour, but to have it played across the TV screens of the nation would be just too punishing.

Yes, what kind of drama or fiction (or non-fiction!) avoids "despicableness" of some sort, human frailty of some variety? This is the very stuff that makes us human, I'd argue! The ability to choose between good and evil.

What's fascinating about Tony Soprano is that he chooses to believe that he is good, that most of the choices that he makes serve and protect himself and his two families. The Shield, another fine show, works very much along the same lines through conflicted anti-hero cop Vic Mackey.

So explioiting despicableness in human nature (such as Faces of Death or some such rubbish) for "entertainment value" without some redeeming quality or qualities is to be condemned, yes. And I think it's perfectly fine and acceptable to not enjoy The Sopranos for any number of reasons. But I don't think Bliffle's argument -- that those who enjoy stories that center upon "bad" characters lead deprived lives -- holds.

What kinds of storie or shows would you deem appropriate, Bliffle?

EB, this is a marvelous piece of writing you've done here. Just fantastic. Great insights and the self-disclosure only makes it that much more effective. I can't wait to talk about this on BCRadio this week. Well done.

Thanks DJR and likewise!

I should add that for more Sopranos talk, you can usually find yours truly over on the BC Radio, which is nonetheless a fantastic contraption of a radio publication helmed by our DJRadiohead.

I put a link to this fine piece on the BCRadio page for this week. It's all about the cross-promotion, man.

In all seriousness, I did enjoy this and I do encourage everyone to go listen to BCRadio and catch EB's great segment on the show.

"So explioiting despicableness in human nature (such as Faces of Death or some such rubbish) for "entertainment value" without some redeeming quality or qualities is to be condemned, yes. And I think it's perfectly fine and acceptable to not enjoy The Sopranos for any number of reasons. But I don't think Bliffle's argument -- that those who enjoy stories that center upon "bad" characters lead deprived lives -- holds."

Nothing new in that concept going back to Shakespeare. I was reminded that the fine NY Shakesperean critic X (whose name eludes my age-addled mind - such are the privations of having survived long and too well) interviewed on Charlie Rose a few weeks ago pointed out that all that we know of modern human emotion proceeds from Shakespeare. For example, before Romeo And Juliet we knew nothing of the emotional life of a teenage girl.

Since Shakespeare told the story so well and so thoroughly, why tell it again? To provide temporary employment for a wretched writer? In fact, why even watch the Shakespeare story again? Isn't that redundant? What have I to gain from seeing "King Lear" again? The only reason I can think of is concerning certain commercial interests. I know that every hour of network TV is burdened by 20 minutes of commercials, and that Sopranos are on cable, so the question is: how many minutes of the Sopranos hour is consumed in commercials?

"What kinds of storie or shows would you deem appropriate, Bliffle?"

I'm glad you asked (I'm far too shy and reserved to offer my opinion on such important matters unbidden). This morning I watched childrens TV cartoons with my 7 yr. old faux granddaughter (she knows this is an infrequently exercised vice, a privilege occasionally granted so she can stay current with her chums). An old Scooby Doo cartoon, in bad French, with incessant commercials for Coco Puffs, empty of any content, just reciting the stupidities of the shallow characters. Then, after dinner we watched "Micropolis", an excellent film of insect life. Twice. She's a big insect fan and has been for about 3 years. She has discovered most of the filmed beetles already in the field, understands metamorphasys and sex and preying, partly through her own experiments, and identifies insects differences and various behaviours. Tomorrow morning we'll drive to the actual Micropolis in Aveyron, birthplace of the fine French entemologist Fabre, whose book on the dung beetle is so fascinating, my wife says, that she couldn't put it down until she'd finished it.

That's what we need: more fact and less (spurious) fiction.

Eric
I read this a while back and never commented. Very powerful. I don't follow the show too much - but I have seen it a few times. I can see why it does have the following that it has.

Thanks for sharing the personal. Wanna pass some of those guts over this way? (not the visceral kind - the bravery kind)

Thanks Mary, though I'm sure you've got a good pile of bravery-guts all your own !

Biffle,
Interesting point with regard to "Critic X" and his contention that "all we know about human emotion proceeds from Shakespeare." Your larger point about man's capacity for violent entertainment and, unfortunately, for violence in general is also well taken. We may percieve ourselves as a civilized society, but for all that, we're not far removed from killing one another with stones and axes.

Personally, I enjoy The Sopranos a great deal. Certainly, it's not Shakespeare, but I think that it does have as similar a popular appeal in our day as Shakespeare's work did in his own time. Perhaps it does say something about my own nature that I relish David Chase's depiction of Tony Soprano as, in many respects, a guy with everyday problems. Of course he's not simply that; he's also a monster in human clothing, no matter how much I and others may identify with individual aspects of his personality.

I think Eric hit it right on the head when he tied his own experiences to Gandolfini's acting abilities. I see my own father's temper in Tony. Simmering, explosive anger that echoes in Tony Soprano's nose-breathing. I'm reminded of old friends and some family members and acquaintances from when I grew up in North Jersey. I watch the show, I enjoy it because I recognize bits of myself in the characters. Which, naturally, is what so many people find compelling about the show.

That being said, I'm not sure that the Soprano's popularity points to the sorry state of humankind as much as it does to the simple fact that we all love a good yarn and an intrinsic part of a good yarn is that we can identify with the characters on some level. I like shows about bugs, too, mind you, and all manner of other things, but so long as violent fare isn't your only sustainance, the Sopranos makes for a pretty tasty condiment.

All that being said, I prefer a good book. Something by Cormac McCarthy, perhaps...

Arreda Ferghuty!
Thanks.