GGniner
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RE: Soldiers vs. Abortionist
As I've stated, Tiller shouldn't have been killed, HOWEVER I understand completely and sympathize with those that support it, etc. It represents an Act of True Justice, the lack of True Justice is also why so many Vigilante movies have been coming out of Hollywood in recent years.
and now to direct this to what I will say is related topic:
Mafia Movies my favorite.
Why have these been so popular, and especially in the last 30 plus years since issues like Roe for example?
Goodnight, America: What loving the mob really means
Quote:But, as Will pointed out yesterday in his interview with David Chase, the creator of The Sopranos, there's a counter-argument. We find something in mob movies that we are sorely lacking in our culture and our art: a strict moral code. Or in Tony Soprano's case, a strict immoral code, but a code nonetheless.
"Could it be," asked Will, "that part of the appeal of this show is that Tony Soprano, terrible husband, loutish father, bad citizen…in some sense insists on the distinction between right and wrong?"
Of course, the distinction of "right and wrong" adhered to in The Sopranos is not our distinction, but at least it's a distinction, something sorely missing almost everywhere else in elite culture. Rats and snitches get theirs. In the world of The Sopranos there's a difference between having a reason and having an excuse. Tony always says "there have to be consequences" when people deviate from the code. In the relativistic swamp of American life, that distinction is at best mightily blurred.
This surely explains part of The Sopranos popularity. Americans have always liked movies and books about men who play by their own rules. Westerns, cop movies, and virtually every mob movie can trace much of their appeal to our fascination with the inflexibility of codes of honor, even when we disagree with the first principles of that code. Sure, there's something a bit disturbing about the fact that Americans — particularly chattering-class liberals who live by the New York Times's "Arts and Leisure" section — need to satisfy their craving for moral discipline by watching a television series about murderers.
But whadya gonna do? It's damn good TV.
Quote:THE GODFATHER AND AMERICA
The American fascination with Tony Soprano or Don Corleone is often explained by saying something like, "America loves a rogue." But that's simplistic in the extreme. There's a lot more going on here than the Bada Bing at the Bada Bing club.
About five years ago, Paul Rahe, the author of the acclaimed Republics Ancient and Modern: Classical Republicanism and the American Revolution, penned an essay, "Don Vito Corleone, Friendship, and the American Regime." With the possible exception of Paul Cantor's essay on The Simpsons, it's the best essay on the significance of a movie or TV show I've ever read.
In it, he dissects the opening scene of The Godfather where the undertaker, Amerigo Bonasera, asks the Godfather for justice (I am borrowing heavily from Rahe's synopsis).
"I raised my daughter in the American fashion," Bonsera says in the Mario Puzo book that inspired the movie. "I believe in America. America has made my fortune. I gave my daughter her freedom and yet taught her never to dishonor her family."
Alas, the daughter found an American boyfriend who tried to rape her. "She resisted. She kept her honor." The boyfriend and another boy beat her viciously in retaliation.
"I went to the police like a good American," he says. But, despite being arrested and convicted, the boys receive a suspended sentence from a lenient judge. "They went free that very day. I stood in the courtroom like a fool and those bastards smiled at me. And then I said to my wife: 'We must go to Don Corleone for justice."
Then, Corleone breaks the silence to ask, "Why did you go to the police? Why didn't you come to me at the beginning of this affair?"
Bonasera dodges the question and asks, "What do you want of me? Tell me what you wish. But do what I beg you to do." He whispers in the Don's ear that he wants the boys killed.
The Don says, "You are being carried away." Then the undertaker says, flatly, "I will pay you anything you ask."
This infuriates Don Corleone. In a voice Puzo describes as "cold death," the Don answers:
"We have known each other many years, you and I, but until this day you never came to me for counsel or help. I can't remember the last time you invited me to your house for coffee though my wife is godmother to your only child. Let us be frank. You spurned my friendship. You feared to be in my debt."
The undertaker mutters, "I didn't want to get into trouble." Don Corleone interrupts him with a wave of his hand.
"No, don't speak. You found America a paradise. You had a good trade, you made a good living, you thought the world a harmless place where you could take your pleasures as you willed. You never armed yourself with true friends. After all, the police guarded you, there were courts of law, you and yours could come to no harm. You did not need Don Corleone. Very well. My feelings were wounded but I am not the sort of person who thrusts his friendship on those who do not value it — on those who think me of little account."
The Don smiles derisively, "Now you come to me and ask, 'Don Corleone give me justice.' And you do not ask with respect. You do not offer me friendship. You come into my home on the bridal day of my daughter and you ask me to do murder and you say" — here the Don's voice becomes scornful mimicry — "'I will pay you anything.' No, No, I am not offended, but what have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully?"
The undertaker responds, "America has been good to me. I wanted to be a good citizen. I wanted my child to be American."
The Don applauds sardonically and says: "Well spoken. Very fine. Then you have nothing to complain about. The judge has ruled. America has ruled. Bring your daughter flowers and a box of candy when you go visit her in the hospital. That will comfort her. Be content. After all, this is not a serious affair, the boys were young, high-spirited, and one of them is the son of a powerful politician…so give me your word that you will put aside this madness. It is not American. Forgive. Forget. Life is full of misfortunes."
The two argue about the nature of justice versus vengeance. And once again the undertaker asks, "How much shall I pay you?"
The Don, furious, turns his back on Bonasera and asks, "Why do you fear to give your first allegiance to me?" He lectures the undertaker about the delays and corruption of the American system.
"You go to the law courts and wait for months. You spend money on lawyers who know full well you are to be made a fool of. You accept judgement from a judge who sells himself like the worst whore in the streets …[But] if you had come to me for justice those scum who ruined your daughter would be weeping bitter tears this day. If by some misfortune an honest man like yourself made enemies, they would become my enemies…and then, believe me, they would fear you."
The undertaker finally understands and pleads: "Be my friend. I accept."
This is the very first scene in the movie (though the dialogue is truncated for the big screen) for a reason. Francis Ford Coppola and Puzo understood the need to show the alternate moral universe of the mafia. Rahe points out that it's no coincidence that the undertaker's name is Amerigo Bonasera, which translates into "Goodnight America."
.........
Of course, people aren't rejecting America when they watch The Sopranos or The Godfather. But who can argue that a certain degree of the mob's appeal, particularly in the 1990s, stems from a certain alienation not just with the relativism of American popular culture, but with the very definition of justice in America today?
Couldn't say it any better
(This post was last modified: 06-03-2009 09:39 PM by GGniner.)
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