Sopranos, love it or hate it?

[scottmandue]

Here is my problem... I hate violent TV and movies but I have got sucked into the story line and I can't stop watching the Sopranos.

I was making small talk with one of my friends at work and asked if he had seen the show and he said "no, I don't watch anything that glorifies gangsters". Asked another old friend over dinner at Hooters and he said "I tried to watch it when it was on HBO and hated it".

This got me wondering, The Godfather, Goodfellows, Scarface, Casino... why are some of us fascinated by these gangster movies? Do I have a latent desire to be a violent law breaker and am I living it out vicariously by watching this stuff?

[ikarcuaso]

I watched the first six seasons on DVD in like a month and a half. Ordered HBO for the final episodes. Ganster or not, great drama. None of the final episodes have lived up to the best of the past seasons, IMO, but I can sense some jaw dropping sh|t building up. Maybe an acquired taste, I don't know, but a great show, IMO.

[M.D. Holloway]

I think many people are just plain fascinated by extremes - extreme crime or extreme justice. Think of all the cop shows that are hits. People are not limited by the good and bad extremes either, look at the the nature shows that depict the extremes or extremes in life like Dirty Jobs or Man vs the Wild and then you have extreme shyt like American Idol and the Bachelor or The Apprentice...

[Jims5543]

I watch and I do not envy the life he leads nor do I find it glamorous. Being of Italian decent I know my grandparents were racist against Sicilians because, at first, they were the Mobsters.

My wife is Sicilian and this was an issue with my Grandmother untl she met her and got to know her and admitted she could look past it.

I am as fascinated by feel good tpye of shows/movies as I am with law breakers. You do find yourself rooting for the bad guy sometimes but in the real world we would never do that. I do not root for Tony I just keep wondering when its all going to catch up to him.

[89911]

I don't know what to think about this season. It deals with so many of life's lessons but, unfortunately, most of them are sad. Getting old, memory loss, break ups, infidelity, regret, retribution. I frequently find myself pondering these questions after watching the show. I frequently find myself pondering a lot of question in midlife and can use some more uplifting and inspirational material. Yet, I am still hooked.

[scottmandue]

I'm only a couple of months into it since A&E started running it on Wednesday nights I DVR it then watch it skipping the commercials. I watched the first episode out of curiosity expecting the typical tough guy shoot um up and was floored... he's talking to a psychiatrist about being depressed! Despite the gratuitous sex and violence the wighting is fascinating. The dichotomy of Tony as a loving father and husband at home and a cold hearted murdering gangster at work... the wife and daughter who hate what he is but enjoy the power and money it brings. And the karma that catches up to all the rotten people around Tony (except the few close friends) and waiting to see when/if Tony is going to get caught.

[scottmandue]

Originally posted by 89911
I don't know what to think about this season. It deals with so many of life's lessons but, unfortunately, most of them are sad. Getting old, memory loss, break ups, infidelity, regret, retribution. I frequently find myself pondering these questions after watching the show. I frequently find myself pondering a lot of question in midlife and can use some more uplifting and inspirational material. Yet, I am still hooked.

EXACTLY!

I have hours of great PBS recorded on the DVR and yet every Wednesday I find myself watching. The show is thought provoking but I find myself thinking couldn't I be spending my time better?
Kind of like going to Hooters...

[Moneyguy1]

Most of us cannot tear our eyes away from a train wreck either. Tony is an impending train wreck and we can watch it without being a victim of it.

[Chocaholic]

Originally posted by Moneyguy1
Most of us cannot tear our eyes away ...

Heck, I can't tear my eyes away from Ikarcuaso's avatar!

Now, what was this thread about? Oh never mind.

[nostatic]

good writing is good writing. It's the only reason I have HBO (yes, I know there are other good shows but life is too short for a lot of tv). They have their uneven episodes, and often it depends on who's directing (Michael Imperioli should stick to acting imho). But at its core it is a very well written show.

To me the thing that is so compelling is that there are no good guys and bad guys. It is not at all a black and white show. Most of the characters have depth. The heroes are flawed, the bad guys garner some empathy. And they often don't go for the cheap/easy way around things. The ending to season before last when Johnny Sack was arrested was a brilliant clifhanger...subtle, not typical over-the-top stuff. We have our tragic hero running like a scared kid through the snow. Great stuff.

We'll see if the ending really is an ending, and if they can pull it off. My bet is they can. This season has been an odd mix of storylines, but it is leading to some very bad stuff. It'll be great if they have the balls to stay not-hollywood and have a rather twisted end.

Plus, the casting is awesome. Who knew Steven van Zandt could act?

[thinkfloyd14]

The show makes me hungry.

[nota]

I have become addicted
even gave up lost as they are on at ther same time

[Vin-barrett]

Originally posted by thinkfloyd14
The show makes me hungry.

+1

Where's the Gabagool?!?!

[Rick Lee]

I've been addicted for years, but I have a lot of problems with the show.

For a show that prides itself on being so NJ-realistic, it's not even close. How many times have you seen characters pumping their own gas? There is no self-serve gas in NJ and everyone there knows and hates it. Remember the episode where Chris and Paulie took the Russian guy out into the woods to whack him? Whatever happened about that? And they said they were in the pine barrens, when it looked like it was filmed in the mountains. The NJ pine barrens are unf&ckingmistakeable. And how about all the ridiculous gun mistakes? I've never seen a shooting scene in that show that was remotely realisitic. Remember Tony and Bobby shooting a machine guns in the Adirondacks a few weeks ago? Yeah, no hearing protection, no recoil and they were shooting it steady like it was a squirt gun. Remember when Chrissie's buddy, Jack, hijacked one of Junior's trucks? Truck driver had a Glock, dropped it, it went off and he was shot with his own gun? Uh no, Glocks cannot fire by dropping them. Absolutely impossible.

Other than that, I love it.

[M.D. Holloway]

Why I watch...

[thinkfloyd14]

Originally posted by Vin-barrett
+1

Where's the Gabagool?!?!

what?!, no fuchin ziti?

[VINMAN]

I really thought Christopher was gonna take out Paulie last night....

[VincentVega]

No kidding. Christopher is on the edge, especially when he mentioned pulling a Henry Hill.

[Overpaid Slacker]

It's the only show that I look forward to. Most other shows, I can take or leave, or just watch them whenever it's convenient on TiVo (even including Battlestar Galactica).

Come Sunday evening, I am planted in front of the tube, waiting, even expecting to be awed. Not that the show has the "punch" it did early on (or maybe I'm de-sensitized) but it's the only show that has me expecting greatness.

.... for some reason, Rick, that Pine Barrens episode and its unresolved issues sticks in the craw of many fans of the show. What happened with that Russian Interior Decorator?!

JP

[Rick Lee]

Originally posted by Overpaid Slacker


.... for some reason, Rick, that Pine Barrens episode and its unresolved issues sticks in the craw of many fans of the show. What happened with that Russian Interior Decorator?!

JP

And what the hell happened between Tony and the other Russian gangsters? No way could he have gotten away with whacking that guy.