Dare I say it.....I HATE the Sopranos

[glarius]

"Coming up....we'll check out the premiere of the new season of the Sopranos....Maybe we'll even find out who's going to get whacked.".....Just heard on CNN.....I must be weird or something....I seem to be all alone in loathing that show....I can not find entertainment in the adventures of people who kill etc. with such ease.....How can anyone say they like these characters?....
To me, it's a continuation of the whole theme of mean-spiritedness now prevalent on television....I'm referring to the so-called "Reality" shows where people are humiliated and tossed aside.....:shrug:

[Screaming Lord Byron]

1. I don't like it for the simple reason that I find it boring.

With the sole exception of Little Steven.

[Heyo]

2. I love all the HBO original shows...

Sopranos included... I love the Sopranos.....I really like Carnivale, too.. and my favorite of all of course is Six Feet Under.... I have never seen or heard of a show that good in my entire life.. can't wait for the new season!!!... but yeah, I do like the Sopranos, I have always been a fan of mob movies like Casino and Goodfellas...

Heyo

[glarius]

5. Maybe it's just me, but I can't get interested in a series when I don't

like the characters....I've only watched Sopranos a couple of times and that was enough for me....:)

[Bertha Venation]

3. Gawd, me too! I'm NOT alone!

They think they're so superior just because they can sing in ranges impossible for the human ear to hear.

Uh... oops...

Never mind.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

23. lol!

[Limbought]

26. LOL

Good One!

[vi5]

4. I don't know....

I'm as peaceful a person as they come. But I enjoy fictional explorations of the human condition, which whether we choose to aknowledge it or not, includes massive amounts of anger and violent tendencies.

Some of the best art and especially literature in the history of mankind explores and revels in the violence mankind inflicts on one another(anyone with more than passing familiarity with Shakespeare's work and even further back into Homeric legends and things like Beowolf can attest to this).

I'm not putting the Sopranos up there with that stuff, but in the medium of television and scripted fiction writing for television the show is an amazing exploration of this same type of subject matter.

If you don't enjoy the show that's one thing, but a lot of violent works of art are anything but mindless. There is a big difference between the Sopranos which creates and fully realizes fictional characters and explores their created psyches, than something like Fear Factor.

I'm assuming by your post that you haven't actually watched the Sopranos before?

[glarius]

6. I watched a couple of episodes early on and was turned off by them.

When they try to pretend that these thugs are family men at heart...That's a bit much for me...
edit---I was referring to the similar themes....meanness, between the Sopranos and the Reality Shows such as Fear Factor....By the way, I don't watch them either.

[NWHarkness]

9. You seem to have missed the point

The overarching theme of the series has been Tony's inability to reconcile the violent side of his life with his attempts to be a good family man.

[glarius]

13. The thing is I DON'T CARE ABOUT THIS THUG'S PROBLEMS?

I haven't missed the point...I just don't care!...No offence..:)

[Zero Gravitas]

19. but you care enough to start this thread?

:shrug:

[glarius]

20. I guess I'm just puzzled at the success of the show

:shrug:

[vi5]

12. I dont' think it's a matter of "pretend"....

The fact is that people in the mob and who participate in that lifestyle do have families.

It's an intriguing concept and juxtaposition and the show explores it masterfully. I've watched every single episode of the entire series and have never once thought that the writers portray these guys as anything other than monsters. But to explore how the way they make their living differs from and impacts their roles as fathers and husbands and sons makes for brilliant television.

[glarius]

15. I guess the thing is that I don't want to spend time watching the

lifestyles of monsters....To each his own, I guess...:)

[demnan]

7. If it were just violence it wouldn't be interesting

but there is humor in there! The psychobabble is hysterical, especially when uttered by tough mob guys. The character development is very true - these are complex characters and it's fun just to see them mentally justify their immoral actions.

If you thought it was just violence you're missing the point.

[glarius]

11. I understand what you are saying, but to me I can't like the characters

so I really don't want to follow their adventures....:)

[Chicago Democrat]

21. The Passion is anti semitic because it focuses on the death...

...of our "god" by the jews.

Similarly, the Sopranos glorifies and justifies and goes into the smallest psychological detail men who act like animals. Men for whom money and power justify wholesale murder and destruction of hundreds of lives.

The charactor studies are genius and the stories are compelling. I just hate the mafia and I especially hate how the Sopranos has affected American style and thinking. Its gone way beyond a dumb TV show.

Maybe its the war. All the Hummers driving around or the Terminator becoming the California governor. But our country is changing, making criminals heros on TV shows. Even Cops. The reality shows are all contests in raw power. Its all so PAGAN. So Roman!

Its the kind of thinking that accepts the Bush lies for the war as just business as usual. Its the kind of thinking that allows CEOs to rape companies.

Maybe Im reading way way too much into the success of the Sopranos. I watched it for a season or two, but I just kept thinking. OMG I know guys just like this. They weren't killing. But they were acting like mobsters and have little scruples and a very strange code of ethics and their egos were always getting them in trouble. And its all about winning and power. Blegh.

I needed to say that. thanks

[Heyo]

8. For those of you....

Who might have the potential to like a show like the Sopranos, but don't like the mob element and the violence....

..try Six Feet Under.

Still morbid, less violent..

(well, depends on what happened to Lisa)

Still great character development and story lines...

Heyo

[bif]

10. Don't have cable. Never seen it

Actually I saw part of one episode and found it pretty boring.

[Chicago Democrat]

14. I hate the MAFIA, Criminals, and Shows that Glamorize them!

Being from Chicago, I have had my experiences with criminals, organized or no. This show glamorizes horrible people. It encourages behavior and notions among certain people that are violent and barbaric. There is nothing good or fun or nice about this show. Sadly, there actually does exists a Mafia but much worse still is that there are about 100 times more people who like to -act- like their in the Mafia. The Bush Administration is a kind of Mafia like organization, and that sucks.

Like a car crash it is difficult to turn away.

[truthspeaker]

16. I like it

The one really sympathetic character is Dr. Malfi. Otherwise I tend to like characters that are neither wholly bad nor wholly good.

[arwalden]

17. I Like Season One... And Season One ONLY

Since then it was steadily downhill. I felt cheated by the lackluster season two. Even so, I felt I had "invested" so much time that I'd give them another shot for season three. And I continued to be disappointed. So... at that point I declared "NO MORE CHANCES!"

Unless I hear reports that this is a killer season (pun intended, ha ha) that's not to be missed, I think I'll give them a pass and just wait eagerly for the next season of Carnivale.

-- Allen

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

25. Yes, the loss of Nancy Marchand changed the dynamics

They tried to make up for it by bringing in his sister Janice, but she's more an annoyance than the living baggage Tony had to carry with his mom. Livia Soprano was fascinating; Nancy Marchand's death was a terrible loss.

I stuck with the show till I was soooooo tired of Joe Pantoliano (as his character and himself) that I could no longer excuse the more ridiculous plot aspects.

What's even worse than the show are commercials using Soprano actors in character (e.g. Pussy for some Glad product - don't get mad, get Glad). Ick.

[Kamika]

18. How dare you

Sopranos is a good show.. I haven't seen alot but what I've seen has been great

[SammyWinstonJack]

22. I don't like the show at all

I find it disgusting on so many levels. My husband however couldn't wait the season premiere. :shrug:

[Flaxbee]

24. I'm not wild about it, but will watch it on occasion...

It can be kinda boring, and I don't like the violence, but the personal interaction is interesting... I especially like the Dr. Melfi/Tony exchanges & Tony/Carmella relationship. Tony's pretty fascinating, actually, in a weird train-wreck sort of way.

And, a friend of mine played the one-legged Russian character, so I watched all the episodes she was in.

[Zero Gravitas]

29. ooo...

Svletana (sp?) one of my favortite characters.

Two questions: is she really Russian? and does she really only have one leg?

[Bunny]

32. I don't know if she's Russian, but she has two legs.

They digitally erase the one leg for the show.

[Flaxbee]

40. Yes and no

Yes, she is Russian, and she has two legs. Very nice woman, veeerrrrrryyy famous in Russia.

[OKNancy]

30. I hate to admit that I like it too

If nothing else it stimulates conversation in my family. On the phone with my daughter who couldn't watch the argument between Tony and Camilla ( reminded her too much of her ex husband) and then last night my husband and I got into a long discussion after the show...actually he did most of the talking...about young men and brutality.

He said that he sees that macho attitude like those Mafia types more and more in the young men that work with him. He is in construction and is a blue collar man. He said that the young guys all seem to want to be punks. I said, don't you think every older generation thinks that? He said, maybe, but Nancy you should see these guys. He said it's no wonder the Mexicans are taking over the field. He said the Mexicans work hard and are reliable. He said the white guys like to brag about their guns, drugs, pussy and fighting. He said they don't want to do jack-shit. Then he brought up the this out of the blue..."have you noticed that the sackers at the grocery store are beginning to be all girls? Young men won't take those jobs because it's beneath them." He ended it by saying, "god, let's move to Europe".

[VOX]

27. Haven't been moved to watch a single episode of "The Sopranos"...

I get HBO, but I just don't want to start keeping "TV appointments" only to get involved in what is, at bottom, a soap with all the hooks -- who'll do what to whom, etc.

No thanks.

[Paragon]

28. Dare I say it...I HATE this thread

The notion that good stories cannot be told about nasty people, that we need to adhere to some ancient code of "the villains must get their comeuppance in the end"...is utter bullshit.

The Sopranos is a GREAT show - great writing, great performances, and full of truth.

If you don't like shows about neurotics doing terrible things to people, don't watch Seinfeld, either.

[glarius]

33. Where did I say "the villains must get their comeuppance in the end"?

What I'm saying is this kind of a show, populated with thugs, is not my idea of entertainment....Sorry, but the analogy to Seinfeld is kind of silly....Dare I say no offence....

[Paragon]

35. You're still inferring it

Perhaps you'd enjoy a series set in a convent or something else where everyone is holy and pure...

By the way, the Seinfeld reference is dead-on. Jerry, Elaine, George, & Kramer are neurotic messes that treat people pretty awfully...which is a good chunk of why they're funny.

The writers of the show deliberately put them on "trial" for their indiscretions and ended the show with the characters in jail...so they'd "get their comeuppance". :D

[glarius]

38. Why are you so belligerent?....All I have done is question the popularity

of a show I find not to be entertaining...To each his own...Stay cool!

[Papa]

31. I LOVE the Sopranos - Here's why

It's not predictable. You can not reliably predict what is going to happen. There are generally no "clues" given as to what's going on, like when Tony is in therapy, there are no camera closeups or musical cues to let the viewer know, "aha, this is important, I need to pay attention to this". You are not spoon fed like some idiot on what you should be paying attention to, what has meaning and what does not.

The characters are complex. They are not cookie cutter bad guys. There is also alot of humor. I could write more, but Im off for lunch!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

34. The theme is "the banality of evil"

and exploring moral dilemmas doesn't mean that you're endorsing the actions of the characters. It's clear that Tony is a thug and a hypocrite (remember the scene in which he starts raving about "the decline of standards" because someone is wearing a baseball cap inside a restaurant or when he gets after A.J. for refusing to get confirmed?), but he's also half into the non-Mafia world, trying to present himself as a respectable suburbanite, and he's just enough into the conventional world to feel qualms about what he does.

Then you have his family. Carmela knows that Tony is a Mafioso, but she is doing her darnedest to be Mrs. Status-Seeking Suburban Housewife and Good Catholic Mother--except when she resorts to a threat-disguised-as-a-bribe to try to get someone to write a college recommendation for her daughter.

At the beginning of the series, Meadow and A.J. don't know where the family's money comes from, even though everyone else does. It's interesting to watch them deal with the growing realization of their family's true status.

The president of NBC claimed that his network could never put on a show like this because they can't use four-letter words or graphic violence or sex. But that's not the point, and that's not why the fans I know watch it.

The interest lies in the characters, all thugs, but a varied lot of thugs, and their interactions with the straight world, and the dilemmas that arise, both among the thugs and among the non-criminals around them. David Chase has created a rich fictional world populated by interesting characters, and although last season was the weakest, I'm hoping for better things this year.

[glarius]

36. I'm sorry I find the premise of the show depressing and haven't

watched enough to know about the characters or story lines you describe....I just never watch it....It just ain't my cup of tea...

[Paragon]

37. Then don't say you HATE it

...if you know nothing about it. Like I said in my posts, it's some notion in your head that the show is glamorizing criminal behavior - which it isn't, if you have any sort of developed critical eye.

[glarius]

39. You really are taking this all too much to heart.....

Better check your blood pressure!

[stopbush]

41. Having lived in NJ, I find the show to be a tremendous goof/spoof.

C'mon! The whole thing is over the top. It's actually a very broad comedy verging on caricature. Taking it seriously misses the whole point.

There's nothing real about it. Take last night where a waiter gets murdered when he complains about the lousy tip Chris left him. Then, the ensuing scene where Paulie and Chris make up over their squabbling that led to the killing. I mean, this is high camp, no?

I like the show, and it addresses certain social issues (as do most sitcoms), but high drama it ain't.