Instructor Shapoff
ENG 1101 online
22 July 2011
An Offer You Can’t Refuse
Murder, Inc., La Cosa Nostra, The Family. These words invoke visions of Tommy-guns, pinstriped suits, black and white spatted shoes and Edward G. Robinson. Old fashioned mobsters and gun-toting molls are some of my favorite silver screen characters. Fast forward to modern day and enter stage left, Anthony John Soprano, Sr. Tony Soprano is the modern fictional face of the Mafia; he is viewed as the quintessential gentleman mobster; a man we love to hate. This thesis revolves around what makes the character so compelling and why we loved to hate him.
On January 10, 1999, the veil was lifted and America was invited into the lives of Tony Soprano, his family and cohorts. For 86 weeks Americans took weekly forays into the mysterious and often violent underworld of gangsters, mob bosses and made men. Viewers had a front row seat into the life of one of the most compelling and complex characters ever to hit the small screen.
Rich, powerful, admired, hated and feared simultaneously; Tony Soprano was a television phenomenon. He is unapologetic about his excesses and vices and the fact that he is only looking out for only himself. Whether his actions benefit another …show more content…
Melfi realizes that their therapy sessions are just another way for Tony to indulge himself. She discovers through research and her own therapist that Tony is possibly using their therapy sessions to improve his skills as a master manipulator thus becoming an even more efficient sociopathic criminal. Dr. Melfi severs her interactions with Tony and points him to another therapist. Once again the antics of Tony’s unbridled gluttony impact a relationship he shares with a fellow human. His capacity to use people for his own selfish needs know no bounds. He takes no heed to the pain he causes or the havoc he wrecks on other people’s lives. His main focus is only his own instant