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The fundamental premise of The Sopranos is quite simple: you get into the mind of a modern day mafia boss and show how he is affected by current times, lifestyle and the social climate. While the mafia is still prevalent and strong, it must also change and evolve with the times. This realization was clear even back in the times of The Godfather when the Corleones' knew they needed to venture into more legitimate and emerging markets. In their case it was the entertainment and casino businesses. Tony Soprano is someone who grew up in a mob world and his life was shaped and molded in the same way that his father and grandfather was. "I didn't have a choice....." he once told Dr. Melfi. Here in lies one of the deeper fundamental aspects of the show; one that does not surface very often. Do we have choices to do what we want to do and be what we want to be? If you were born in the United States in the past 20 or 30 years this is not even a question which is relevant... it has no significance. "The American Dream" is a saying which is also slowly disappearing because it has been so closely integrated with our culture that it has become part of it. We have the freedom to ask "What do you want to do or be when you grow up?" This question, although part of our culture, is a fairly recent phenomenon. You don't have to go too far back in history when that was not a relevant question. Ask your grandparents or great grandparents or someone who didn't grow up in the United States. Back in "the old days", if your father was a blacksmith, then you were a blacksmith. If your father had a vineyard, then you took over the family business. If your father was a doctor, then you were a doctor. There were no choices. This is tradition and obviously there were and are exception, but in general a choice was not something that was readily available. Technology changed all of this. The findings and developments of the past 50 or so years had a tremendous affect on our lifestyle and our outlook on life. More changes have occurred in the past 50 years than they did in the 5 thousand years we know of civilization. This technology opened new avenues and doors to people living in the free world.... the ability to choose what they want to do. Following in your fathers footsteps is no longer a given, it is a choice. You now have the freedom to learn what you want and try what you want. This at least is the premise which we grow up with. This brings us back to the late 90's when we met Tony Soprano. He's living in times where everything has to be politically correct and social and moral issues are at an all time high. Stability is a hard thing to maintain. You have kids learning about sex and drugs in grammar school. Divorce is as common as buying a new car. Entire professions have been developed to help people cope and deal with this fast changing lifestyle; ie. psychiatrists. In some aspects, Tony Sopranos life is very similar to other average people. He's living in the same 'urban jungle' as the rest of us and has a wife and two kids in school. His home life is of utmost importance to him and he will hold on to it with all he's got. In one of his sessions with Dr. Melfi when the question of 'predetermined' vs 'choice' came up, he admitted he made all his sacrifices for his family and the kids. He sometimes feels bad that he never finished school and he often wishes he had a 'normal' life. Dr. Melfi keeps bringing up the notion that he has the ability to choose and to change. Tony honestly thinks about this but I believe he feels it's too late for him but not for his children. He wants them to go to school and make something of themselves. He tries keeping them isolated from the family business at all costs but as we've seen as the episodes develop this is impossible. As season two ended, we're left with a situation where Tony's main antagonists are gone; Janice, Richie and to some degree Big Pussy. Tony is still seeing Dr. Melfi but the sessions are not what they used to be in season one. Most of them have been short and rather fruitless. We've also seen the effects of Tony's life on Dr. Melfi. She's changed and she's drinking again. She doesn't want to have anything to do with Tony but she can't turn her back either. She's both repulsed and fascinated at the same time. (This by the way will be the topic of a future article). The question is though does Tony have the choice to change and if he did, what would he do? Would he be mixing paint at the Ace Hardware? Would be be making your burgers at McDonalds? Could he work with the FBI as an informant like Pussy thought he was going to do? None of these are plausible or practical. The question as to whether Tony would change is much more complicated. In many ways, Tony truly believes that what he does is no worse than what many other businessmen do. Yes, he makes his money off of gambling, extortion and other activities...... but aren't there other legitimate business which do much worse? Don't major companies dump toxic waste into into the air and water? Don't some lawyers use ever trick, whether legal or illegal to win a case? Just when the economy is going well the price of gasoline goes through the roof and the rest of us have to pay the penalty. Money collected from the lottery to be used for education is being misused. State Senators are exempt from Social Security and will receive the same benefits when they retire as they do when they're working and yet they still won't pass legislation which will help elders buy their needed prescriptions...... There are dozens if not hundreds of situations like this which directly ruin and destroy the lives of innocent hard-working people. Tony Sopranos asks "How is what I do any worse than that?". The obvious answer is that he kills people who get in his way. Hmmmmm, now doesn't the United States government use the same tactics? How many times have troops been sent around the world in the past 20 years to protect our freedom? This is not an attempt to justify a lifestyle like Tony Sopranos, but more to see where he might be coming from. Yes, he knows what he's doing hurts people and I'm sure he has moral conflicts. I'm sure every soldier who's aimed and pulled the trigger also has moral conflicts. It's okay for them to kill because they are fighting for their country. This is the justification and the solace. Tony is a soldier... he's admitted it. He's fighting a war and in war you sometimes do things you don't want to do. It's a struggle for him because he's getting negative reinforcement from many sides..... Carmela for one, Meadow for another.... and Anthony Junior's awe or disbelief at the entire situation. Yet, in Tony's heart and mind he's doing everything for them. All that they have is because of what he's done. The conveniences and luxuries they are accustomed to are because of him. This is why he gets furious when they criticize him because of what he does for a living. Would they be willing to give it all up? No, of course not. On one of these altercations, Tony told Meadow to get some cardboard boxes and set them up where the homeless live because that's where she's going to end up. Many of these are very deep questions which entire books have been written about. We have the benefit of seeing this play out on our televisions. We're invited into a mafia family in a politically correct country. Tradition vs Change is the battleground. How it plays itself out only time will tell. |