Mafia Genre: A Critique Of The Protagonists In The Godfather
“That Awkward Moment When You
Love the Bad Guy”
A Critique of the Protagonists in the Mafia Genre: The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire
Nadine Mohamed
"Do you spend time with your family?
Good, because a man that doesn 't spend time with his family can never be a real man"
~ Don Vito Corleone The Godfather
That’s really what the Mafia genre is really all about- virility and italianita (Nochimson. MP,
2002: 2). As a sub-genre to the Crime and Gangster genres, the Mafia genre is relatively new.
Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972) has paved the way for the Mafia Genre, which is considered to be a sub-genre to the gangster genre. The film, considered to one of the best films in world cinema (BFI Film Forever, 2013), is the …show more content…
Often the protagonist is portrayed as megalomaniacal, materialistic, street smart yet self-destructive. It reveals their life pre-empting their mortality. It’s a chronicle of their rise and falls as the protagonist, who is the patriarch.
Often the character gets attached the identity of the actor, creating an icon of the actor thus allowing the character to live on beyond the realms of the show.
The Sopranos(1999) created by David Chase is an HBO based on the New Jersey mobster Tony
Soprano, played by the recently late actor James Gandolfini, who finds complications in dealing with his domestic life and his obligations as the head mobster. His difficulties and struggles are highlighted and critiqued by his psychiatrist Dr Jenifer Melfi, played by
Lorraine Bracco. There are other arcs of his life that are portrayed, such as the relationship with his wife Carmella played by Edie Falco and his younger family protégé Christopher
Moltisanti by Michael Imperioli. The Writers Guild of America had awarded the noted it as the best-written television series of all time. (Complete List: Deadline.com; 2013)
Boardwalk Empire(2010) is another HBO Gangster drama set in the 1920’s during the
Love the Bad Guy”
A Critique of the Protagonists in the Mafia Genre: The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire
Nadine Mohamed
"Do you spend time with your family?
Good, because a man that doesn 't spend time with his family can never be a real man"
~ Don Vito Corleone The Godfather
That’s really what the Mafia genre is really all about- virility and italianita (Nochimson. MP,
2002: 2). As a sub-genre to the Crime and Gangster genres, the Mafia genre is relatively new.
Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972) has paved the way for the Mafia Genre, which is considered to be a sub-genre to the gangster genre. The film, considered to one of the best films in world cinema (BFI Film Forever, 2013), is the …show more content…
Often the protagonist is portrayed as megalomaniacal, materialistic, street smart yet self-destructive. It reveals their life pre-empting their mortality. It’s a chronicle of their rise and falls as the protagonist, who is the patriarch.
Often the character gets attached the identity of the actor, creating an icon of the actor thus allowing the character to live on beyond the realms of the show.
The Sopranos(1999) created by David Chase is an HBO based on the New Jersey mobster Tony
Soprano, played by the recently late actor James Gandolfini, who finds complications in dealing with his domestic life and his obligations as the head mobster. His difficulties and struggles are highlighted and critiqued by his psychiatrist Dr Jenifer Melfi, played by
Lorraine Bracco. There are other arcs of his life that are portrayed, such as the relationship with his wife Carmella played by Edie Falco and his younger family protégé Christopher
Moltisanti by Michael Imperioli. The Writers Guild of America had awarded the noted it as the best-written television series of all time. (Complete List: Deadline.com; 2013)
Boardwalk Empire(2010) is another HBO Gangster drama set in the 1920’s during the