Analyzing Evil: Tony Soprano From The Sopranos
Vložit
- čas přidán 2. 06. 2024
- Start solving your mystery now! Go to huntakiller.com/thevileeye and don't forget to use the code THEVILEEYE at checkout to get $10 off your purchase!
Welcome everyone to the forty-ninth episode of Analyzing Evil! Our feature villain for this video is Tony Soprano from The Sopranos. I hope you enjoy, and thanks for watching. If you have any feedback or questions feel free to let me know below!
Merch Store: thevilestore.com
Patreon: / thevileeye
Reddit: / thevileeye
Discord: / discord
Twitter: / thevileeye
Instagram: / thevileeye
Video Edited by Stujthevamp. Check him out here: / stujthevamp
Merchandise by Christian Kohn. Check him out here: koehnillust...
Channel Artwork by Dicky Candra Irawan. You can find more of his work on his instagram here: /
00:00 Introduction
04:43 Background and Relationships
23:58 Appearance, mannerisms, and talents
27:34 Personality and Psyche
53:36 Beliefs, Values, and Vices
58:13 Crimes
1:10:28 Conclusion
The song in this video, The Dark Angel, was provided by CO.AG Music. Check them out here: / @co.agmusic
#TonySoprano #TheSopranos #TheManySaintsOfNewark - Zábava
I somehow glossed over Tony actually scoring high on his IQ tests in Many Saints, so apologies for stating otherwise!
Please do Fletcher from Whiplash!!!
@@calebkeith2630 I need to watch that movie all the way through one day.
@@pezzz182 please do! the ending is astonishing
no offencsh John but I gotta IQ of 136, itsh been teshted
@@calebkeith2630 I'll have to check that movie out, thanks!
I just imagine Tony Soprano watching this on his laptop, doing his heavy breathing thing as the video goes on. Until finally he just picks it up and throws it across the room
The breathing, dude. His loud ass breathing had the most lines of dialogue in the entire show.
I can picture him yelling "Muthafucka!" as he throws it.
@@AoKodo haha
😂😂🤣
You know he doesn't trust that cookie shit...
So I've watched the entire series of The Sopranos, and I've watched this analysis of Tony Soprano, along with several other videos on Tony Soprano and his character. After considering all that I have seen, and all of the information I've gathered, I have come to the conclusion that Tony Soprano, most likely, never had the making of a varsity athlete...
EDIT: WOW! Thanks for all the likes and comments! I originally thought that my comment was kinda corny and silly, and never would have thought so many people liked it. Thanks guys 😊
😂😂😂😂
He was a bit of a jerk, too.
@@briangriffin8106 -- Most people in a position of power are usually JERKS -- I think they think so highly of themselves and think so low about anyone who is beneath them
That really hurt my feelings!
HE WAS A HOOWAH!!
“Ralph isn’t a great guy at all”
That’s probably the nicest possible way to describe Ralph lmao
A. She was hoowah
B. SHINEBOX
@@jazzs7480 And C…that wasn’t his kid she was carrying. (It absolutely was)
@@markf.9396 that was no kid, that was a grilled cheese in your belly. Made m Chef Leotard-OH
@@jazzs7480 Before…and *WAY* before! You hear that Tone?
@@markf.9396 some people are you there stuffing themselves lol
As much as a genius dr Melfi was it's kinda puzzling for me that throughout 7 years of therapy and even after her colleagues begun throwing her direct hints she still didn't figure out that Tony, in fact, never had the makings of a varsity athlete...
This deserves more likes lmao
OHHHH!
😂
Oh she knew. That’s why she rejected Tony’s advances
Small hands that was his problem.
“Being likeable doesn’t make you a good person” well put.
True
we are all good and bad persons. we are all good and bad. One time i told a fellow i wasn't going to give him the car till the check became cash. He replied "but you know where i live , i have a sucessfull business, and i'm a Good Christian." To which i replied. "Mickey, mickey, mickey, that's what They all say. I never met a bad christian yet."
very interesting observation
@@NoName-id9jv you just spouted nonsense
Lots of criminals are funny and likeable, for some it’s a necessary part of the job
Also, the way Tony would watch television or movies was particularly fascinating, he romanticized noble moral acts like when he was watching the war documentary. He appeared extremely emotional at the thought of a soldier sacrificing his life for his fellow comrade.
That’s why he’s such a great character..so much depth and complexity when it came to who he was as a person. The whole dialogue of him and melfi about him and his crew of “soldiers” explains it all. As long as what he does(good or bad) is within the frame work of the mob he really had no guilt about it. It’s almost like he has 2 totally separate lives with a completely different personality to match each one of those lives.
@@rippindrummer666 good analysis
Whatever happened to Gary Cooper...
@@tapoemt3995 The strong silent type
@@rippindrummer666 is just
Okay
My favorite scene about Tony's nature is a scene where he talks to Melfi about Vito being gay. He immediately tells her that he finds it disgusting, but after a fairly short discussion, he admits that he actually doesn't care if someone is gay. Because of his upbringing and the people he surrounds himself with, he instinctively acts hatefully, but once he's in the safety of Melfi's office and is free to explore his actual thoughts, he finds that he doesn't hate gay people or even Vito. It's a window into the reality that Tony isn't a meat headed bigot like most of his crew, and probably would be a more understanding or even kinder person if his circumstance allowed it. It also makes his eventual decision to have Vito killed all the more cold and callous.
Vito was killed because of the collective influence of the Mafia and their so called obsession with respect. As if anybody cared or their Crew wouldn’t get any respect already for just having a gay member with all the killings they’ve donde before killing Vito, it’s hypocritical. They are all mostly sexually delicate or insecure, Even Tony mentioned he did enjoy femalel on female sexuality but when it comes to men he is “disgusted”, it’s al hypocrisy produced by his crew and the need for constant approval and the need for constant respect as a Boss in the crew
Gay people suck boooo
Ya he likes wild animals, pets, small children, young women, old people occasionally get a break, tomato's & gays. The average human is on their own.
@@slavesdetach ? St8 yapper
You can’t blame someone over humanity’s mob mentality. If you show weakness you’ll be next.
17:11 It should also be mentioned that Lydia effectively puts out a hit on Tony, her only son, by manipulating Junior after finding out Tony was seeing a psychiatrist. She was so disgusted by the idea that simply disowning her adult son wasn’t enough; she wanted him dead so he would never embarrass her again.
While her own obsessively narcissistic ego played a major part in this, with her instantly imagining Tony telling a stranger about what a terrible mother she was while she wasn’t present to defend herself, another aspect of it was that she saw Tony seeing a therapist as an unforgivable show of weakness.
In the absence of her abusive late husband, she took up the torch of enforcing the “old ways”, effectively becoming the shadow boss of the family. Even Junior and Tony recognize this; realizing at multiple points that Lydia is manipulating them, and by doing so she is running things without actually being officially involved, and from an untouchable position of safety and fealty; an elderly mother, grandmother, and widow. The law would never touch her. Rival families would never touch her. She was bulletproof, in a world where everyone else was a sworn soldier.
She initially wanted Tony to succeed Junior as the head of the family, but found Tony’s admission of seeing a psychiatrist as so irredeemably pathetic that she lost all faith in him, and immediately began plotting to take him out. In her eyes, he had shown himself to not be leadership material, and would only ever be an embarrassing liability-a threat to _her_ legacy.
Livia.
@@skatefan9495 ...
Yes! So well said, she was also furious that Tony put her in the nursing home aka retirement community and wanted revenge
Nancy Marchand should have gotten ALLLL the awards for playing Livvia Soprano. Holy moly did she NAIL that role so utterly. That farewell episode where they so vividly show the effects of smoking is seared on my retinas. 🤣💔
Second paragraph really nailed it. Well observed. I've noticed this more & more the more I watch it.
“Without Tony Soprano, there would be no Walter White.”
-Vince Gilligan, creator of _Breaking Bad._
Who?
wow... deep
@@user-wo5tc9ux7u Bravo Vince
Didnt Bryan Cranston say that?
@@mattjindrak there couldn't be a more detailed explanation of who he is, Vince Gilligan, the creator of Breaking Bad... a little known show about a gifted science teacher who gets terminal cancer and decides to produce crystal meth as a means to pay for his treatment and support his family after his demise with hilarious consequences... I can understand your confusion, hardly anyone watched it or have mentioned it online.
You know the creator of this video is a true professional when he makes no mention of the fact that Tony never had the makings of a varsity athlete and how that impacted his life in later years.
Or a varsity shinebox.He had to compromise.
vArsIty aThLeTe
@Mattress Store Its undermining, and its the kinda thing that im teaching my kids NOT TO DO
Small hands, thats his problem!
@@Grandmaster-Kush daddy always said that
i know you don’t really do supporting characters but i really think Christopher Moltisanti deserves a analyzing evil
and Phil since he did 20 years and not a peep.
@@TehUltimateSnakei jacked off in a tissue I compromised
@@TehUltimateSnakehe compromised.
My favorite character
Man I have been asking him to do one for literally months on Christopher!!! I really hope he does
i think what really always struck me about tony soprano is how much you see that he does actually care about doing the right thing, but how often he clearly lets himself off the hook. it almost feels like a greek tragedy in a way
Trying to cure oneself while you're responsible for murder, theft and suffering and pain of thousands of people, is probably the hardest conflict a man can have. That's why he has such a struggle with his morality. It's truly hard, but not impossible.
That's true but he only partially lets himself off the hook, in that he doesn't force himself to recompense or course correct in any way, however he still absorbs the guilt internally which manifests as slowly growing self-loathing.
"Tony was worried his nephew's drug abuse would impact his newborn daughter"
I don't think that Tony gave a shit about Christopher's daughter. In my opinion, when Tony noticed the car seat, he subconsciously chose Christopher's daughter as the internal rationale that he would use to justify the murder to himself. He had been waiting for the opportunity to get rid of Christopher without the burden of guilt, and the branch through the car seat presented that opportunity. If Tony had been able to look back on the accident years later, it's likely that he would have convinced himself that saving Christopher's daughter was the reason he did it, and the incident had nothing to do with the real reason, which was that he was protecting himself from the dangerous liability that Christopher had become.
On the other hand, could one argue that the mere fact that he needed to seek a moral justification for his self-serving behavior showed some psychological ambivalence and ethical conscience?
That second writing is just the first sentence with extra steps.
@@Rrr_558 Your reading comprehension needs improvement
You are correct
My interpretation as well. He kept saying it to people as though he was trying to convince himself...
One of my favorite details in The Sopranos is Tony’s eating habits. In the beginning of the show, he will have Carmela heat up normal portions of leftovers or will have normal snacks when around the house. Towards the end he will take an entire tray of leftover pasta, sit down in his bathrobe, and eat the entire tray in one sitting. Whenever he goes to another person’s house in the later seasons, he rummages through people’s fridges and helps himself to any cold cuts or meat they have in the fridge.
I see this as a Dante Allegieri reference. In The Inferno, Dante is stopped from going to heaven by a hungry wolf. "Feeding makes her hungrier... she mates with many beasts". This wolf symbolized the diabolical effects of avarice and greed.
Just so, we watch Tony's metaphysical and insatiable "hunger" for everything denied to him grafually manifest on film as his growing voracious appetite.
Depression can do crazy things you your body. Food soothes alot of pain. But all the meals looked great. Myself i could eat
@@mjohnson5030 wow. yeah, you nailed it!
“You eat meat by the fuckin’ carload”
@@cherecrow2333 It's weird, when I'm depressed I eat a lot more, but when I'm extremely depressed I lose my appetite and barely eat. Then again when at the latter I only go out of bed to take a leak then go back to sleep.
The scene where Carmella sees the aged therapist considering divorce is one of the best, most morally honest scenes in the history of television.
Carmela whit one l
Loved how dude said he wasn’t charging her for the session because he doesn’t accept blood money.
im watching this show for the first time and when I saw that scene I had to assume that there was tons of research done on therapy by the script writers
My favorite scene of the show. That was basically a wake up call for the audience. If you were a legitimately good person, you were in the show for the blink of an eye because you wanted nothing to do with these people.
@@futbolusa100%, and it's kinda crazy how many people miss the point while watching this show, idolizing tony or at least downplaying the abhorrent actions of the various characters. it's actually kind of a great barometer for personal morals. if someone finds themselves agreeing with most of tony's behavior or rather justifying it, you can get a rough idea of who they are as a person.
i'm not saying you can completely sum up a person based on their opinions of a fictional story, just that you can get a general idea of the things they find acceptable or unacceptable on a moral scale.
16:46 my favourite Livia scene is when Tony gets her the macaroons and her eyes light up momentarily, before she adopts her trademark sneer of displeasure and claims “they’re too sweet”. That scene just says so much about adapting to roles which are antithetical to our nature, which is what dooms Tony
I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY THAT NOTICED THANK YOU‼️‼️‼️
@@Lysergic_acid_diethylamide1943 Discontinue the lithium.
Subconsciously hating the role of the housewife laid upon her
Tony isn’t an antihero, he’s a villain protagonist.
*THANK YOU.* It's a common mistake.
He might count as an anti-villian, but I'd argue not even that.
@@Delightfully_Bitchy what is an anti-villain
I like this description seems to fit perfectly.
@@Delightfully_Bitchy What's the difference?
No he’s an antihero
Tony never wanted to change, he wanted to world to change to fit his beliefs.
that's why he never made it as a varsity athlete
Correct.
I don't think he cared about what others believed. He had his own personal code. When confronted with social norms, he dismissed them as any other point of view he didn't personally subscribe to. Pretty common for criminals to have their own code, and it's usually based on what actions bring success within their environment.
See every other human being ever for examples
He actually did try to change a few times but he never followed through with either of them
I agree on most of this but how do you not mention meadow? I’ve watched the series many times and I really felt that tony loved no one except her. Sure she was a brat sometimes but out of all the women in his life, she was the one that called him out every time. He hated when she wouldn’t talk to him. I think she is his most important relationship.
Yes, thank you! I was surprised he didn't mention his daughter. For me it was obvious that he loved her the most. She was probably the only person in the world that could disrespect him and get away with it. There was a scene in the kitchen, I remember, between them that it was emotional since Tony is being honest with her and summarizes their relationship.
Tony definitely saw Meadow as the last pure female left in his life at that point cause she wasn't born into the mob life. Plus she speaks to his empathetic, sweet side he never gets chance to show
@@dtraversodt Very true, a woman that he would never want to sleep with for obvious reasons and one that he admires and nurtures (albeit in his own ways)
She woulda had the stones to be in the life. He loved that about her
Considering how meadow is probably the reason Tony was killed at the end, her not being next to him, therefore blocking the killer's shot. Those two have the closest relationship in the family
When I started the show I couldn’t help but notice how giant he is. In this show he towers over EVERYONE. No one is on Tony’s eye level or his level as a mobster, it’s a lot happening. I just can’t find the words to stress how his build is half of his power. He knows that if he was any smaller, weight or height related he wouldn’t get nearly half the respect he gets now. It’s insane how perfectly they casted his character.
Yeah I noticed that too so I looked up how tall James Gandolfini was thinking he was like 6’4, turns out he was 6’0 which is tall, but makes me wonder how short everyone else in the show was lol
@@leroybrown7927 they probably put lifts in his shoes!!
Camera angles were everything in this show. Gandolfini was definitely a big guy but he was just slightly above average height. His mass did a lot of the work, but in most dialogue scenes the camera is looking up at him as he talks to another character, almost engulfing them. In his fight scenes he moves like a gorilla just throwing his weight around. He was smashing Ralph like a ragdoll. It’s actually amazing that Bobby was able to beat him fair and square in a fight, and it clearly bothered Tony severely as he’s always the toughest guy around
The difference between Breaking Bad and The Sopranos is that the Breaking Bad writers clearly made a point of getting you to make excuses for Walt's horrible actions in your head, and had you empathising with him until the very end. The Sopranos, on the other hand, simply presents Tony's evil doing as it appears, without sugarcoating anything, and leaves it up to the viewer to decide just how evil he is, depending on where your own moral compass is pointed.
That's what makes the shows so compelling and why they still hold up today! It makes you question your morals and how you were raised. It's hard not to look at them as icons which is fucked up
Because I feel like the point of sopranos as much as everyone disagrees is Tony was not at heart an evil man he was stuck wearing mask he could never take off even if he did terrible terrible things he didn’t want to be that person was a big cause Of his depression depression is being tired of urself the person you’ve portrayed however Tony could never truly come to this conclusion bc he has to be the strong silent type
@@saintsaint3948 A huge difference between the two shows is that Tony was born into this life and he knew little else, while Walt made a conscious decision to enter it.
Or you could just watch 2 horrible characters slowly self destruct. Never thought they're good guys. The writing on both shows were genius.
Yeah, that's not really true. Walt may be sympathetic from the start, but you're not meant to be rooting for him till the end, or at least not justifying his actions. I mean the show makes a point of showing his rich friends offering to basically solve his problems no strings attached, and he chooses to cut ties with them, insulting them in the process. That's not a show "getting you to make excuses" and they did that in season 1.
And what about Sopranos? Most viewers seem to say about Tony that "the charm wore off" or "the show slowly tears back the façade". The whole first season his traumatic childhood and abusive mother are focused on, and he's the victim of an attempted hit by his own uncle that he then retaliates against. The first season does about as much work making him sympathetic as Breaking Bad did for Walt.
You know how much gabagool I had to eat to get through this? It took me twenty years to make this video and by the time I was done my estimation of Tony Soprano as a man just plummeted.
Your not that guy
Woke up this mornin...
Got some gabagool
Hey! Youre talking to the boss here!
The toxins.
You look like Stevie wonder with your eyes rolling like that
Tony Soprano is hands down the greatest TV character of all time. I love that his character progression throughout the series go from seemingly normal guy who happens to be a gangster to a completely irredeemable monster. The progression of his sociopathy is also interesting to watch, as we, the audience, see him as someone who is genuinely seeking help for his mental illness only to see that it helps him to justify his actions more so, than to actually work on them.
I finally got around to watching this wonderful show. After thoroughly watching the series, The Many Saints of Newark, and this video along with others, I have determined that Phil did 20 years in the can.
He compromised. He wanted manicotti, but he ate grilled cheese off the radiator.
@@JordBrown91 that muhafuckin animal blundetto….
How'd you come to that conclusion? I don't think it was mentioned in the show?
Rad-iator.
Twenty f&@king
It's crazy how a kind and sweet man like James Gandolfini can play an evil person so flawlessly along with Bryan Cranston and Robin Williams
Can you educate me on who robin williams played as a evil person? I can’t think of the role
@@ashtonpain6867 Genie in Aladdin, obviously! Joking, Im curious as to what role he played where he was evil beyond maybe the hunter in Jumanji but is that really evil? lol
@@louis4529 man I ain’t get the joke now I feel like an ass my bad bro lol
@@louis4529 he played a villain called Sy Parish in one hour photo
@@ashtonpain6867 Don't know if OP was referencing it but Insomnia with Al Pacino. Underrated movie.
I knew Tony was a very hateful man but Gandolfini was a very likeable guy in reality. We love this great but complicated series.
The best actors are always the ones who like to play against type.
You just dislike him because he's racist
The business partner’s sister murder, I thought was especially evil due to Tony giving the job to Bobby. It being shortly after their conversation about Bobby never having killed anyone; how he says it’s not what his father wanted for him or not his thing, something along those lines. You can tell Bobby, despite his occupation has serious moral reservations about murdering someone, and is grateful for the fact he has never done it. Looking at How disgruntled Bobby was prior to leaving for the job, Bobby’s face the whole time, and his mental absence afterwards, just adds a whole nother layer of evil to that murder. And the reasoning behind why Tony decided it was Bobby that had to be the one, is basically because hes insecure about Bobby beating him up.
Bobby swore and oath. The oath states you kill for the family. You would kill your own brother when ordering.
Bobby had an easy life. He got paid good money to do nothing. And he paid for it being shot up.
Sharp as a fuckin' cue ball, this guy.
The late James Gandolfini made Tony Soprano a unique caracter.
He did indeed. R.I.P., James.
Unique is putting it lightly, more like LEGENDARY
Facts, the only way someone else can take on that character is to go the way they did: by having his son take on the mantle
And the sky is blue.
You must’ve been at the top of your fuckin class
Barbara really does represent the most healthy way of dealing with toxic family members. Janice and Tony represent the two extremes. Janice got as far away as she could, as fast as she could. Tony stayed and became just like his father, while being the most affected by the neuroses of his mother. He took the brunt of the psychological damage caused by that upbringing. People criticize Barbara's character because not much is done with her in the series. We only see her at important family events. But I think that's intentional. She did get away, but she's close enough to still be part of the family, and she's there when she's needed, but she's far enough away to not be damaged by all the BS that her family is involved in. She's "in the family, but not of the family", so to speak. Consequently, she is the least psychologically damaged of the siblings.
Well said
@@oliviav.3565 thank you ♥️
Yah makes sense actually well put.
Great points
But I think it would be better put, “she’s of the family, but she isn’t in the family.”
Just my literature-obsessed 2cents lol
@@DonRoyalX No, that doesn’t make sense. She’s “in the family”, as in she’s related by blood, but she’s not “of the family”, meaning she is different than them because she distanced herself. I didn’t make this up, which is why it’s in quotations. That’s literally what it means.
Don't forget that Tony ordered Bobby to kill that guy over a custody battle simply because Bobby had never killed before, referring to it as "popping his cherry", which is screwed up in its own right. You can see how it messes with Bobby's mind before and after, he didn't really want to do that. He was just in such a bad position with Tony after their fight and how he beat Tony, that he knew he had to do whatever it took to get back in good standing with Tony or it meant death for him.
Messes with Bobby’s mind lol, wtf do these mobsters think the social club is? Sit around and play cards? It wasn’t evil that Tony sent Bobby to kill the fool, he was the boss and Bobby worked for him end of story…Bobby was in the wrong life if he felt squeamish about whacking folks
@@Aven-Sharma1991 it certainly was evil. just because it's expected of them doesn't mean it's a normal or excusable thing to do.
Having a mother that's similar to Livia made me empathetic toward Tony. They really are a black hole devoid of joy.
Your mom wasn’t that bad.. she made me a pecan fritter last time I visited her. You just aren’t grateful. Marone..
Sorry to hear that, hope you're doing well
My grandmother god bless her soul, when watching the show we all look at each other cuz Livia quoted her alot
Tony is most certainly the embodiment of how such a horrid upbringing can truly shape someone for the worse.
Yeah Tony, is definitely just a carbon copy of his father at least when he grew up, but he doesn’t want to admit it, and which is the reason he tries to get help by going to a psychiatric, but the way he flips out at Doctor Melfey, when she says something he doesn’t want to hear, or agree with, just literally shows he is very much like his father, and even has his fathers temper, and is just treating her like Johnny Boy, treated his mother.
@@joshshrum2764 Well said, those moments when Tony lashes out at Melfi just shows he refuses to change, which eventually lead to his death as that cut to black may had implied.
@@rdobson5413 I’m glad to hear you like my thoughts on the fact of the matter, but yeah it just shows he doesn’t wanna change, which is why the song King Nothing, playing in a episode is so fitting because Tony, is king nothing he wants to change everything, but is still stuck in his same old ways because he refuses to change he tries, and probably wants to deep down somewhere in him, but he freaks out instead of hearing her out because if he did he could actually change you feel he had character development, but it was never enough, and even though I haven’t finished the entire series i can tell that, plus and it’s why Melfi, just can’t stand him because he’s probably the hardest case she has ever had like dealing with a Italian mob boss isn’t easy for anyone especially a psychiatric, like he’s so bad she needs a psychiatric herself which is tragically funny, but i understand since Tony, scarred her because he was to much of handful. Yeah he just got to big in the mafia, and finally got popped, that’s just the way of the mafia world especially if you refuse to change, though i don’t believe in Tony’s, belief that once you die that’s it it just fades to black, i believe more in what Christopher, saw, and what Paulie, personally believes, but i guess for the context of the series his opinion was the real one which explains why death is so cruel, and sadding more reason being a ruthless mob boss makes you a big target because people really don’t like what your doing.
@@rdobson5413 While it is understandable why he is the way he is, the only way tony could have helped himself is admitting that he's actually not a victim and he's responsible for his every action, but he was constantly locked in his own past.
@@joshshrum2764 I'm gonna put my comments a ways down since I don't want to ruin anything for you at end. But I just wanted to add something that I thought was interesting reading these comments. Thar be spoilers ahead.
At the end, when the camera pans out of the front of the deli, the only person you see for the family who really has any type of significance to the family is Paulie. Everyone else is either in jail, dead, or mentally gone. Yet there goes Paulie, doing what he's always done since the beginning of the show. Trying to get a tan and "basking in the glow." Earlier in the series he makes a statement saying "I survived the 70s by the skin of my balls!". Implying literally he's only surviving in this life, not living it.
This is shown in many ways. He lives alone, lives for the family and has no other relationships outside of it. (he literally had a painting redone of Tony and has it in his apartment) and has shown many many times he will go to great lengths to carry out Tony's orders and not disappoint him. He also has many times where "religious" scenarios can come in for him showing, which I perceived as, his guilt and fear of the unknown. He sees The Virgin Mary in the Bada Bing, he See's a psychic who can apparently see the ghosts of the people he's killed, (very funny scene). He doesn't want to take the contractors job cause it's "cursed" and refers to the cat as evil. Mentioning the cat was staring at Chris' painting and they'll "suck the soul" out of you. He's an absolute creature of habit who will not change anything because he's survived so long doing it his way. Not changing anything. He'll explode in anger one minute, but he can be the funniest character in the entire show. A complete duality. He can get his job done, but on his terms and will only show his funny side to his peers or the ones he fears. As the camera pans out you can see the cat walking towards him with his eyes closed as usual. Which for me I took as one of two ways. "if I don't look, it won't hurt me" not wanting to break his habit and push his luck with his old wives tale about how cats are evil. Or how the cat is coming to finally take his soul as well, metaphorically.
It's all cyclical for everyone in the end. No matter what you do or how you try to escape. Everyone has to pay their dues.
Long post but Paulie to me, besides Tony, was one of the most interesting characters to analyze because there is so much to unravel behind his tough demeanor.
On a completely different side note. I live in one of the major areas they would film. Never really got to talk to anyone but my parents met and spoke on many occasions with Vincent Curatola (Johnny Sack). Great stand up guy who loves the history of NYC and NJ. He was a pleasure to speak with. Everyone else I spoke with said the cast and crew were decent folks as well. But would cause one hell of a traffic jam when they would film outside of Satin Dolls lol. (The Bada Bing)
I will always love that Tony Soprano and The Sopranos are still talked about to this day. That's how iconic this series is.
They'll read Sopranos scripts in schools 500 years from now, no different than Shakespeare or Socrates
To this day
psychiatrist even studies the series and won most accurate psychoanalysis
@ashy how about we recreate phil's end irl with you being phil?
Excellent video. You should do a deep dive on Valeri. The dichotomy of him killing 16 Czechoslovakians singlehandedly while pursuing his true calling of interior decoration is worth an hour long video.
The fact that his house looked like shit should be especially analyzed. What could that mean on a psychoanalytical level? A conflict within the self?
@@KevinFinkbeiner I'm glad you caught that Kevin. Very observant. The sacred AND the propane
I think the greatest indication of Tony as a person is his interaction with Davey Scatino in the tent. He basically tells him he let him in the poker game because he knew he could eventually bust him out and take his business. Then when davey starts crying he goes “what?! If you had won I’d be the one crying the blues” not taking into account that 45k is bird feeder money for him.
I agree, i’ve seen a lot of other people rationalize it as Davey asked for it because he kept insisting on being in the game but what Davey asked for doesn’t really matter because at the end of the day he was a small fish compared to Tony. Tony had a choice to make in that situation: not get involved in his family friend’s gambling problem or take advantage of him for his own gain. So easy for him to take the first option and write Davey off but his greedy, unempathetic and opportunitistic behavior drove him to the 2nd one.
Just because Tony said that doesn't mean he predicted that happening he's not the halfback of Notre Dame. Look who he's talking to it's degenerate gambler Davey who owes him lots of ziti. He can't sympathize with him he needs to be feared he needs his money. It was business at that point.
@@user-ju2ut2dj1l I think it's deeper than that, I think Tony did it to hurt him because Dave was using him to get what he wanted like Tony does to others, for a guy who uses others all the time he really doesn't like being used himself.
@@user-ju2ut2dj1lTony did try to stop him from getting in, Davey manipulated his way into the game
Tony's panic attacks come from his revulsion at not being able to control people and events around him.
exactly my thought, I commented on it on one of Sopranos clips.
Nope. The gabagool was tainted and poisoned his mind much like ergot poisoning.
@Inland Empire Absolutely right. No matter how many times I see it, that phrase _"Who am I?!? Where am I goin'?!?"_ sends chills all over, especially when he wakes up from the coma. That phrase is the heart of the show's existential exploration...
I just happened to be rewatching the series, including that episode, the day we all learned of Gandolfini's passing... so surreal.
That is something him and his mother have in common
"Gabagool? Over here."- Silvio Dante
The thing about Tony Soprano is that, so long as he doesn't have a problem with you, he's almost decent and you could be forgiven for actually liking him ... but as soon as there's a problem, he's cunning and brutal.
you can even say if he's a great guy to hang out with if your in his good graces
@@andromeda7588 That's kinda how all humans work
We call this 'a man'
It's normal to like Tony, that's the point of the show lmao all heros are flawed, humanity is flawed, judges reveal themselves by judging Tony
He's chaotic GOOD.
@@looweegee252 chaotic good or chaotic neutral. He's hardly an evil person due to his love for animals. The evil things he does most people would do the same shit if they were in his shoes.
@@looweegee252 Yea but if you piss the average guy off, he doesn't try to strangle you and say he's going to chop your balls off. They usually just distance themselves from you.
One night in the midst of rewatching the sopranos, i had a dream that i was working for tony. No other dream i've ever had made me feel as chilled to the bone as when he was staring at me. We weren't even alone or having a conversation. He was staring from far away, asking me questions with his eyes and reading my body language. It was like being watched by a wolf or grizzly bear.
No shit. I'm always having dreams about working for Tony. He usually arranges for my wacking at the end of the dream..lol. No joke. And in the dream I feel dominated and intimidated by his presence..lol
@@aj5424 kinky
@@aj5424 what the fuck 😂😂
Lmao
I stopped watching TV for a while, a guy at work sold complete series DVDs of sopranos which I bought to gift to a relative. I too caught myself thinking agressive thoughts because of these mob series.
I notice that Meadow,Tony and Johnny Boy are alike in ways(opportunistic,quick to throw tantrums/anger, outgoing, always looking outward) vs how AJ,Livia,Junior and Carmella are ( whiny, borderline personalities, highly sensitive, sarcastic and draining attitudes) .While Tony picked up on Johnny's habits and Livia's psychological conditions, Janice however has both her father AND mother's personality making her unbearable which trickled in ways down to Tony
Wow, children picking up their parents traits? You’re so smart….nobody could’ve ever guessed that children inherited elements of their folks
I think Gandolfini would've approve of this analysis man. Seriously well done
I think James would. However, I think if he was still alive, I could see him reviewing this as Tony in a video and losing his mind. Which I would love to see.
Yesssss
Taken too soon
@@leannerose6181 like heath ledger... his death made him an immortal legend
Like a lot of actors who have played iconic villains, he was reputed to be a wonderful person in real life.
Still hard to believe we lost James Gandolphini so young, RIP. Nobody else could've nailed that role and he had a long career in front of him had he not passed.
He should have taken better care of himself, he had a coke problem when he was younger and an alcohol problem and was known for having a eating problem even on set, had a thing for fried food especially.
@@SagaciousNihilist I never could understand why someone who has everything would work so hard at destroying themselves. Gandolfini was super rich. He could have had the best medical care. A personal trainer, nutritionist, etc. Weight watchers would probably have paid him millions to be their spokesman and lose 50-60 pounds. Smh.
@@Mostopinionatedmanofalltime Maybe deep down he didn’t care what happened to him. Wouldn’t be surprising.
how do you know no one else could have nailed that role?
@@Mostopinionatedmanofalltime You should get down on your knees and thank God that you don’t understand addiction. Addicts lead horrible lives, and it doesn't matter how much fame, money, and prestige they have.
Don't get me wrong, Walter White is undeniably one of fiction's great anti-heroes/villains whose saga of rapid moral decay will still have praise showered on it a century from now, but Tony Soprano blows the roof off as far as realistically putting to screen the classic anti-hero archetype is concerned. Manipulative, deceptive, cruel, callous, narcissistic, egomaniacal, hedonistic, and murderous, among his other "qualities," Tony embodies most of the characteristics one associates with loathsome characters commonly portrayed as being evil in history and in drama. In works of lesser depth and inspiration a character of this sort would either be portrayed as a forgettable stock villain or as an intolerably repulsive monster incarnate. And yet, through the star-perfect alignment of intelligent screen writing with James Gandolfini's indelible acting talent, we were graced with a nuanced character who fully embodied all these classic sociopathic traits but who also had endearing human qualities and vulnerabilities that somewhat softened his rough-edged mobster side. Unlike most of his criminal associates, Tony could be charming, intelligent, sly, cunning, charismatic, pathetic, and yes, on occasion even likable and sympathetic! Before Tony Soprano, these traits were found together on television only in the character of a protagonist or a hero, and were certainly never shown as being possessed in full by career criminals and murderers. For me, the realistic nuance and depth of character alone make Tony to be the most incredible fictional persona ever created outside of literature.
Nah
tony soprano is my favorite fictional character of all time. he is the most well written, likeable, unlikeable, good-man-villain character ever. i'm very protective and sensitive about his character (i know hes a bad dude, but there is so much more to him than just being bad) so i am really excited to see your take on him! james gandolfini did such an amazing job and i miss im every day. sometimes my husband does a (pretty bad) tony soprano impression for me when im having a bad day!
Finally... someone who actually refers to Tony as what he was. A villain. A bad guy. He was not a good man. But he was for sure fun to watch. Biggest hypocrite in TV history.
Sort of started out as an anti-hero but turned into a full on villain later on.
@@LumpyAdams How was he an anti-hero?
@@adgone01 He said "sort of" which i agree. That thing with the teacher's car and the coach
Yeah he’s a bad guy despite all that there is one thing I’ll give him..he was a man of principle sometimes the things he did were actually justified even if it wasn’t morally justified in society’s eyes
finally? there are hundreds of videoessays on how tony is a despicable character
As a kid my father, who was Bi Polar, would get inches from my face when angered like Tony. It was definitely intimidating at the time as I was obviously too small to do anything about it. When someone just invades your personal space like that it can definitely throw you off. Thankfully, I grew up and that kind of thing doesn't happen anymore. Loved the Sopranos and watched religiously but my dad had some of those same issues like Tony (quick to anger, prone to dark moods etc) so watching Tony sometimes takes me back to those places in my childhood where I was powerless to stand up to my father.
@Ut1F70F Sin ok mr badass you got anything else you want to let us know before you disappear after you just wrote Jackie Chans prologue
your father never had the makings of a varsity athlete.
Yeah, my dad did the same.
I get that from the scenes of Tony with his mom. My dad was no Tony, for sure, but he was totally dominated by and terrified of my grandmother. My parents divorce stemmed a lot from issues he has that came from her and how she brought him up.
My dad was the same way
Who remembers the scene when Ralph’s son is hospital and Ralph is opening up to Tony, and Tony is basically like yeah what ever by the way I’m slamming your girl now she’s not yours she’s mine now 😂
Tony's relationship with Artie serves as normalcy that contrasts the relationship he has with those involved in the 'life'. I missed that insight. Really profound. Thanks for posting and thanks for putting the work in to read between the lines. I appreciate learning from you
The Vile Eye never had the makings of a varsity athlete...I'll see myself out
Small hands that's his problem
Oooohhh! You're talking to the boss here! 🤘🤘
i dont like that kind of talk now stop it upsets me 😫
Thanks Uncle June.
WHY YOU GOTTA ALWAYS BRING THAT UP
I just binged the sopranos a few months ago and I always really liked seeing the genuine parts of Tony. When AJ tries to kill himself and at first Tony is furious but then he seriously understands what AJ was going through and they both start crying, that shit really got me
yeah very emotional scene. and yet they say he's incapable empathy and fakes emotions. dumb
@Bhlack_Bishop I feel like that attitude is going the opposite extreme: Tony clearly feigns empathy and emotions throughout the show, most notably when he pretends to empathize with a friend who is suffering gambling debts when he really wants to own his shop.
You can't blame people for generalizing him for no empathy when there's so many examples of him lacking it.
Tony Soprano is IMO the greatest fictional character ever created, much of that is credit to David Chase but NO one could have pulled off playing such a complex & well remembered character as James Gandolfini did. Amazing show I watched originally when on HBO and at least 4/5 other times since now. Every rewatch you can find new or nuanced layered thyings you may have not seen upon first viewing.
@@Delightfully_Bitchy You mean the friend he tried to protect by warning him 4 times not to get involved with his type of business, but he didn't listen and went ahead with it anyway. czcams.com/video/ziswmg9rt0U/video.html
"You can't blame people for generalizing.."
I do actually because they let their emotions and subjective bias cloud their judgement.
@crassgop Think you replied to the wrong comment mate. I never called him a sociopath
I think there's a bit more to the Gloria thing. I think there's some empathy there. He understands those depression and suicidal feelings. That seems to be the only way he connects with other human beings. He tried to connect to Christopher this way in the car and Chris shut it down, which honestly, may be where a lot of the resentment comes from, even if its never brought up again.
I still believe that there is no 1 right answer to the ending, thats what makes it so brilliant! People don't like the unknown & not getting closure, it stirs up mixed, unpleasant emotions in us so we create our own theories instead of accepting that we may NEVER know & maybe thats the way its supposed to be
Junior did love Tony.. in his last scene, he is in a care home totally demented. He can't remember anything about the Mafia or much else about his life that you would think would be important to him, but he remembers playing catch with Tony
How many people did Tony kill
@@elgato5631 Directly or indirectly?
@@lunatuna9313 indirectly
@@elgato5631 at least 2
@@elgato5631 what kinda stupid question is that? He ordered the deaths of multiple people as soon as he's the official boss.
Adrianna
The two black guys Christopher hired
Philly
Rusty Milio (a favor asked by John)
That Puerto Rican dude
The first Vito
I am a surgeon, and I was amazed that finally someone in a TV series gets shot in the abdomen and is treated as it should be. Mid line supra and para umbilical laparotomy, orotracheal airwave, open abdomen, Jackson Pratt drains... As accurate as it could be. So well written.
He was the first guy to have the vac, open incision, less pulling on the outer dermis layer
Thank you for saving lives but 🤢🤮😂
😯😯😯What type of surgeon are you?
@@KristaGrym Surgeon General and Laparoscopy.
You’re a surgeon? Yay, awesome!!
The sopranos was my show growing up, I was always very interested in psychology behind the show, and the symbolic dreams. It’s such an amazing show, and I really love that you went so deep into Tony’s mind. Deeper than I did at least lmao. I had to watch it several times to catch up on certain details with the characters. For the next character you do, I would love to see an analyzing evil on James St. Patrick from “Power”.
Psychiatrists: “the therapy sessions are perfect, it really shows they did their research.”
Actual mob guy: “if a mob boss was found out to have been going to a therapist, both he and the therapist would be found dead in a trunk by the end of the week.”
maybe in the 70s and 80s. By the 90s things were much more loose.
I saw something where a mob guy sent a letter to James Gandolfini that said something along the lines of “Good portrayal, except the don wouldn’t be caught dead wearing shorts”
I think it was call to the writer at 2am. More ominous.
Can't imagine a gangster licking a stamp.
@@orangewarm1 according to who
I mean Junior literally tried to murder Tony for going to therapy
When the school therapist told Livia about the best moment of Tony's life was Livia reading a story to him really speaks on how much he wanted her to love him. Tony wanted that reciprocal love and really tried to give it back later in life only to have her so cold to him and everyone around her. Really stuck with me, that scene.
Yeah but the movie really sucked.
You’re talking through your hat
It's strange because Livia also got emotional over that. It seems like after Tony suggested she get pills, she genuinely begin to believe her son was plotting against her.
@@Helmuesi911 I think it was good. If it was longer and they didn't pretend Tony was the main character in the trailers and other marketing, it would have been way better.
@@stanleysmooth lol 😆 that movie was so ridiculously terrible. Wow.
Even though Tony is a monster, his sense of humor made me laugh so hard that I was out of breath at least once. When he said that Phill Leotardo looks like the Shah of Iran) cmon, dude spent 20 years in the can
He really looks like the shah...and he called Johnny sack count chocula
@@tapset 😆😆😆 i don’t remember that!
Thanks for reminding me that Phil spent 20 years in the can. I had completely forgotten.
That monster was our boy during the pie oh my incident and confrontation with Ralph cifaretto though
@@JozefLucifugeKorzeniowski I was on ralphs side. "What are you a vegetarian now? You eat beef and sausage by the fuckin car load!"
David Chase one time accidentally referred to the final scene as the "death scene" so I think it is safe to say that Tony Soprano died in the diner that night.
David Chase is a Clown 🤡. He has also said that the show ends with Tony alive and he did Not write Tony being Killed. He said Tony did Not die off screen.
Chase also said he decided to let that final scene be whatever people thought it was.
Chase was a Coward. He couldn't Kill Tony Soprano on the Screen because he thought it would turn off half the fans.
He couldn't make it clear that he lived either.
So the answer is Tony Did Not die because David Chase never wrote an ending. That is word for word what Chase said.
I’m surprised you didn’t mention his coma… I found it fascinating how in his deepest subconscious mind he knew that his life could have been completely different if he’d have never been involved in crime. And how ironic it was that even so during that dream like he was accused of fraud by violent monks 😂 this show has so many layers.
His behavior absolutely changes throughout the show. He becomes even more greedy and spiteful as it goes on. In the first couple seasons, he shows genuine care for Puss and even Chrissy. Its as the show goes on that he becomes even more desensitized and unhinged
Yeah being in the mafia will do that to you. It’s an evil lifestyle that slowly erodes your soul.
I really thought he would spiral more. I thought maybe he might change more after being shot, but as the sayin goes "where ever I go there I am."
Could you explain that saying?
@@Delightfully_Bitchy You're the one controlling your life and you will not change unless you make the change yourself. If you burn all your bridges where you are now, unless you recognize and fix yourself wherever you go you'll do the same thing. It can be applied to people with drinking, drug or gambling problems, but it also works for someone with anger issues.
Killing Chris rammed the point home.
The Soprano's did so well with making you relate and empathize with these pure sociopaths. Then every now and then, you were reminded that yeah, these guys were completely reprehensible.
Bobby was the only one I really felt bad for
@Maniac 5000 doesn’t mean you can’t have empathy for Adrianna still. Why do so many hate her so much I’ll never understand
People hate Adrianna? That's news to me. When it comes to female characters getting hate, it's usually Janice and Carmella (In that order) but I got the impression that Adrianna was a favorite.
@@Delightfully_Bitchy yeah she gets a lot. Go to her death video or any prominent scene she’s in and lurk the comments. People are nutty lol
junior soprano is more of a sociopath then tony
Despite being a monster as Tony Soprano, James Gandolfini is a very talented and kind actor. RIP good sir!
What a wonderfully in-depth analysis. I just watched Sopranos for the first time earlier this year and was absolutely floored with the performances and writing. I’ve been wanting to rewatch it and watched this video in preparation. Bravo. Such an expert understanding on what makes Tony tick and one of the most intriguing characters ever put on screen
You should do one on Christopher that could definitely be intresting.
Cristofah
Chris’ issues most likely came from not wanting to actually be in the mafia. It was all he wanted but after he became a made man his substance abuse issues got much worse. He quit everything for a period of time and “made” a movie and he was ridiculed for not drinking which ultimately lead him to abuse substance again
“That’s the man I’m going to hell for. My uncle Tony”
Yes! Agreed.
We might finally find out what his arc was 😂
A wild pepe
Remember when Livia laughed in a sadistic way when Tony fell down the steps. So much for her loving caring motherly psyche.
They laughed at Johnny Boy when he fell down the steps when Tony was a kid. Livia was evil
Remember when Tony went around to Bobby and Janices for lunch, saw that Bobby and Janice were happy so started tearing into Janice until she snapped.
Tony had the exact same sadistic grin on his face that Livia had when he fell down the stairs.
I always loved the scene. Tony runs out of the house like he's being chased by a movie slasher and it's just a little old lady. Then that laugh? Livia was pure evil.
@@RichSmithson or when tony caused the cheese incident
One thing I noticed in my most recent rewatch is in season 6, Bobby states how awful someone is for taking their child away from their mother. Later on we see Tony take Vito Junior away from his mother to the tough love camp
Yea but that kid needed that
@@nicolebroughton721 What he needed was somebody to help him make sense of what happened and the fact that he shouldn’t feel ashamed of who his father was and the way he lost his life however due to the whole macho bullshit all they could think about was toughening this kiddo
im actually a first year student of psychology and one of the instructors actually pointed at this show multiple times when giving examples of psychological treatment
I feel like Tony's real motivation for killing Ralph were the fact that Ralph accurately pointed out the fact that Tony is a hypocrite and Tony couldn't stand the fact that Ralph was showing the smallest inkling of bettering himself as a person
Remember how he attacked Janice and undermined her to her new step children.
How was Ralph bettering himself?
Like most socio and psycho paths though Tony cared deeply about certain animals. And after the pie oh my incident that's when Ralph was doomed. Maybe I can't remember properly but for some reason I don't think that Ralphs opinion of him bothered him that deeply.
@@laurafreedlund2899 one of his kids got lawn darted remember? And Ralph became more introspective of himself. But not enough to stop being scum entirely.
Ralph murdered a horse for the insurance money since his kid was in the hospital. I would
Hardly call that bettering himself. He did it out of guilt because had he been watching his son in the first place instead of taking a bath in the middle of the day it wouldn’t have happened.
Breaking Bad: How quickly and easily a man can fall into evil.
The Sopranos: How slow and difficult the journey of rising above evil can be.
Edit: Please don't misunderstand; Tony most definitively did NOT improve or change throughout the series. He was still a vile, disgusting, evil human being at the very end of the show. He merely attempted to better himself and found that it was far too difficult.
bb: slowly dying of cancer
sopranos: slowly losing ur mind
Tony never even attempted to rise above evil
@@reneiscool22 he literally got worse and worse, by season 6 he is a pathetic, spiteful, spiritually bankrupt man
@@stairwaytoheaven8 in what way was he trying to be a good person? not trying to insult your opinion, i just wish you’d give a few examples. I personally think that tony soprano is such an insanely well written character because no matter how terrible of a person he is and all the chaos he causes, you cannot help but root for him.
I agree with you except I would probably describe it as Breaking Bad as a 90 mile an hour drive to hell where as the Sopranos is more like a slow soul sucking spiritual descent into hell.
I dated an Italian American man & lord yes he was just like Tony. Money fixed everything, he had little empathy, & he carried many of the other traits Tony displayed. At this point I’m really seeing a lot of sociopaths are made & not born.
Was he an adulterer?
wait, you dated an Italian American ? I was going to ask if he was racist or if he made disparaging remarks about other races ?
Poor guy, black men don't even like dealing with their women
@@bobdollaz3391 white people try not to be racist when they see a black person challenge (IMPOSSIBLE!)
@@mithvibes4727Way to assume his race lmao
On the topic of Artie, a big reason he went straight is because he’s kind of a coward. You can see it in his whole character that he’s indecisive, he’s afraid to take action, and would rather be passive aggressive and to an extent complacent for the majority of his life. Only until his restaurant is threatened because it’s all he has. It’s his whole identity.
“Tony was a massive man. 6’1, large hands..” Small hands that was his problem.
He never had the makings of a varsity athlete.
mrmojok The hell he didn’t. That was the dumbest thing that junior ever said. He had the savvy to control Junior and Junior was too stupid to recognize it. He got ruled by everyone, Livia included. He said that because he knew Tony was like Johnny and it showed his own inadequacies.Very thin skinned.No varsity team that’s why he tried to project on Tony.
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
@@mathewmcdonald3657 junior was actually very wise according to David Chase. He also stated that he’s his favorite character
I suppose it’s all a matter of perspective
Oh yeah! Daddy used to say that
Tony tells Johnny Sac his IQ is 136. Genius is accepted at 140.
He tells Johnny this after he kils Tony B, who Tony S knew had an IQ in the 150s.
It all goes into how Tony S, and to a much lesser extent because he was only in one season Tony B, were able to "shine people on."
They were extremely intelligent, highly manipulative sociopaths.
Was Tony B a sociopath too you? Something was clearly off about him, but he struck me more as "brain damaged" than "sociopathic". For someone who was considered such a smart guy, he made decisions too short sighted for even sociopathy to explain! WHO TRIES TO ASSASSINATE A MOB BOSS, COMPLETELY INDEPENDENTLY, WITH NO OKAY FROM ANYONE, IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, MASKLESS, IN FRONT OF A HUGE ASS CROWD OF PEOPLE, AND NOT ONLY NOT MAKE SURE SAID MOB BOSS WAS DEAD, STAYS AROUND TO MOCK SAID MOB BOSS TO HIS FACE.
I'm no expert, but that doesn't sound like "158 IQ" behavior to me, and Tony B made decisions like that all the time!
What are you gonna do?
@@joannerowe7084 whuddya gonna do? Ya know?
@@joannerowe7084 I'm gonna do the best I can.
@@Delightfully_Bitchy i feel like intelligence doesn't always mean wisdom. Tony B was too impulsive despite being able to outsmart most characters that went up against him. Tony S specifically acknowledged Tony B as, paraphrasing, someone who if he could just listen and keep it together, could really be used by Tony in the business.
To answer your question, Tony B is a sociopath because he actively chose to resort to crime in order to resolve issues. Same as Tony S and all the fellows, all of them meeting an end because of the conscious decision to engage in crime
Great breakdown of Tony - very entertaining and educational really enjoyed this
i can't get over how well written The Sopranos is. It's an absolute masterpiece.
Not only do we get insight into Tony's inner thought process by way of Melfi's therapy sessions, but also by way of his dream sequences -- I would argue the latter being the more illuminating of the two.
Between Gandolfini's fearless performance & David Chase's commitment to embracing the darkness of the character (despite fan backlash about him being too "unlikable"), we get the most realistic depiction of a sociopath in a television series.
Well said.
People didn't like T? Huh.
@@libertylivesin1776 I mean, I don't like him. He's a terrible person. lol
But the complaints weren't as simple as "I think Tony's an unlikable character." The complaints were "Tony is too unlikable and it's ruining the show." The former is a pretty normal response. The latter is a suggestion that a protagonist needs to be "likable" in order to be well written.
@@jakecorenthose2901 I doubt it had to do with being too unlikeable, it more had to do with a minor sense of comic nature to his actions in the last couple of seasons. It seems to be somewhat bordering on ridiculous, but I agree, if Chase didn't fully embrace most of the darker traits, we wouldn't have had such a riveting series. At least on my second viewing it made me appreciate Phil Leotardo and Johnny Sack more
@@HydeFK I always sympathized with Johnny.
Phil? Nah. For as much as Phil expresses disgust with people like Tony for not upholding the traditional values of the mob, Phil does plenty of that himself. He's just as much of a hypocrite in many ways.
Also, he tried to have a woman gang raped. Indefensible.
Suggestion for ya: Clay from Sons of Anarchy. His character had one hell of an arc over the course of the show, and I think he'd be an interesting study.
Oooooooooh! That would be a good one!
Yes please. Clay's a good one.
"I nose the truth."
Absolutely
Yeah but is it bc u prefer SOA (bc they look or live near you idk) over the Sopranos ?
Just curious
I simply love this analysis! Thank you for your content!
Just discovered this channel, I'm a huge sopranos fan and love this breakdown, keep up the good work!
The saddest part of this is how everyone champions Tony on to make changes, but he just never really does. He doesn’t like his life on some level, but revels in it at the same time. Such an awesome show.
Love the analysis of Tony's father. One nugget from The Sopranos that I think is telling (which I'll paraphrase) is in season 6, talking to Paulie, Tony asks Paulie if his dad was proud of him and added "I never really knew where I stood with him." My take is that while we know Livia was actively undermining, his father wasn't exactly building Tony's self-esteem up either and it was a distant relationship. He clings to the idea of his father as a "standup guy," yet it really is just an idea.
Johnny Boy used to threaten young Tony that if he misbehaved, Uncle Paulie would come get him (the ultimate boogey man).
How about Paulie's response, which I always loved... _"He thought enough of ya to give ya the Willie Overall thing, didn't he?!?"_
Ergo, he loved you so much, Ton', he gave you a hit to do! 😆
It's almost like he's desperately trying to convince himself of his father's good nature, more than anyone else.
@@Jimmy1982Playlists that’s love if I’ve ever heard of it! (Of course for them, that’s actually true…)
Johnny Boy was a far worse parent than Livia
Fantastic video!
Your analysis is robust and, after watching The Sopranos, has helped me wrap my own head and reflect on the complex, troubling character of Tony Soprano.
What’s also important about the belivaqua kill is how much he drags it out and enjoys it, shows how sadistic he is
Well, he tried to kill Chrissy so it’s not like it wasn’t out of order for tony to want to kinda relish in killing him, would Tony have kidnapped Bevilaqua for nothing and tortured then killed him for no reason like some sick twisted serial killers do?
Reporter: “James, is there any similarity between you and your character?
James Gandolfini: (laughs) “Please, I take bubble baths.” 🧼
Did you see when he confronts that paparazzi bothering his family
He could be terrifying
@@mattslater2603 He was literally Tony Soprano in that moment, I remember that video. So he could channel his character.
He must have been a blast to party with when he was still alive. I heard he did a lot of Cocaine though.
@@stickeyyyy Who didn't though
@@stickeyyyy i heard he was really insecure about his performance and that he never does well enough, a bit of tony must've been molded off of him because neither give themselves enough credit
@@clawzx1195 the writers apparently took a lot of inspiration from the actor's personal life so probably
This video made me realized something. His most likely death at the end of the series was really the only good resolve for him. If he kept on living, he would've only kept hurting others and himself. Since he wouldn't allow himself to improve, he would've died not long after anyways
Oh he totally bought it at the end.
@Raylan Givens anyone has the potential to improve but if they don't act on it some persons passive belief means nothing
@Raylan Givens yes, anyone can change, but tony actively stopped himself from becoming a better person throughout the series
@Raylan Givens “…provided they have the right motivation.” Thing is, after killing Christopher in “Kennedy and Heidi”, Tony basically gives up on any potential that he may become a good person, especially since his death was massively outweighed by the monetary gain he acquired later in the episode.
I agree on all counts. Men like Tony don't have happy endings, and the unhappiest of all is if he'd lived a full life. The only real tragedy is that his innocent family had to suffer one final trauma by having to witness his death.
“He discovered America is what he did. He was a brave Italian explorer. And in this house, Christopher Columbus is a hero. End of story.”
One of the best episodes for pointing out the hypocrisy of Tony's crew
@Char Aznable based indeed.
@Char Aznable Far from it. Your teacher lied to you.
To alot of guts
@Char Aznable based? based on what?
Just finished the Sopranos & been on a Lore Deep Dive ever since! I'm glad you covered this!
This was an excellent dissertation of a “smooth criminal”… as a teenager watching this show, Tony’s charisma totally eclipsed the sociopath that seeps out now as I have rewatched this series as an adult. Top notch acting from all the cast members, no other series can match this type of character building.
As someone who has always had slight sociopathic tendencies, I always saw Tony as the worst and best of humanity.
😬
@@Delightfully_Bitchy if that was towards me, it's not like I'm full blown sociopath, I just have tendencies (it's clear to people who interact with me I don't care what they think about me, I have a tendency to ignore people with clearly lower i.q.s opinions on things, I can get a pretty hot head. I get enjoyment out of toying with people's emotions) But I also know this about myself so I make clear steps to not allowing myself to go to far. I don't lie when asked questions, my moral code doesn't allow me to cheat in relationships because of seen what it can do to someone. I don't steal either.
@@Irishhound edge
Tony had amazing superficial charm. Towards the end of the show when it’s all coming un done and the charm wears off you see the mask completely off and witness who tony soprano truly always was underneath. Tony is like a Frankenstein.
An invention/product of his environment. Brought into this life by cunning charming manipulative sociopathic narcissistic gangsters. Raised by them. Mentored. Led. Conned himself by the surrogate fathers or his life. Misery prison and death.
One thing I'd like to point out is, since A. J. is diagnosed with ADHD, it is very likely Tony has it too. High inteligence yet bad grades at school, impulsive, reckless, immature, always "on the go" yet acomplishing very little... Basically textbook ADHD. I'm kinda annoyed this was never brought up in therapy
I think Tony somewhat acknowledges this in the episode as a possibility, it's subtle but I think that's why he gets so angry because he sees ADHD as a negative (which it isn't) and also sees the traits they are listing as being similar to some of his own traits.
Still it's a shame it never came up again.
ADHD typically can develop into ASPD
@@Shark_King325 Indirectly, yeah. ADHD can lead to societal isolation and stuff, which can lead to conduct disorder which can lead to ASPD
@@judeconnor-macintyre9874it is because people that have it never stop talking about it which is annoying as hell
@@jonmann4980what an idiotic thing to say
"The last few (panic attacks) occur when he's remembering pu$$y around Christmastime."
We've all been there.
Excellent analysis. It was very interesting and enjoyable to listen to. You also have a very calming voice
4:55 that scene is priceless, johnny boy telling Livia she's talks too much "don't you ever get tired of yourself?!!"
i didnt expect that to be something thats even touched upon yet alone given a scene too
Mikey Palmices gf: "the last thing he said to me was how much he loved me."
Actual last words: "why don't u go take a Midol.
Lol his wife Jojo. She tried to move in on Bobby when his wife Karen died and Janice took advantage of him instead.
75 minutes of very informative information. I loved this series. still my favorite of all time. i rewatch about once every year or two! James was incredible, best performance.
Far too much profanity in it unfortunately far too much .
This was great!! Thank you so much :) Loved the 'Soprano's' and its dialogue. RIP James Gandolfini
An hour and 15 minutes?! That’s got a be a new record!
It's the longest under this sub-species, very allegorical.
Longer than the many of shineboxes now forgotten.
@@johndcoffee632 the sacred and the propane
@@johndcoffee632 it doesn't however explain the alteration between Dickie and Uncle Jun, and the impact on their respective bottom lines...
i’d love a redone version of anton chigurh. there’s definitely more to cover there than 8 minutes with that freak.
One of the absolute greatest cinematic performances we are ever likely to be able to witness. The Sopranos was arguably the first truly prolific television dramas and at least on many levels still actively able to be considered the finest to this day. It's timelessness proves just how insanely ahead of the curve and brilliant it was.
Awesome video! Tony soprano truly is the greatest villain of the post Clinton years-tv era. He is the one that all anti-hero’s, all realistic villains are measured up to-Don Draper, Walter white, Eve, and many of the wire villains all are in debt to him (ok maybe not so much the wire as we don’t get as much character studies in those crooks but many of the villains are deeply layered and at times sympathetic). Two things to mention: there’s a essay that proposes that tony was in subconscious rage against his father-hence why as the series progressed and as tony realized how bad his father was, he became more destructive and sought to kill anyone who reminded him of his father or to act in way unbecoming as the mafia his dad told him to be. Also, Tony in my opinion becomes the devil. Ralphie was technically the worse one but there are major differences that in my opinion make ralphie better; something that Tony refused to recognize. . 1)ralphie HAD genuine empathy. When his son nearly dies ralphie breaks down to the point where he actually considers some sort of change. He also apologized to his ex for his bad behavior. Tony NEVER did this; the only times Tony ever showed true emotion was to animals (when he wasn’t eating them). When aj tried to kill himself, Tony cried and then went about his business. 2)Tony made decisions that took down the fmaily, most of them were selfish. A bad leader of crooks. 3)ralphie was HONEST about who he was. He was killer who cares little for anyone. He did not pretend. When he confronted Tony about how Tony acts all high and mighty, Tony snapped. Tony was the true villain because he kept lying to himself as his crimes escalated and he refused to be competent
Amazing analysis👌🏼 I re-watch this regularly!