Tony Soprano and God
by
R.I.P James Gandolfini. At my house, we recently rewatched “The Sopranos” from start to finish. What a brilliant series. What a brilliant actor. Gandolfini’s nuanced, often comical portrayal of Tony Soprano, the brutal mobster next door, offered us a compelling depiction of evil in the modern age. God and church were certainly woven into the narrative. Was Tony beyond redemption? In this clip, Tony aims to help his son snap out of an existential funk:
8 Responses to "Tony Soprano and God"
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I don't know much about Mr. Soprano. But I'm thinking we pay too much attention to celebrities.
http://thefunstons.com/?p=5494
Expect no apologies from the Cafe for giving a man who created an iconic role on one of the most significant and morally complex programs in television history his due.
And while I am at it: Church folks, if you feel the need to deliver instruction to the broader population on how its most innocent pleasure reveal how far it has fallen below the high standards that you uphold, take a breath. No one is going to attend a church whose leaders make a specialty of telling people that the things they care about are not actually important and that they should hold their immediate reactions in check until they are validated by their moral superiors.
David Chase and James Gandolfini explored the nature of evil and complicity at a depth not reached by any preacher I've ever heard. They didn't undermine my faith, they deepened it.
It is always a loss when someone dies. I feel sadness for those who loved him. However for me most stories seem to be more about grieving for a character than the man who played the role. . Personally I am more struck by the death of the 33 year old journalist, Michael Hastings.
I got HBO because of the Sopranos. I enjoyed the show. I like how it showed Tony as a real human being. He wasn't a one dimensional character, but a flawed human who was both good and bad, like the rest of us. It was entertainment, but there were lessons to be learned from it. I find it shameful to minimize the death of Gandolfini by comparing his death with the deaths of others. Is he not loved by the same God who loves us?
My friends,
We are all equal in the eyes of God, therefore, no one's death is more significant in his eyes. When a person dies, all family members and friends are equally saddened. Yes, we do hear of certain deaths before others, but that doesn't mean those deaths are more "important". It simply means the editor put the others on the obituary page. I simply pray that the families of the men mentioned aren't burdened in anyway by their loss.
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D, I don't think anyone is arguing that James Gandolfini was more important in the eyes of God than other people who died yesterday. But he was a culturally significant figure who was at the center of a television program which was loved by millions of people. We're just trying to crate a space for people to talk about that contribution if they felt called to do so.
Even as someone who has never watched the Sopranos (no HBO, and a spouse who doesn't like watching anything w/violence), I think Jim's first commented post is spot on.
Still thinking about this one line, especially as a preacher:
"David Chase and James Gandolfini explored the nature of evil and complicity at a depth not reached by any preacher I've ever heard."
But you've never heard ME preach Jim!
LOL!
Seriously, your words ring true to me: a nuanced, truth-filled storyline with compelling, complex characters (which is usually a TV or book series, but occasionally a feature length movie) is far superior to even the best preaching in exploring humanity and the world, perhaps in its ability to explore characters relationships and development over time.
Star Trek...Buffy...M*A*S*H...Harry Potter...the list could go on and on.
That's why preaching, in my opinion, is much better in its 8 to 15 minute form: say what you want to point people to, in a way that people can hear it and can be further considered & explored, and sit your butt down.
My two-cents welcomes peoples' comments
http://osc-religionandpopculture.blogspot.com/2013/06/james-gandolfinis-death-sparks-some.html