The Sopranos is one of my favorite shows that I look forward to every week, but does it really show the Mob for what it really is? I mean, come on, if Anthony Jr. said "Fuck You" to the Great Don Corleone, wouldn't he get a beating?? "Buisness" was never spoken at a family table. Mobsters didn't let their woman or Goomare's tag along when they went to the local McDonalds to make a "drop off". They were kept out of La Casa Nostra. Adrianna is a great example of a woman who knew to much and was finally wacked because of it. I still love the show, but it's a little disappointing watching something that I know is inaccurate.

this belongs in the Sopranos forum

What you have to understand MobstersAreHot is that the Sopranos are not the Corleone's. Also the Sopranos aren't a movie like the Godfathers. And finally the mob has changed so much since the 1970's when the Godfather movies were made, to what the mob has become today.

I agree with you that the Sopranos are not the Corelone's, but even so, how do you know that they Soprano's are portraying a typical crime family of today? You can't. The only concept we have of what a mob family is all about is what we see in a movie or tv. The only people who do know are the gangsters who are actually apart of a La Casa Nostra. I'm not saying that everything in the show is totally false, because some of it is true, but some is far too exaggerated. My grandfather was an associato to the mob so I do have some knowledge with the mob (He couldn't tell me everything -- it would break the code of silence), but according to him, profanity, murder plots on family members, running over people with cars, the beating up of pregnant women, coveting the neighbor's wife, etc., was not what the mob was all about. I'm not trying to be an exhibitionist, but would you agree that beating up a pregnant stripper to death is a little rash??

Again it is just that, it's a show. It meant for entertainment purposes, not to be taken literally. Again, no one can say for sure what the mob is like today except for they themselves.

Sure it's a little rash, but again, it's a fantasy land. And in Tony Soprano's world, anything goes I guess. What about the killing of the waiter by Paulie in the first episode of Season 5?

It is a show, a great show, and your right when you say a fantasy land. I actually find the show more entertaining and funny than dramatic. When Paulie/Christopher killed the waiter because he gave him a hard time for not giving him a big tip, I found it hilarious! 98 out of 100 times that wouldn't happen, but it's entertaining.

Welcome to the boards, MobstersAreHot.

I'm transferring this discussion to "The Sopranos" forum.

I love both the Godfather trilogy and the Sopranos, but the Sopranos is FAR more realistic a portrayal of LCN in its current state. The Godfather's romantic take on the 'family' and Shakespearean-type themes makes for great filmmaking, but not a very accurate depiction of the mob, then and now. Don't believe me, there are people far more connected and 'in the know' on modern day LCN who rate the Sopranos as very accurate. Sure, there is some dramatic license taken, but overall the psychopathic impulsive characters we see on the show are what constitutes the mob today. It's true that, as someone once said, they're scraping the bottom of the gene pool now in the Mafia, whereas two generations ago bosses like Carlo Gambino could have been successful businessmen in the legitimate world.

Henry Hill also said when he was on Howard Stern, that the Sopranos was a pretty accurate depiction of the mob.

Actually, they are based on a NJ crime family. I believe that some of the stories are written based on FBI tapes that were used to listen in on the real New Jersey Mob family. As a matter of fact, many were shocked and could not understand why the episode this past season showed Vito Spat finishing a verbal act on a security guard! It actually was based on truth regarding a Jersey Mobster who was found out to be gay.


Don Cardi

If you read the nonfiction account "Takedown" by Det. Rick Cowan w/ Douglas Century, it is a Joe Pistone/"Donnie Brasco" esque story into the 90's garbage wars of NYC/NJ. He mentions in the book that HBO was actually a victim of the "stop" wars between the garbage carters, and suspects that they based a little of the Sopranos on that, with Tony being in "Waste Management" and all.

Cowan (an NYPD OC detective) actually sucessfully infiltrated the NY mob and lead to many convictions, although not to the extent of Pistone.