This is the question i'm wondering. Let's say in my country you know when someone is a gangster by his bald head, big biceps and black cars, like Mercedes ML, G class, GL and so on. The old school gangsters appear very calm, some of them are even intelligent. How this people are involved in murders, fights, when they don't look scary or agressive at all?

Because most are sociopaths, they lack empathy and remorse like most of us. And it doesn't matter if your a 130 pound weakling, if your able to control people and make people respect and fear you then you have fear. Its many just in movies where criminals have to look like body builders.

It's all part of the game. If you can't at least give the appearance of being "cool and calm," it's less likely that people will fear you. If you're a walking bundle of nerves, you're probably not going to frighten anyone. And let's face it, being able to instill fear in people plays a huge part in being a successful gangster. Perception is everything. If you're in the game, you can't let yourself look weak. But behind closed doors, a lot of these guys are just like anyone else (worrying, having insecurities, etc).

Let's say Nicky Scarfo like your nick, he is short, he is not a body builder, but I know about many murders that he did with his own hands. If I meet him somwhere I would say "Look at this short guy, he thinks he is so scary", not "What a boss". I mean many of them are even charming, the murderers in my country are like homeless dogs, you can tell that they are freaks, because you can see it, but about mobsters you can't.

Where do you live, buddy?

Bulgaria, let me show you...





This is a killer in my country, but he doesen't look anything else.

I get what you are saying, its like the mafia appear a bit "classier" than say street gangs like bloods and crips, they are able to blend into suburbia and the middle class, but lead a dark "other" life, where their just nasty thugs.

I'm from Serbia and bald head, big biceps and black cars describe gangster.But they are all low-level criminals and nothing more,the real gangsters are clam guys u would never say he is gangster.

Yeah man, that's exactly what I wanna say. They are not walking around wearing a sign on their forehead "I'm a gangster". Carlo Gambino is a perfect example. I know that this guy was a Mafia hitman when he was 17 years old or something like that. You'll never say that he murdered people with his own hands. But pizzaboy I think you are right, you can't be persuasive if you are so nervous or agressive, you need to be calm to persuade others. Sammy Gravano is also short, yes he is a bodybuilder, but you won't say that he was underboss, 19 confessed murders, fights and so on. When I watched Diane Sawyer interview, I was thinking about this thing... how they hide their "Darkest secrets"

All the top gangsters in any country are usually old men.The steroid big tattood guys are usually low level and will never amount to anything

I don't mean to be a dick, but there's nothing "tough" or "masculine" about being a body builder. It's a vanity thing mostly, and it definitely has nothing to do with being able to kill. No amount of weightlifting can give one that... "talent". And muscle mass isn't going to make it any more difficult for a bullet to penetrate your school when your best friend shoots you in the back of the head from the rear seat of a car.

I suppose it might make one look more physically imposing, at least to those who don't know what a truly scary guy is like.

I know what you're talking about though. The really serious American cosa nostra guys seem to be more likely to look like little accountants or schoolteachers or something like that instead of having the Luca Brasi look, though you do see some lower level guys who look like that. I just now reread Murder Machine, and there's a funny line in it about how Roy DeMeo (who is often cited as an example of one of the most brutal mobsters ever) in his mugshot looked like "an indifferent civil servant".

This kind of look seems to be common among the mobsters in Eastern Europe and Russia. They like to flaunt the fact that they're gangsters and there's a certain athletic machismo element to it, as opposed to just the threat of putting a bullet behind your ear. I remember reading something a while back about Russian mob boss, Sergei Mikhailov, getting into professional fighting.

Hmmm nothing says badass better than a dozen guys in black standing around feeding pigeons. Cute.

This picture with black t-shirts is from my country - Bulgaria, that picture is from here, that's our organised crime. Not like cosa nostra.

Yes but even in that picture im sure these guys have bosses at the top are old men who are running things and making all the money.

The body building thing is a low self esteem i rember reading a study and a proffeser said that guys who take steroids and try to get big are usually guys with low self esteem who try to get big either for getting girls or to try and look intinidating.I think in OC there is no point in looking like that because its all about the gun.Its why blacks and mexicans in the ghetto dont take boxing lessons when their picked on like white kids do because in that world 1 kid with a gun is more deadly then 10 heavywieght boxers

By the way, if mobsters are calm and calculated, that means that in Sopranos they are not realistic, except Hesh and Carmine, Pussy Bompensero and Jackie Aprile Sr. They are not agressive, but look like real mobsters.

They're just people. They have fears and hangups just like everyone else. Tony being a basket case was one of the more realistic aspects of the show.

So you are saying Barney Fife would not make a good gangster.

"Don" Knotts.

To tell you the truth I know guys like them. But they are so friendly, they help you, buy you diner and when I realized that they had other side in their business I couldn't believe. Actually they are very nice people the guys I know, I can't imagine how they could do other things.

and where do you live? which family you reckon they belong too?