Hi, me again. Gotta know, did you think that Tony Montana was a bad person? By that I mean did you think he was evil. I read this guy who said that he was "horrible" and to call him 'good' you would have to have "high standards of evil". But I don't think Tony was evil just 'wrong'.

What do you think?

Yes.

In fact, most of the characters from the films we love are romanticized homicidal maniacs, social despots, and cold-blooded killers.

Tony Montana included.

I love Scarface. It is one of my favorite movies and Tony is one of my favorite movie characters.
But if you think that Tony was not evil, and just "wrong," you are gravely mistaken.

Tony Montana was evil incarnate. This is a man that would stop at nothing to get whatever he desired. And if that meant killing, committing murder and double crossing people, he'd do it. He had absolutely no regard for human life whatsoever. The only heart that Tony had was for his sister and children.

I'm sure, that even the most evil of men who've existed in this world, men who've carried out the most outrageous crimes imaginable, had their soft moments when they may have shown some love and compassion. But that does not change the fact that they were evil.


Don Cardi

Well written, Cardi, and I suppose you have a point about evil men can still have soft moments. But I just can't seem to grasp the fact that that Tony was a heartless evil dude. OK, he did evil things. But I believe that deep (deep deep) inside, he was just a victem of corruption in this world. His life led to the choices he made. Sure he was an ass, I won't deny such; but I think that there was a side of him that ment well, but his life didn't turn out the way he wanted. (lets keep in mind its only a movie folks)

I don't think he was evil, insanse yes, coked out sure, but evil no. Tony did what he had to do and yes he was insane imagine how you would be if you were in jail then you were put on a boat thinking you were going towards freedom and you get sent to a camp which isn't any better than the prison he just got out of. Then he gets money, coke, power, women. What did you expect him to do

Right-- Tony was not evil. You can't compare him to the most evil men in the world because he is not one of them If a person is cold hearted and evil like some of you claim that Tony was, then they would not care about killng ANYONE; including children and women. They would get pleasure from it, and NEED to do it and Tony may not have cared about killing men who were bad (Frank tried to kill him first; Mel was a crooked cop so that's why he was killed) but he did have feelings and regard for life, otherwise he would have blew up those kids with no problem. Like I said, his life led to his choices; his circumstance made him that way. His life made him hard, and that was the only thing he knew how to be. He comes from communist Cuba, were he and his people were treated like sh@?t, and then when he comes to America he is still sh@?t on here given a crappy job, and the choice to scrape your way up, or scrape your way up. So, he got pushed into selling drugs, the way he saw it there was no other way. But I say again, he did have love in his heart, he was just damaged. After he kills Manny he later falls into his chair and says, " how the fu@k I do that Manny?!" Now I ask, would anyone who had no regard for life be that way? I don't think so.

Tony Montana was a romanticized criminal. He was evil and he was a victim of his society. Hitler was the same, although on a larger scale of evil.

Hitler loved his dog Blondie and his family, but he was still evil.

To compare Tony Montana to Hitler is ridiculous.
First of all, Hitler killed thousands and thousands of women and children, and just innocent people. Anytime Tony killed a man it was a filthy communist who had people torcherd, or a crooked cop, or just anouther drug dealer.
Second, it is easy for some lowlife to love a DOG, but entirely different to love a human being. Tony loved his sister, and tried to protect her from the drug world.And yes he loved Manny. He was filled with anger, because his mother turned him away and acted like she hated him. So after that he didn't care anymore. He didn't think he needed anybody(which he did), beacause his own mother called him an animal, and said she didn't have a son. So that helped Tony in his downfall. Put yourself in his place. It is easy to look at the surface, and just focus on Tony's actions and then call him evil. But youv'e never been in his shoes, you have never had to fight for your freedom, and your right to have what you wanted like he did. In a song it says "what would you do if your baby was at home and crying because he was hungery?" The awnser is, if you had no money and no other way to get it other than to sleep with a man; you would do it. You would do anything for your child,and if it came to that, then so be it. And if you came from Cuba, and lived the way Tony did (read the book for detail on his life in Cuba)then you would do what you had to to have a better life. Even if it just happend to involve selling coke, and being a gangster.And if you were forced, you would even kill a man to feed your child. Your right, Tony was a victim of society-- as we all are, to one extent or another. A victim of life. Tony lived in poverty, and that leads to crime. For all kinds of people, not just the ones we percieve to be evil. Tony fought to get what he wanted and that is a human trait in all of us. His way to do it "just happend" to be crime. He was NOT evil.

lol Tony compared to Hitler is like comparing Cupcakes to someone sticking their tongue in a bowl of needles its ridiculous. Tony was a bad ass I admit that but he wasn't evil.

I don't know if DV really meant it as a comparison the way you folks are taking it. He meant that evil people can show compassion, but they are still wholly evil.

Tony Montana and Hitler were both evil bastards.

Hitler was a sick ****, He killed thousands of innocent people, men and woemen and children it didn't matter to him...
but Tony didn't do that...
I agree that Tony was a victim of his society...

Don Zadjali

Nah, he only killed a bunch of people, dealt drugs that probably ended up in the hands of children, or made junkies out of parents, etc. He was an angel.



Yeah, because, after all, every Cuban that came from Mariel Harbor turned to drug dealing in order to survive, and it was society that made them do it.

"We may be morons, but we are ORGANIZED! Local 6 7/8ths."

I believe Tony is a bad person, but he does have his limits. This makes the viewer not completely hate him. For example, he shoots Alberto and inevitably signs his own demise to save some children and a mom. He drew his limit at women and children, which means he at least has some limits. He's still an evil Gangster who kills innocent men, but at least he isn't completely heartless! He realized his mistakes in life in the final scene however, when he realized he lost his family and his best friend - thanks to his evil ways.

Nah, he only killed a bunch of people, dealt drugs that probably ended up in the hands of children, or made junkies out of parents, etc. He was an angel.



Yeah, because, after all, every Cuban that came from Mariel Harbor turned to drug dealing in order to survive, and it was society that made them do it. [/quote]

I'm not saying that every Cuban from Mariel was a drug dealer.And yes, Tony is responsable for his actions no matter what. But what I mean,is that he forced into that life, beacause that's all he knew, and he was very poor,and couldn't see any other way. We could not understand, beacause we did not live like he did.

I don't buy that. His sister and his mother were also poor Cuban immigrants, yet they wholly rejected lives of crime and took honest jobs.

Tony made choices - choices that inherently make him an evil person.

Tony was a victim of his upbringing and of society. But so were his mother and his sister. It comes down to which road a person chooses to take and what they decide to do with their lives when they are victims of society. Some people learn from their being victims of a bad upbringing or being a victim of society. They choose to not make the same mistakes that they saw others make in their upbringing and so they decide to strive for a legitimate and educated life. This is Mama and Gina.
Then there are those, like Tony, who become bitter from what they've experienced, bitter from being a victim of their society, and they choose, like Tony chose, a life of crime. They get this chip on their shoulder which makes them think that the world owes them everything and that they owe nothing to the world. They decide that working hard gets you no where so they just take what they want from hard working people and society itself. This was Tony. His making that choice to take what he wanted, kill people doing it, and not caring about the consequences or the lives that he was ruining by making money from the drug trade makes him evil. When a person does not care that his making money from the drug trade is ruining the lives of families and the futures of children, that person is both selfish and evil. Everyone has choices. It's what we do with those choices that defines what and who we are.

This about sums up my opinion on movies. While not all movies do this, the majority of movies seem to get you to side with someone even if they are evil. And my answer to the original question... yes. of course.

You all make good points, and your opinions are good. But I just can't grasp that Tony was evil. It has been said that we all have a dark side. Yes Tony made horrible selfish choices but any person can be selfish. That does not make him evil. I'm not sure I can explain my point any clearer or more understandable but what I mean is it takes all kinds of humans to do wrong not just those who are evil. There is so much more to life than black-and-white.

Perhaps a better question, to outline my point, is to list the characteristics that make Tony a "good" person.

Certainly few and far between.

He won't kill a mother and her kids, and he always tells the truth, even when he lies. So say goodnight to the badguy.

Oh, and he likes "pelicans."

After watching the movie for more than five minutes, you could say, "Man, Tony is a dick!". Tony is not a nice guy, how many "nice" guys work in the cocaine industry and shoot and kill their friend for being w/ his sister? I thought the most revealing scene for Tony's persona was when he was out having dinner with Manny and Elvira, and he publically humiliates both of them.

Myself?

Don Vercetti was not comparing Tony to Hitler on a mirrored or side by side basis. He clearly stated that Hitler was evil on a larger scale. Hitler was a very evil person who would stop at nothing to achieve his personal goals. And in doing so he destroyed thousands upon thousands of lives. Tony Montana was also an evil person who would stop at nothing to to achieve his personal goals. And in doing so he destroyed many innocent lives. Evil acts on the same level? Not by any means. But the bottom line is that intentionally taking a life for personal gain is wrong, and it is evil, no matter on what level it is carried out on.

It is true that what he did still affected innocent lives, and I've thought about that a hundred times...and I think that he was fool,because I don't think he ever thought about that,but that doesn't make him heartless. Naive maybe...

Who's being naive?


Don Cardi

He can speak english.
And nyc goodfella has effectively done my job,In the above post.
Come on,He makes for good cinema lines,But good person?-He makes pablo escabar look like tv's barney.

Well I do firmly
beleive that he can kick Pablo's ass