I think it's always been that way. People have always emulated fictional characters, which are often based on real people. Then the people emulating the fictional characters in turn inspire new fictional characters, who are then emulated.I'm sure there were street hoods who emulated Edward G. Robinson and guys like that, and those same hoods grew up to be big-time gangsters. Who in turn would personally inspire characters in fiction.
For example, you had Crazy Joe Gallo imitating Tommy Udo, and then Gallo himself would be fictionalized as the Rosato brothers, Joey Zasa, and probably a lot of other characters. And I'm sure there's some crack dealer out there who saw Godfather 3 and decided that he wanted to be just like Joey Zasa.
Art and real life constantly reflect and influence one another.
I think that's exactly right, Ivan. It goes all the way back to the old cowboy movies of the '30s and '40s. There were always kids who came away from the theatre wanting to wear the black hat. Didn't Nick Pileggi write that Jimmy Burke named his kids Frank and Jesse as an homage to the James brothers?
And of course George Raft, Jimmy Cagney and Edward G. Robinson did as much to influence their generation as Coppola and Scorsese did to influence theirs. These are all acting and directing GIANTS that we're speaking of, and it's hardly their fault that a small percentage of the people who watch their films come away with the wrong idea about the criminal life.
