Thursday, May 15, 2008

THE SOPRANOS- a feminist perspective

The Sopranos (1999–2007) is an postmodernist gangster/ soap opera American TV series directed by David Chase. Gangster stories, such as “The Sopranos”, are morality tales in which criminals live in an inverted dream world of success and wealth. The series refers to American cinematic gangster traditions, and includes various allusions to classical gangster films, most notably The Godfather. While "The Sopranos" is a primarily modern exploration of the gangster genre, it also falls into the subgenre of soap opera through the focus on community (mafia) relationships and exploration of the domestic melodrama.

The protagonist, Tony Soprano is a perplexed but highly influential New Jersey mob boss who leads a conflicting life as father of two families: the mafia, and his wife and children.
He is a stereotypical gangster: he is a perversely heroic figure, materialistic, street-smart, immoral, and self-destructive. However, one must sympathize with this larger-than-life triumphant villain as he is portrayed merely as a victim of circumstance.

Chase has cleverly structured The Sopranos so that the drama simply arises from conflicting ideologies, which are trying to living alongside and harmoniously with one another. The ideologies I focused on were, eroding standard of the present and the dismantling of the family unit, consumerism, struggle for identity, home as a safe retreat, morality in law, and feminism.

Feminism is a fundamental, yet subliminal ideology which is explored throughout the series of the Sopranos. Feminists want to challenge the power structures that keep women subservient.. Carmela (the mob boss, tony’s wife)… was content to cooperate and benefit from a marriage that was demeaning to her. But just because Carmela isn't a feminist doesn't mean that she represents the hyper-masculine, Mafioso culture either.

Carmela is a Roman Catholic who believes strongly in the sanctity of marriage and has tackled some uncomfortable women's issues. These issues include: the acceptance of infidelity in exchange for an indulgent, luxurious lifestyle, Catholic guilt over divorce, stifled professional and sexual desires, and jealousy that threatens to overtake her happiness for a daughter who is embarking on a much happier life than she will ever know.

Carmela is so clearly discomfited by her daughter's self-sufficiency, romantic life, and poise, that Meadow even knows about it. Carmela spent previous seasons willing to sacrifice herself in order to make her marriage to a cheating husband work, but at the end of the fifith season, Carmela threw her thinking about responsibility into reverse: In separating from Tony, she looks beyond the patriarchal power structures and she reasoned that this was the best way to take care of her entire family. She saves herself and her children from emotional harm by ending a disastrous marriage.

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