Cross-posted at Clark Community Network.
The other night, after watching this week’s episode of The Sopranos, I had one of those "ah-ha" moments, an epiphany about the entire final season of the show. My realization was this:
At some point, the writers of the show decided to transform their gangster series into a subtle political statement. Symbolically, they have chronicled what they perceive as the end of the American Empire. Through both of Tony’s families, his personal family and his crime family, we’re watching the fictional, small-scale telling of the degradation of American world dominance.
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Consider the theme line of this final season, which doubles as the name of the final episode – "Made in America." At first, I didn’t make anything of this, assuming it was just another mobster reference. You know, Italian-Americans making it big in America.
But now I know that the title has a double-meaning. It doesn’t just describe the family Sopranos. It describes the show The Sopranos. The Sopranos is a show made in America. And as such, the writers have chosen to make it a reflection of their perspectives on the current state of American affairs. Just as Tony’s once-powerful family appears to be in its last throes, our American Empire flails about, a victim of its own excesses, bully tactics, misdirected violence, incompetence and loss of principles.
Here’s a laundry list of parallels between the show and real-life:
Tony Soprano is George W. Bush.
For all of this season, and part of the last one, Tony has been completely preoccupied with the potential terrorists in his midst – to the point that he sacrificed any principles that he might have had about providing law enforcement officials with information. This season he tipped off his old FBI acquaintance about some Muslims who have hung around The Bing, but only after getting the assurance that providing the information might benefit him personally. (Sounds just like our Boy King, huh?)
In the past two episodes, we’ve learned about a new psychological theory, which Tony’s therapist Dr. Melfi bought into. According to the theory, the criminal mind cannot be helped through traditional therapy. Talking about issues simply will not help the problem. (Hello, Diplomacy calling?) Instead, the theory poses that the criminal will fake compassion in order to curry favor, con the therapist and hone his skills of deception. If you’ll recall, George Bush, running for office in 2000, claimed to be a "compassionate conservative." Clearly, compassion worked for him, much of the nation was conned and his lies continue to flow like water.
In this week’s episode, fearing that his personal safety was at risk, Tony ordered his crew to kill his number-one rival, Phil Leotardo, before Phil could kill Tony. Tony made it clear that he wanted a pre-emptive strike against Phil.
One of Phil’s beefs was that Tony’s group was not a legitimate family but more of a "glorified crew." This disrespect underscored the growing incompetence of Tony’s family. Years ago, when the series began, viewers thought of the Soprano family as a badass crime family. Now they’ve been exposed, under Tony’s leadership, as a fumbling, second-rate power.
Phil Leotardo is Osama bin Laden.
The number-one threat to Tony’s personal safety and family dominance, Phil Leotardo declared war on the Soprano crime family, ordering the killings of Tony, Silvio and Bobby in this week’s episode. Immediately after ordering the hits, he went underground, preventing the Soprano crew from getting their chance to kill him first.
A day late and a dollar short, Tony did put out a hit on Phil. But instead of using his own people to do the job, he hired it out to some guys from Italy. (Can you say "Northern Alliance?" How about "Tora Bora?") The results in Jersey, like in Afghanistan, were predictable. Phil got away.
The Ukrainian Father from Episode 85 was Iraq/Sadam Hussein.
According to the Episode Guide on HBO.com, we can surmise that Tony’s Italian hitmen not only shot the wrong man; they were at the wrong house to begin with. Quoting HBO, the woman killed was not Phil’s goomah. She was his housekeeper...
Waiting outside a row of houses in Queens, the Italians spot a white haired man pulling up to their target, and checking their photo of Phil, they make their move. One of the Italians rings the bell with a delivery. The man opens the door and when the Italian opens fire Phil's housekeeper Yaryna comes running from upstairs, shouting. She is shot dead as well.
So Phil got away and an unconnected third-party got tangled up in the mess.
Carmela Soprano is Laura Bush.
Normally quiet and submissive, Carmela is a kept woman. Totally dependent on her husband for his power and infamy, she’s more than willing to overlook his faults in order to keep the gravy train rolling. Earlier this season, Carmela was spotted hero-worshipping George W. Bush, reading the Fred Barnes book "Rebel in Chief." Also, she repeatedly makes the case that Tony is not a vengeful man, even though we all know that Tony is nothing if not vengeful. Clearly, like Tony Soprano, George "Let’s smoke them out of their holes, wanted dead or alive" Bush is one vengeful motherfucker. And in the parallel universe of The Sopranos, Carmela is his wife.
Meadow Soprano is the U.S. Constitution.
This season, the bookish, ethical and ever-innocent daughter Meadow decided to change her plans for graduate school. Little Meadow would not become a doctor after all. Instead she would study Constitutional law.
It’s worth nothing that Tony (AKA George Bush) showed little interest in Meadow’s new career path, mistakenly and dismissively referring to it as "criminal law...something to do with civil rights." Only when Carmela later mentioned it did we learn that Meadow would use her education to defend the Constitution, not people like Tony.
A.J. Soprano is Torture.
As the saying goes, the torturer always becomes the tortured. During this season, A.J. participated in torture, when he and his college buddies poured sulfuric acid on another student’s foot. Shortly thereafter, A.J. was the one being tortured – emotionally and mentally by the state of the world, immersing himself in news from the Middle East, reading Al Jazeera online, watching news on Iraq, Israel and Palestine. His newfound knowledge and shattered innocence helped push him to extreme depression and a flubbed suicide attempt. The suicide attempt was notable for its own details.
He placed a bag over his head (Guantanamo/Abu Ghraib anyone?) and threw himself into family swimming pool. His saving grace was the fact that he used a long rope to tie himself to a cinder block. Survival instincts kicked in, and A.J. fought his way to the surface and hung onto the diving board for dear life, until Tony came home and saved him. The entire scene was a reference to waterboarding. And in his rescue, A.J. owed his life to Tony (his captor.)
Silvio Dante is Karl Rove.
The brains of the Soprano crew, Silvio always cleaned up any loose ends, a fact that was reiterated early in the first scene of this week’s episode.
Paulie Walnuts is Dick Cheney.
Quick with an insult, but content to stay out of the number-one chair, Paulie is always teetering on the brink of brutal insanity. Need I say more?
Dr. Jennifer Melfi is The Coalition of the Willing or American Voters.
With Dr. Melfi’s realization that her counsel has only enabled Tony Soprano’s criminal behavior all these years, the therapist literally showed Tony the door in the next-to-last episode – too late, however, to save Soprano from his own bad judgment.
Bobby Baccala was Tony Blair.
Until this season, Bobby was likeable, fairly non-violent and less-than-bright. This season, he changed. Noticeably more articulate, more violent and upwardly mobile, Bobby made his way into the top-three leadership of the Soprano gang, but, like the British Prime Minister, he maintained his affable personality and, in spite of a fistfight with the boss, he stayed loyal. Even with his criminal tendencies, Bobby's more docile nature made it difficult to cast him into the same lot with Tony Soprano. (Really, why don’t we judge Tony Blair more harshly?) But ultimately, keeping the wrong company had its price. Bobby had to go away.
Junior Soprano is Jeb Bush.
As Phil complained in this week’s Blue Comet episode, Tony should’ve never been named head of the New Jersey family. He stepped over the presumed successor, Uncle Junior, to take the reigns. Just as George W. Bush defied his family’s expectations that Jeb would be the heir-apparent to the throne, Tony screwed Junior out of the top job.
Vice is Vice. Debt is Debt. Paranoia is Paranoia.
Some things don’t require a lot of thinking. Throughout history, the downfalls of empires have been associated with vice, debt and paranoia. Much of the unraveling of Tony’s crime family this season has been due to the excesses of key figures. Like Chris’ substance abuse, which led to his car accident, and Tony’s gambling, which exposed the Soprano’s financial woes. Times got so tough that Tony had to bum some money off his wealthy non-mobster friend Hesh, and, for a time, struggled to pay what would amount to interest on that loan. (Sounds a lot like our debt to China.) And Tony has grown increasingly paranoid all season long, sometimes justifiable, to the point that he’s now holed up, heading into the finale, with only a handful of yes-men and the comfort of a gun.
So what does this all mean for the final episode?
Depends on how the writers perceive America’s future. As The Sopranos goes, so goes America – at least through the eyes of the HBO writers.
Meadow could play a pivotal role in the final episode. Representing the Constitution, she is the bedrock for American democracy and strength. If she dies, the writers are making a very cynical statement about the dire straits of the United States. Conversely, she may take some heroic action to salvage what good remains in the Soprano family. Or she may play no role whatsoever in the final outcome, indicating that the Constitution has already been effectively neutered.
One of the popular speculations is that Paulie might kill or double-cross Tony. If Paulie is, in fact, Dick Cheney, this will not happen. Cheney needs a public face to serve as a distraction while he exercises his power out of the spotlight. For that reason, he will not kill Tony. However, if Tony is killed by Phil’s gang and Paulie survives, look for Paulie to serve his own selfish needs and do business with New York. Paulie, like Dick Cheney and cockroaches, is a survivor.
Kudos to Gutterboy, a Kossack who, in April, compared Tony Soprano and George W. Bush. He was definitely on the right track, although at that time, the series had not given viewers enough clues to assume that it had become more than mere character development. If Gutterboy were to write an update today, I assume that it would be more like the one above, questioning not only the superficial character traits but raising the topic of our failing American Empire.