Valentine GERVES Pop culture: Life as a play "The Sopranos" and the renewal of the figure of the antihero. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on Why violent Shouldn't video games be banned'? Get an original essay "The Sopranos" is a TV series launched in 1999 (and ended in 2007), and is often considered one of the best, regarding the numerous Golden Globe and Emmy Awards main plot revolves around the activities of a New Jersey mafia family and all its entourage (relatives, other mafiosi or gangs...), but is mainly centered on the fictional story of Tony Soprano, the mafia leader who won. to deal with problems in both his work life and his private life. In fact, the pilot features him seeing a therapist for the first time because he was suffering from a panic attack. The show, launched by HBO, was instrumental in many TV series that followed , along with The Wire and Oz: popularized the genre and made television programs acceptable as "works of art" rather than simply entertainment sitcoms. Vanity Fair contributor Peter Biskind said the show was "perhaps the greatest pop culture masterpiece of its time". Director David Chase said in an interview that the main inspiration for the show was Scorcese's Goodfellas (1990), and various actors from this film are also present in the series: the most important are Lorraine Bracco (Dr. Melfi, the psychiatrist), Michael Imperioli (Christopher, Tony's nephew) and Tony Sirico (Paulie, member of the Soprano troupe and later caporegime). The other actors, especially James Gandolfini, who plays Tony Soprano, were not so famous, but director David Chase also included many guest stars in the show, who blurred the line between fiction and reality and participated in the show being truly connected to the popular culture then and now. For example, actor Steve Buscemi had a major role in the fifth season (introduced as Tony's cousin), but some famous stars also made a brief appearance, such as director Jon Favreau, actresses Annette Bening and Lauren Bacall.. Throughout the six seasons, the plot develops in different ways, making the second characters become more important by telling their stories during one or two episodes, and also mixing pop culture references with social criticism, dreams with " imaginary reality, which makes The Sopranos a complex piece. of art, not just another story about the mafia and its crimes. The period in which the show takes place is really important in the sense that the characters always relate to it in some way: the attacks on the World Trade Center and the general paranoia against Muslims that followed, the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004 , but also music in general, fashion and youth hype especially through the characters of Anthony JR and Meadow Soprano, Tony's children. They listen to Britney Spears or nu-metal, throw parties where they take drugs like ketamine or ecstasy, and dress in a way that their parents disapprove of: in one episode, a mobster's son becomes a goth and all the crime the family tries to remedy. The show also contains modern reflections on social issues such as homosexuality: in the fifth and sixth seasons, Vito Spatafore, a subordinate of Tony Soprano, becomes one of the main characters because he tries to hide his homosexuality and is eventually discovered and then killed. His murder is supported by some parts of the mafia, with the justification that it is an infamy and dishonors the Family, but some of them want to turn a blind eye to this. This may remind you of all the questioning in a religious family unit about a gay family member, except here the Family iswith a capital F, a family linked by crime and mafia involvement. There is also an issue relating to the hypermasculinity and virility supposedly embodied by mafiosi. If we take the broad definition of "hero", we have "A person who is admired for his courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities.", but also "The best or most important thing in an ensemble or group" (English Dictionary of Oxford). The first definition is what we commonly imagine as a hero, the greatest mythological figures for example. The second can be applied to any The main character in a work of art regarding The Sopranos would be Tony Soprano. However, the character cannot be considered a hero in the "noble" sense given his actions throughout the TV show the characters would be more anti-heroes, if we look at the definition "A central character in a story, film, or drama who lacks the conventional heroic attributes." (Oxford English Dictionary). , because the series isn't just about criminals carrying out their regular murders, drug dealing and so on. In a way, even the show's supposed "good guys" aren't heroes in the usual sense: the cops and even the FBI agents. who are supposed to fight against crime, families are often shown as corrupt or with moral problems. One of the few remotely moral characters may be the psychiatrist, Dr. Melfi, but she sometimes helps Tony in his criminal activities without his knowledge (when she gives him the book Art of War by Sun Tzu in episode 8 of season 3). No one on The Sopranos is completely good or bad, because at some point the show always adds something that makes them hateable or lovable and leads us to feel empathy for them, sometimes long after they are first introduced. An example would be Livia Soprano, Tony's mother with whom he has a really complicated relationship, who is annoying and sometimes unpleasant to all his relatives, and also has never really given love to his children. In episode 7 of season 5, viewers learn that Livia was alone when she had a miscarriage because her husband was cheating on her at the time, which causes empathy and pity for the character and may explain some of her bitterness. The main finding is that all characters in The Sopranos are not simplistic and cannot simply be considered heroes or villains. However, there's also the question of their "antihero" attributes: Some researchers have come up with a thesis on the concept called "The Antihero in Popular Culture: Life History Theory and Dark Triad Personality Traits" (published in 2012 ). In this research work the main aspects of the anti-heroic figure are enumerated: "The Dark Triad, composed of subclinical narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism, has become an increasingly popular constellation of traits" (excerpt). At this point, the mafioso (criminal, mobster) is easily identifiable in those personality traits. Tony Soprano, the main character and New Jersey mafia caporegime, is a prime example as he knows how to lead his "soldiers" with some Machiavellian techniques, works mainly for his own interests but sometimes has anger-induced episodes in which he shows his mental health dysfunction, such as when he brutally kills one of his bosses because he could have killed Tony's horse (episode 9 of season 4). Even her psychiatrist, Dr. Melfi, in the final season, is confronted with the harsh truth: Tony may have psychopathic and sociopathic problems, and she can't really change who she is (she even abandons him as a patient after a scene of anger between the two). ). However, the most surprising and new thing about the main characters of The Sopranos may be the fact that they are quite normal people, maybe even not".."