June 9, 2007
Why The Sopranos has been a cultural and ratings sensation
As the final episode of the TV saga of a New Jersey Mafia family goes out in America, Tim Geary salutes this hugely influential show in The Telegraph and explains why The Sopranos has been a cultural and ratings sensation.
"Praised by Newsweek as "the best show on television" and by the New York Times as "maybe the greatest work of American pop culture of the last quarter century", The Sopranos has always been resolutely suburban, speaking to the petty concerns and existential fears of middle-class Americans.
The show's deeper draw was the story of Tony Soprano, a 40-year-old man seeing a shrink to talk about his overbearing mother, his teenaged kids, a business heading in the wrong direction and an affair he was hiding from the wife he loved. "The only difference between him and everybody I know," Albrecht said, "is he's the don of New Jersey."
But more than that, for eight years The Sopranos has tapped into the deepest aspirations and hypocrisies of the American people. It's no wonder that Tony Soprano, with his Jersey mansion and two-inch folds of $100 bills, should be an aspirational figure to Americans. But the glint of his material wealth has also distracted viewers from his criminal thuggishness.
Like the rest of us, Tony wants a nice income, a long life, successful kids and a happy marriage. He just has to commit murder, extortion and adultery to get there. But that's OK. At the heart of The Sopranos are the ethics of expediency - you do what you have to do to get to the top.
Likewise, the religious faith in the show feels particularly American. Carmela, Tony's wife, may sport a semi-permanent frown on her brow at the spiritual discomfort she feels about her husband's philandering and murderous ways, but she can't quite walk away from Tony's gold.
Tony, meanwhile, goes to a therapist and has been on Prozac. By asking for help, he has won America's forgiveness for his crimes. "
... The quality of The Sopranos episodes, shot on location and costing up to $10 million each, has helped attract actors and directors from film to television. ...
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