The Existential Gangster - The Sopranos
I’ve been up late at night, fighting my demons whilst watching the Sopranos when I found myself laughing out loud at this hilarious clip from The Sopranos s2 e7 where hardened gangster Tony Soprano and his wife are perplexed at their son bringing up his existential thoughts in the house.
The context needed to understand the scene is that AJ decided to take his parents car for a ride with his sister Meadow and her friend - but he ended up scraping the car alongside a large truck. 'Now that would've been interesting' exclaims AJ when his mother tells him he could've killed the girls in the car with him.
In the show, Tony, the father, is the mob boss of the Soprano crime family. Tony is a hardened criminal and a murderer, so this generational clash over philosophies between father and son was a particularly comedic moment in the show. I find Tony’s reaction to AJ particularly comedic as Tony Snr. is so deeply intimidated by AJ's introspective questioning. It's a humorous yet poignant moment that sheds light on the complexities of the human condition.
Carmella blames AJ's new teacher stating it must be him that is passing on his absurdist ideals to the boy. But then the voice of reason Meadow chimes in with a poignant assessment of the situation. Firstly, she reveals AJ is acting upon his own thought as he is reading The Stranger by Albert Camus, an incredibly important piece of absurdist, philosophical literature. Meadow, then goes on to question her parents, believing they shouldn't be getting mad at AJ, as they wish for their children to be educated and this is the consequence of education - AJ is being 'cursed with knowledge' one might say.
Meadow brings up a quote from Madame De Stael:
“In life, one must choose between boredom or suffering”
Tony, who is now intimidated by his daughter, tells her to go to her room and then tells his son to go and do his math homework: AJ complains saying its the most boring but Tony smartly responds saying that 'the only other option is suffering.' (my favourite moment of the scene)
In the criminal world of the Sopranos where violence and crime are a normality, questioning the absurdity of life will be seen as a defiant act of intellectual rebellion against the gangster status quo where intelligence and life itself is not as valued as much as loyalty and faith
What does it mean to be gangster?
This term often associated with toughness and bravado but takes on an interesting meaning when applied to concept of existential philosophical thinking. Tony Jr.'s refusal to accept the mundane and find the deeper meaning of life could be seen as the ultimate act of rebellion as his defiance of the environment imposed upon him by his parents. At the end of this scene, Tony Jr. emerges as a different kind of gangster, armed with intellect and curiosity instead of guns and knives. Along with Meadow's input, the children have intellectually outsmarted their parents in the philosophical debate.
Perhaps, Tony should just stick to killing folk if he doesn't agree with them, huh?
In the end, this scene in the Sopranos reminds us that these existential questions can trouble the most hardened criminals and perhaps being a true gangster doesn't just lie within the barrel of a gun... but within the courage to face life's utmost absurdities with a powerful resolve. I will continue to cherish this scene and how it intersects existentialism into the organised crime narrative of The Sopranos. So I leave you with this final question...
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