Analyzing Evil: Michael Corleone From The Godfather

hello everyone and welcome to the 45th episode of analyzing evil featuring michael corleone from the godfather one of the greatest tales ever told in cinema the godfather has become an american classic that tells us the story of the rise of a family from the very depths of nothingness to the heights of power in the criminal and legitimate world the characters we find within these films are some of the most memorable ever created and michael corleone next to his father is the most iconic of them all this story though it's a story of an entire family can also be looked at as the tragedy of michael corleone we follow a young man who was born into a world he wished to be no part of a man who was thrust into it out of a perceived necessity a necessity that led him down a path in which he felt forced to embody the strength of his family a man who ultimately made many horrible choices and took on countless burdens in order to shelter his family from the horrors of a world they had inherited burdens that ultimately drive this once proud and promising young man to a place of darkness and despair in this video we're going to examine who this man is and what drove him into a lifestyle that he understandably wanted to distance himself from and will answer the all-important question of to what degree this man can be considered evil though this story is enchanting and mesmerizing we have to remember that the organization that is glorified within the mafia is one of evil however much of what we see occurring in this story as with many things in life is morally ambiguous and i'll be covering that when appropriate but we still need to remember that though this life is often glorified in cinema that it's still one that spells sorrow and hardship for many individuals throughout the world and the people involved in this terrible business rarely make it out without suffering some sort of terrible ramifications along the way legitimate businesses governments and other organizations do just as terrible or more terrible things themselves but pointing out the sins committed by others is hardly an excuse for the sins you yourself commit and organizations like the mafia are no exception a point that i wanted to make clear before we continued with this video the material i'll be pulling from in this video will be the godfather novel which the first film and part of the second film is derived from as well as the three films i won't be covering any information from the other novels in this video as though some of it is canonical the core experience of this series can be found in the godfather novel and the three films not to mention that these novels aren't from the mind of putso or francis ford coppola if there's enough interest perhaps i'll make a video covering the material within these novels at a later date before we begin i'd like to let you know that i've recently opened up a subreddit for the channel if any of you are interested in joining it as well as a small store where you can buy merch with my logo on it i plan on expanding this store in the future and any feedback on it would be appreciated if you haven't followed me on other social media platforms like twitter or instagram i encourage you to do so and if you end up purchasing some merch take a picture of yourself with it and feel free to tag me in that picture on twitter or instagram you can find a link to all these platforms in the description of this video now without further ado let's explore the woefully tragic life of michael corleone michael corleone grew up in new york city in the early 20th century the youngest son of vito and carmella corleone michael was described by his brother sunny as being the toughest of the three corleone boys as even with frequent beatings from both of his elder brothers he still stood up to them time and time again and he was the only one who dared to stand up to their father when he was challenged by the great dawn whereas his siblings would fight back against their father michael would stay quiet sometimes leaving the house rather than suffer his father's wrath and he would never show his true emotions in these situations the primary reason for his quiet defiance seems to be that michael was much more like his father than any of the other children his base personality and traits were ultimately derived from his father including his propensity for the occasional angry outburst and his soft heart both of which can be found in abundance in sunny and fredo respectively it was only natural then that vito corleone wanted michael to succeed him in the family business at least in the book as the don saw his eldest son as being too rash and hot-tempered to be an effective leader and fredo as being too weak however michael wanted nothing to do with the family business and there are two main reasons for this the first is his desire to be his own man one who isn't constrained by the rules of his father's life and his expectations the second is the nature of his father's business michael much to his father's displeasure has been taken in by the american way of life and the american view of society desiring to fit in with the average american he believes in law and order and the government so much so that he even volunteers for military service once his country is attacked michael before his murder of mccluskey encelado loves his father and his family but at the same time he recognizes the overall detriment to society that is his father's business to support this idea in the book we have michael's thoughts regarding sicily and the harm that the mafia culture has done to that beautiful land harm that he envisions will come to america should his father's business be allowed to grow michael thought about his father's organization if it continued to prosper it would grow into what had happened here on this island so cancerous that it would destroy the whole country sicily was already a land of ghosts its men emigrating to every other country on earth to be able to earn their bread or simply to escape being murdered for exercising their political and economic freedoms though this musing comes much later in michael's life i believe the highly perceptive young man saw the detrimental aspects of his father's business well before he grew into an adult and these observations were crucial in shaping michael's view of his family's business as we know this eventually changes but first let's cover who michael is at the time of connie's wedding michael is described as being the closest in personality to his father specifically inheriting his quiet disposition his keen perception and his steadfast will he's amiable kind-hearted and highly intelligent traits that could all apply to his father although the elder corleone is much more reserved compared to the already reserved michael much of his personality is comparable to his father and the differences between the two of them can be found not necessarily in their personalities but in the choices michael makes as at this time michael is a young war hero fresh out of the military who has his sights set on going to dartmouth college and making a real american life for himself with an american career and an american family here michael is actually an admirable man who's attempting to make a place for himself in the legitimate world transcending the negative implications that come from a life in his father's line of work really the only way that michael differs from his father and his personality is the way in which he's outgoing when he's spending time with kay or apollonia a characteristic his father lacks even when we see him interacting with his family that's who michael corleone is before his father is shot and even after he's shot for a short time immediately following the shooting michael is willing to help out some with the family but he still doesn't get himself directly involved with the chaos that surrounds him and his family it's only after he discovers that his father is left unguarded and is then assaulted by captain mccluskey that he chooses to involve himself in his father's world for the sake of his father and his family now what ensues is the murder of two men but this act can be seen as being done not only to protect his father but to protect himself and his family as well it's made clear that michael in all likelihood wouldn't be harmed as he's not only an uninvolved and innocent member of the family but a civilian as well regardless solazzo is unpredictable and michael's life very well could have been in danger revenge is something to consider as well as we do get lines in the book that explains the cold anger that rolls off of michael upon hearing of his father's shooting but as michael explains his reasonings for signing up to murder salato are derived from a business perspective and while this is believable to an extent it's obvious that michael despite his pragmatism still has revenge in mind nevertheless it's still done in self-defense more than anything and can't be considered wholly evil for this reason there may have been alternatives to this scenario such as another person doing the job but the way the situation presented itself made it unlikely that it would have succeeded any other way if michael hadn't gotten involved normally i would consider an act like this to be the beginning of a person's descent into evil but that's not the case here i believe that once michael had come back from italy he may have resumed his pursuit of a legitimate life in america and left his family business to his father and his elder brother there are two things that happen simultaneously that end up sending michael down the path of no return the first is the most immediate the death of his wife apollonia not too long after this event he finds out that his brother santino has met the same fate in america in the book michael is injured in the blast and after he's recovered we get a line that shows us that the characteristic cold anger of michael corleone has taken root in his soul consuming him to the point where he's now ready to focus this anger towards those who wish to do him and his family harm michael motioned to don thomasino to lean closer the don sat on the bed and bent his head tell my father to get me home tell my father i wish to be his son after suffering a series of misfortune and heartbreaks michael now realizes that whether he likes it or not he's in and to get out now would be a disservice to his entire family a family that desperately needs him at this dire hour so michael returns to new york and begins learning the family business from his father orchestrating with him plans for the ultimate revenge of the corleone family during this time michael really hones in his inner corleone and where he was reserved before he's almost distant presenting himself as a hard and aloof businessman one who says precious little listens much and catches on to every detail though his path has changed its course his dream of living a life of legitimacy has stayed with him and now rather than attempting to find a way to a legitimate life on his own he wishes to give this life to his entire family and he begins making moves that will transform the corleone's business from a criminal empire to a corporate one to support this we have this passage from the book he would follow his father he would care for his children his family his world but his children would grow in a different world they would be doctors artists scientists governors presidents anything at all he would see to it that they joined the general family of humanity but he as a powerful and prudent parent would most certainly keep a wary eye on that general family to achieve this dream he must reassert the corleone's power in the new york underworld to secure his family's position before making this transition now the plot that unfolds is certainly evil as it's rife with murder that's done to secure power in a ruthless world but there are two facts here that make it less so which is the case for many of the other murders michael orders later on first as it's described in the book if michael hadn't orchestrated the plot to kill carlo tessio and the other four dons their own plots to murder him or cause his family harm would only grow over time and thus these actions as with the murders of mccluskey and salazzo are taken in self-defense and second which plays off the first is that all of these murders are committed against people who are far from innocent and who are actively engaged in actions that would harm michael and his family it's still an evil thing to do considering that there are several avenues michael could have taken here to avoid murdering other people but so is everything that these other men did or are trying to do to michael and his family nevertheless it falls under the category of being crimes committed against people who are playing the same game as michael and for that reason it's more of a gray area with his power secured after this event michael moves his family away from new york to fully legitimize the corleone family and its business hoping to give his new family a fresh start in a place that his children can prosper without the implications of the criminal world hanging over their heads creating for him and his own family a future that at this time looks rather bright misfortune and sorrow have followed michael up until this point but now we're entering into the real meat of the tragedy of michael corleone and though it would seem that the circumstances that surround him are the cause of his increasing misfortunes it's his attempts at sanctifying a criminal institution that are much to blame for all the misery that finds its way into his home michael has found that this is much more difficult than he could have anticipated as he still got the bad reputation of his family to shed as well as dealing with his continued business interests in the criminal underworld of new york city and elsewhere he's making inroads as far as transitioning his family's business from illegal to legitimate gambling but as with any new business venture you run the risk of ruffling feathers and coming across bumps in the road michael has to deal with the corrupt senator geary and his efforts to undermine his own efforts to obtain legitimate licenses for his casinos and on top of that he has to deal with his ongoing partnership with hyman roth that has both its advantages and disadvantages in the way he wishes to play this relationship outside of legitimacy he has to deal with the complaints of his man in new york frank pantanjali who is concerned with the encroachment into his territory by men loyal to hyman roth now the trouble with the gaming commission solves itself when the senator makes his own murderous blunder but hyman roth and his machinations are the main obstacle in michael's life during this time period perhaps due to the constant pressure he's under during this period in michael's life we see that where he was once reserved with exceptions as far as his loved ones were concerned he's now downright dour showing little to no emotion at all even the world he inhabits is dark more often than not a reflection of the darkness that surrounds michael corleone's thoughts and emotions his family as a whole has begun to suffer though this is due to their own personal downfalls more than anything at this point such as connie's absence from her children and volatile relationships and fredo's weakness where both business and his wife are concerned their behavior is certainly part of the drifting that has occurred in the family but it's also the absence of their father as he was the binding force in the family that guided his children towards a path he had laid out for them michael has tried his best to take up that mantle but at the end of the day he isn't their father and his influence as head of the family can only take him so far especially where his elder brother is concerned with his focus centered on business michael has become out of touch with his family and wrongfully believes that the way in which he's attempting to help them is the best course of action but we do see an effort on michael's part a few times throughout the film to interact with his family on a more emotional level like when he's trying to assure kay that he is actively making the effort to legitimize the family business but the best example of this is when he's having his conversation with fredo in havana after he arrives here they have a halfway brotherly conversation a conversation where fredo pours his heart out to michael and is one of the few moments in the film where we actually see michael smile this conversation is still intermixed with business and rightfully so considering the circumstances that are about to unfold but this moment illustrates for us that even when michael is making an attempt to bond with a member of his family his mind is clouded by the work he's pursuing causing him to be blind to the tortured soul that sits right in front of him this is a central problem for michael his inability to empathize with his fellow family members michael like his father before him seeks to guide his family on the course he believes is in their best interest but what michael is missing is the warmth of their father the obvious care vito corleone had for his children and his wish to see them happy and prosperous in his adopted country and even though he sought to shape their lives according to his vision he allowed them room to grow and to make choices in their lives without becoming too overbearing michael wishes the same but he is far less warm than his father and is too demanding and callous in his expectations of his siblings i believe all of these things show us that at the time of the godfather part 2 michael is incredibly unhappy to the point where you could peg him as being depressed and through his own sorrow he lacks the tact and the compassion to care for his family beyond lifting all of their burdens upon his shoulders michael has taken on far too much and he's trying to save his family from the horrors of the world they inherited by isolating them from it and thus isolating himself from them and the idea of himself as the noble savior swallowing the darkness for his family is something that has already begun to spell his undoing however that's not the only cause of michael's trouble due to his ongoing connections with these less than reputable aspects of his family's business michael finds himself subject to not one but two assassination attempts both of which come courtesy of his business partner hyman roth whom he attempts to assassinate in turn whilst he's the subject of his plot both of which fail he knows for a fact that the first attempt occurred due to a traitor in his family leaking information but it's the discovery of that traitor that signals a downward spiral for michael's relations with his family up until the point that michael discovered fredo to be the traitor he was stressed and being undermined by many sources but he was relatively comfortable knowing that all of his problems were essentially related to his business and his associates in that business once fredo's treachery is revealed his heart breaks as now it's not only his enemies who are out to get him but the people he loves and trusts as well and this is only the beginning of michael's experience with that brand of treachery upon returning home from cuba michael discovers that kaye has had a miscarriage which breaks him down even further and after suffering through a lengthy trial after yet another betrayal from frank pantangili michael discovers that his wife had their child aborted a moment that tears him down further than he could have imagined the world he thought he had such command of a world he had worked so hard to take control of is rife with cracks in its foundation that he was unable to see right beneath his nose any warmth that michael once had has been completely robbed from him and his mind is now pointed towards the one thing he falsely believes will set things right for him revenge this revenge is unlike the revenge that michael sought before a revenge that was aimed at people who were actively looking to harm his family i suppose that people still might be but hyman roth is sick and dying and is now harmless to michael and fredo has reconciled with his brother the only one act of revenge here that makes sense is asking frank pantangili to kill himself as he's still under the protection of the government and a potential liability to michael i think that particular request is another morally neutral request to make frank is ashamed of what he's done and the fact that he's promised that his family will be taken care of when he's gone is not something that should be overlooked frank was certainly goaded into killing himself which is certainly not a great thing but all things considered it isn't terribly evil especially when you consider the fact that this is quite a good deal for frank in the long run outside of revenge the murder of hyman roth could have been done for the same reason but as tom argued during their conversation on this topic michael had already won and this was likely an endeavor made only to satisfy michael's revenge than to serve any other purpose and now we come to the first act of murder that is evil with no excuses the murder of fredo now let's break down why that is fredo made a great mistake entrusting hyman roth a mistake that almost got michael and kay killed however fredo explains that he had no idea that this was going to happen and if this had been a different kind of character it would be easy for us to assume that fredo is lying here however fredo is a character that has been proven time and time again to be rather weak and as michael so eloquently puts it stupid these are crude labels for his character fredo to me is best described as a blissfully ignorant spoiled and petulant child one who's been forced to watch his older adopted and younger brother get more respect admiration and recognition from nearly everyone in their family while fredo has become sort of the laughingstock of the family he still performs important functions in the family but as he describes to michael they're errands more than anything part of the reason that fredo even engages in this deal with roth is because fredo is incredibly naive and it's this naivete that causes him to see a deal with someone outside the family as a great opportunity for himself and he doesn't think to look into it further fredo is too trusting and he's so blinded by his jealousy of his younger brother that he can't fathom that he just might be making a terrible decision that could harm others it's hard to blame him for feeling this way especially when we consider how cold and aloof michael is to nearly everyone perhaps if michael were more attentive more loving or just more jovial in general fredo might not have felt so sidelined i'm not saying michael had to baby him but this is a great example of his hard personality getting in the way of his familial relationships that aside with everything we know about fredo i believe it's near impossible that he would have made this mistake again there's always that possibility and it was in his character to make this mistake in the first place but i highly doubt he would have gone against his brother again in fact with michael's recent reconciliation with connie his reconciliation with fredo is a good sign to the family though they've experienced their fair share of recent hardships is on the road to coming together not for michael though whereas his father would have certainly been able to forgive the error of his middle child we find no such mercy in michael who i'm sure is thinking about the possibility of fredo betraying him again in the future but as with hyman roth i believe this is done to satisfy michael's own vendetta and fredo though he wronged michael didn't deserve to die and that's why out of all the murders michael has committed or ordered this is the one that's most definitely evil an act which was born from the malevolent heart of an increasingly jaded michael corleone an act that shows us just how far michael has strayed from the once promising young man he was years prior and with that we move on to michael in his later life some 20 years later where we find him back in new york and receiving an award for his contribution to the catholic church we see a michael who has softened considerably over the years age and the lifting of much of the burden that is legitimizing his family has lightened michael's heart and here we see that he's much more relaxed and friendly joking and laughing with his family and friends at a party in his honor he still retains some of his characteristic coldness but his demeanor has definitely changed significantly here we see that michael is on the very cusp of totally removing the corleone family from being involved in illegitimate enterprises and the safety and security he had so long to bring to his entire family is finally upon him however as with his move to nevada this move isn't without its complications and he faces opposition from within the company he wishes to control and the commission of the mafia who feels slighted that they've been left out of a deal that could potentially legitimize their own businesses but in spite of all these complications michael manages to still appear in high spirits which is a big leap from where he was 20 years ago even his mannerisms are warm-hearted as he's much more tender with those around him compared to the stiffness he displayed before he's got a good relationship with his daughter and he's attempting to look out for his nephew even though his guardianship over him is rooted in what is no doubt the desire to have a successor in his business however michael's business is one that rarely goes smoothly and soon enough he comes in contact with something he's familiar with an assassination attempt one that lets him know that his efforts were not enough to get him out of the world he so desperately wishes to leave behind following this moment michael suffers a mental breakdown as a result of his diabetic stroke sending him into a fit of rage and despair as he calls out for his deceased brother our first moment in this film where we get to see michael's true feelings on this matter showing us that he has a heavy sense of regret and that concept regret is central to who michael is in his old age as this is the driving force behind what michael is ultimately looking to achieve by going down the path he set himself on atonement and reconciliation michael fears all that he's done every sin he's committed in the name of his family as he knows now that it was these sins that caused great rifts between himself and the other members of his family the way he felt he had to act his callousness his cold and ruthless demeanor that was rarely shattered by anything or anyone drove his family away all while he built a grand palace for them to inhabit the facade of which hid the darkness beneath it a monument to the power of the corleone family that held within it the sorrow of their tale sorrow that michael felt he must bear alone and only now does he realize that it was his absolute focus on his business that caused his family to drift away from him so he allows his son to break away from his life as he himself once did he promotes and develops his daughter's work in her foundation and he even begins to reconcile with kay asking her to forgive him and to understand why he had to do what he had to do the explanation he gives the k about his reasonings for entering into his father's business is interesting he explains that he loved his father and he was in danger so what could he do considering the circumstances what michael did especially in regard to salazo and mccluskey could very well have been what he had to do what followed however wasn't the only path he could have taken and even if it was he could have gone about taking it in a different way he explains to kaye that her life and his children's lives were in danger so what choice did he have but to do what he did true enough given the circumstances but a person always has options and there are many different avenues that he could have taken here even after fredo's revelation of his treachery perhaps michael could have taken this as a sign that his family was exposed to numerous corrupting influences and a great amount of danger and instead of continuing his attempts to wash his dirty business to expand his power and his wealth he could have taken drastic measures aimed at pulling his family completely out of the business they were engaged in as at that time and even before then the corleone family had access to an enormous amount of wealth that could have set them up for the rest of their lives this is again one of michael's central faults his attempts to wipe clean a world that has existed in this horrid state far longer than he's been alive a world whose roots would change little until newer technology and laws pushed them into changing their ways the best example of this is the commission meeting and assassination attempt as no matter how hard he tries to wash his hands of this business he's so entrenched in its foundation that he's almost doomed to have it follow his every move had the other dons not been murdered here who knows to what lengths any number of them might have gone to intimidate michael or undermine his business in order to get what they want again it's his attempts at finding salvation for his family through hell that he damns himself to live through a perpetual state of agony as he tries to pull himself out of a world he inherited but continued to dwell in of his own volition one of the most important scenes for illustrating how heavily this life has weighed upon michael's soul is his confession to father lomberto our first non-hysterical confirmation that michael is indeed suffering under the weight of the decisions he's had to make as we see him distraught over how many men he's killed or ordered to be killed how he betrayed his wife and most terrible of all how he killed his own brother it's these regrets his guilt and the continued plots by individuals to undermine his family that caused michael to finally hang up his hat and hand over the reins of his business to his nephew an act which i'm sure brought great relief to michael he's still involved as there are problems yet to be solved like the trouble with don altabello the higher-ups in imobiliare and the current hitman looking for him but he now has the idea in his head that he'll soon be retired and at this moment after relinquishing power he can sit and enjoy his son's performance relaxed and proud as he gazes upon the achievements of his son this moment was never destined to last though and upon exiting the opera michael suffers the greatest blow in his life since the death of apollonia the murder of his daughter this moment is incredibly tragic and heart-wrenching for michael for obvious reasons as we see when he's tenderly prodding his daughter for any sign of life his mind clouded by shock as he processes the sight before him only once the true gravity of the situation sets in does michael realize what he's done that every decision he's made the life he's chosen to live has led up to this moment the moment where everything he had spent his life trying to protect has died in his arms he never wanted to be a part of this life he never wanted to live in this world he knew brought great wealth and prosperity that hid beneath the cruel guys of death and suffering in this moment his life has come full circle the suffering he's caused others the suffering he's had his family endure has been reflected back onto him tenfold bringing him to the depths of despair as we see his face frozen in a mask of sheer horror a whale of utter terror unleashing all of the pain from his soul before he collapses into his anguish and we see many years later what this life has given michael fond memories of the people he loved people he ultimately lost to either the world he inhabited or to his own shortcomings ending his life alone with the knowledge that much of the sorrow that he and his family were subjected to was born from himself and at this end who was michael corleone he was a promising young man who had many advantages presented to him naturally in the form of his intelligence and externally in the form of a wealthy and robust family structure that gave him every opportunity to thrive though he wanted nothing to do with his family's illicit business and the implications that come with it michael loved his family and once push came to shove he did what he felt he had to do for the sake of his family transitioning from an americanized son of a mafia chief into the ruthless and cold-blooded dawn of the corleone family was motivated in each stage of michael's life by a few different concepts his entrance into this world was fueled by a sense of duty and retribution for his fallen brother his slain wife and the continued threats that plagued his life his father's life and the lives of the other members of his family his continued involvement in this business was motivated by a desire to provide for his family a prosperous and wealthy life one where they wouldn't want for anything and the future of his children and their children would be secured this notion was fueled by michael's hubris as he believed that he could transcend the limitations and fallacies of his family's business washing clean a business that was inherently rooted in criminal behavior a business that one man could hardly hope to change even with his impressive will later in life though he's made great efforts in this direction michael now knows that everything he's done has brought a great amount of harm to his family and to himself and his primary motivation in the twilight of his life his penance reconciliation with the people he's harmed and atonement for the many sins he committed during his tenure as head of the corleone family michael corleone throughout his life displayed many of the characteristic behaviors of his father and he was as magnanimous tender-hearted and willful as his father was though he tried to shed it in his early life he eventually inherited his father's view of life one that isn't entirely without its merits to the corleones and people like them who are engaged in criminal businesses they see the people at the heads of governments and corporations as greater villains than they are and can make justifications based on rationalities that there are worse people out there yes the corleones kill people they commit crimes and they take advantage of people but so what there are men dying by the thousands at the hands of those powerful evil doers in washington this is undoubtedly true to a certain extent but the problem with this line of thinking is that you aren't transcending the issues that are born from the deeds of powerful men you're contributing to them admiring yourself and your family in a world of corruption and criminality that ultimately brings more harm to those around you being like these men to a lesser degree doesn't make you a saint less of an offender to be sure but you're still actively engaging in a business that makes a living by bringing harm to others whether that be physically financially or emotionally michael takes on this idea and runs with it for so long that he ends up becoming his own worst enemy and the cause of much of the misery that falls upon his family but now we need to ask ourselves a very important question is michael corleone evil the answer to that is yes and no michael as i said is engaged in criminal behavior and though many of the crimes he commits in this series are committed against people who like him are far from innocent there's still the fact that he's murdering people ordering people to be murdered and propping up a criminal empire that has undoubtedly brought great wealth to some but harmed who knows how many countless others what we're given in this film is likely just a shadow of the actual number of atrocities that michael has ordered for the sake of his own and these actions are definitely evil not to mention the most definable act of true evil michael commits the ordering of his brother's murder however there's something in michael that is absent in a character that is truly evil regret and remorse a great number of villains and evil characters believe themselves to be the heroes of their own stories and they come with a set of rationalities and justifications that are in their minds good excuses for what they do michael is no exception however where he differs from many villains is that we see that michael actually feels guilty for much of what he's done he still rationalizes it and makes excuses but his actions weigh heavy on his soul which sets him apart from a good majority of villains and evildoers who hold no regrets for their actions in this way michael isn't directly evil because he acknowledges the horrors of his actions and as we know never aspired to enter into the life he felt was thrust upon him his reasonings are flawed his worldview is flawed but we can't say that michael specifically set out to commit acts of evil solely for his own selfish desires or to cause chaos mayhem and misery he was in part doing it for himself but he was mostly doing what he did for the sake of his family and again his reasonings for doing everything he did are incredibly flawed but the man himself isn't wholly evil he's more of a misguided man with an old world and highly detrimental set of values who commits numerous acts of evil for the perceived sake of others that in my opinion would be the best way to describe michael and his placement on the spectrum of morality but i'd like to note that this in no way excuses anything he does rather it's just a means to define who this man is and why he is who he is michael corleone the well-intentioned good-natured and highly intelligent succumbed to the pressures put upon him by a world he inherited one that surrounded his family with enemies that sought to bring them great harm and in his pursuit for salvation for his family he alone shouldered the heavy burdens that came with this way of life ultimately spelling doom destruction and misery for a great many people in his world including himself in the end all michael has left our memories of a better time a time when he was happy but most of all he's left with the memories of sorrow and strife that he inherited and fostered all born from his own misguided attempts at combating the evil around him and the evil within himself thank you all for tuning in to this episode of analyzing evil and i hope you've enjoyed what are your thoughts on michael did i miss anything let me know down below and leave a suggestion for a villain you'd like to see featured in a future episode while you're at it if you liked this video and want to see more like it appearing in your feed click the subscribe button to keep up on the latest episodes and feel free to leave a like while you're at it thank you once again to all of my existing subscribers for your continued and incredible support if you'd like to support the channel even further consider signing up as a patron over on patreon you can find a link to patreon down in the description thank you to everyone who signed up so far and a most vile thank you to those whose names you're seeing on screen now join the channel's discord server to interact with myself and the community and follow me on the social media platforms listed in the description for occasional updates on the channel as always thanks for watching and i'll be seeing you soon you

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Id: TUFduc1bHko

Length: 39min 23sec (2363 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 11 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/chickenkeri]

Masterpiece of a video analysis!!