The Sopranos: 2022 Super Bowl Car Commercial Analysis

copyright disclaimer this channel published a video on the final scene from The Soprano series finale the video features an analysis supporting three assertions Tony Soprano was assassinated Carmella and Anthony Jr were unintentionally killed in the process and Meadow alone survived the ordeal in response a viewer raised a question concerning The Sopranos 2022 Super Bowl car commercial that features a reunion between Meadow and Anthony Jr the question is this can a storyline that features a meeting between soprano siblings in 2022 coexist with an analysis of the series finale that argues Anthony Jr was murdered in 2007 the following analysis attempts to answer this question The Sopranos 2022 Super Bowl car commercial for the 2024 Chevy Silverado EV features the reunion of Soprano's siblings Meadow and Anthony Jr during the scene featured in the commercial Meadow drives from Manhattan to Highlands New Jersey in the latest edition of the car brand once favored by her Infamous father when she arrives at the Seaside restaurant bars landing and Marina she meets up with her brother and the two share and embrace while the commercial portrays a sibling reunion the analysis presented here maintains that Anthony Jr was murdered in 2007 and that he appears to Meadow in 2022 as a spirit or as a manifestation of her own wish fulfillment to make the case we will start by examining each character and then look into some key symbolic elements surrounding their Embrace be prepared a lot of the symbolism appears physically small and fleeting on screen nevertheless the symbolism is there and the scene is surprisingly dense with meaning Meadow is clearly the featured character in the scene she drives a loan from Manhattan to New Jersey along the same route made famous by her father instead of arriving at the family home however Meadow pulls into an EB charging station across the street from the Seaside restaurant bars landing on the drive she appears confident and sophisticated when she arrives she Parks the car exits the car and connects the EV charger to the car battery portal she then proceeds toward the restaurant to greet her brother out front in the parking lot through her physical interactions with the material world we know that Meadow is alive and well as we will explore later in the presentation the same cannot be said of Anthony Jr the jewelry that Meadow wears in the scene functions as a storytelling device one that conforms to the theory that a triple homicide took place in the series finale to start notice the following three shots of Meadow's right hand on her drive out to New Jersey in the first shot we see her take off her sunglasses in the second shot we see a profile of her hands holding the steering wheel as an airplane appears to hover in the windshield in the third shot we see a close-up focused on Meadow's right wrist with her hand poised on the steering wheel looking across the three shots we can observe three pieces of jewelry there is a man's pinky ring with an inlaid onyx Stone on her middle finger a narrow gold band on her fourth finger and finally a diamond tennis bracelet on her wrist the three pieces of Memorial jewelry honor the three family members she lost in 2007. let's step through them one at a time first the pinky ring represents Tony while this is not the Ruby and gold pinky ring associated with Tony in life it nevertheless conjures His Image in this case the black onyx reflects a more dignified version of the iconic ring one that is more appropriate to memorialize her father in death next the gold wedding band represents Carmella rather than the diamond studded wedding ring Carmella wore in life Meadow wears a simple gold band on her ring finger to signify her parents marital Bond wearing the symbolic wedding band alongside her pinky ring Meadow pairs together the symbols of her mother and father respectively finally the diamond tennis bracelet represents Anthony Jr while the two rings memorializing her parents are solemn and spare the bracelet is Lively and vibrant indicating that it represents something special to Meadow growing up together it would only be natural that Meadows should feel a special closeness to her baby brother moreover his death at such a young age is especially tragic in this way the bracelet may reflect an effort to celebrate his short life rather than mourn his untimely death her choice of stone for the bracelet is appropriate in this case given that Anthony Jr wore a single diamond earring in the final scene at holston's restaurant the bracelet not only features a single Diamond centerpiece it is also Diamond studded around the chain interestingly if we go back to 2007 we can see that Meadow wore no jewelry on her right hand as she attempted to park outside holston's restaurant from that moment 15 years ago to this moment the only thing we know of that might cause Meadow to wear three pieces of jewelry on her right hand are the deaths of her father mother and younger brother the pinky ring that Meadow wears is a tribute to her father resonates on a higher symbolic level the black color and rectangular shape of the Onyx stone represents a miniature depiction of the controversial cut to Black ending from The Sopranos series finale if we accept that the cut to Black ending is itself a metaphor for death the ring Meadow wears memorializes the death of her father exactly as we the audience saw it portrayed on screen Meadows ring selection likewise makes sense when we recall that the cut to Black ending also depicts her own final contact with her father note that there is a similar Theory applied to the black monolith in Kubrick's 2001 Space Odyssey specifically that the black monolith meant to represent a condensed totality of transformative intelligence in the universe doubles as a symbolic representation of the movie screen on which the film itself is viewed taken together of the black onyx Stone in set on Meadow's ring and the black monolith featured in Kubrick's science fiction masterpiece both reference the screens on which their own stories are told Anthony Jr is ethereal mysterious and associated with existential symbolism throughout the scene to start our assessment let's compare how each sibling arrives at the reunion the vast majority of the scene is dedicated to Meadow driving in from Manhattan Scenic images and iconic Milestones charge her path almost from start to finish Anthony Jr on the other hand is already waiting for her at the destination we have no idea where he came from when the camera cuts from Meadow pulling into the charging station to a wide shot of her Silverado we first discover Anthony Jr on the far right margin of the frame he is minuscule and Anonymous as he stands alone behind an open driver side car door in the restaurant parking lot the mizon mirrors the distinct treatment of the two siblings by drawing our attention to Anthony's tiny red car in the background trailing behind Meadow's massive blue EV in the foreground there are two cars in the bars Landing parking lot that are both visually associated with Anthony Jr let's start with the car he appears to exit from when Meadow first pulls up while the pentagonal hood ornament is absent the car is definitely a burgundy 1985 Chrysler New Yorker turbo the turbo is the only model that has side vents on the front quarter panel we can see them on the side of the Chrysler here the model year of the car is interesting because 1985 is also the year Anthony Jr was born the burgundy color of the car visually ties together some symbolic elements in the Mison sen which we will discuss later in the meantime the next car to consider is a hearse the hearse is positioned on a diagonal behind Anthony Jr when he appears in his first medium shot before we discuss the hearse further we will pause here to insert a disclaimer given that the vehicle is obscured from view we cannot know to a certainty that it is a hearse we cannot discern a land out top nor do we see the iconic decorative Landau bar however we do see a wide Chrome pillar design element partitioning the rear portion of the car like the landout bar the wide Chrome pillar is a design element common to the hearse between the black color the basic shape and the Chrome pillar there's enough here to create an at a glance impression of rehearse with these caveats in mind we will refer to the car as a hearse going forward and as we will see there are two compositional elements that link Anthony Jr to the hers first each takes up a position in the frame relative to the other the hearse is set furthest into the background of the parking lot while Anthony Jr alone inhabits the foreground of the parking lot second both the car and Anthony Jr share pitch black features the hearse is the only car in the lot with a clearly visible open window the open window produces a small black void in the background ironically the void is conspicuous in a scene otherwise bathed evenly in a mild late afternoon sunlight similarly Anthony's all-black clothing is cast in Shadow as he walks forward elements of his silhouette are pure black this draws our attention to the hearse compelling us to make a visual connection before we move on let's pause to consider that the two cars associated with Anthony Jr the burgundy Chrysler New Yorker turbo and the at a glance blackhurst conjure concepts of birth and death respectively the burgundy Chrysler draws our attention to two notable elements found in the scene first the color connects us to three red lights posted on the roof above the entrance to bars Landing these lights are called the multiple instances of Lights arranged in triplicate inside and outside holston's on the night of the triple homicide in 2007. second we are visually compelled to take note of a third person present in the scene The Stranger wearing a red cap we will discuss him in more detail when we assess the siblings Embrace incidentally the burgundy Chrysler also recalls the color of the vinyl upholstery on the booth at holston's where Anthony Jr was murdered two additional items to note concerning our first shot of Anthony Jr we will start with the presence of a lighthouse as a symbolic metaphor if we juxtapose this shot to the previous shot of meadow pulling into the EV charging station we find that Anthony Jr inhabits the same vertical plane as the lighthouse depicted on the rear license plate of her Silverado the juxtaposition draws our attention from the lighthouse to Anthony Jr forming the metaphor connection the metaphor itself would indicate that Anthony Jr guides and protects Meadow in this life not usually the role of a younger sibling the lighthouse metaphor resonates that much more given the siblings meet at a Seaside Marina the next item to note involves Anthony's unusual exit from his car when we first see Anthony Jr the car door behind which he stands is already open as we watch the car door begin to close Anthony Jr Falls completely off the right edge of the frame he simply disappears before the scene Cuts away as a result we do not see Anthony Jr open the car door nor do we see Anthony Jr close the car door we can generalize on this observation unlike Meadow we do not see Anthony Jr interact with any inanimate objects throughout the scene it is as if his presence in the material world is an illusion there appears to be a fleeting depiction of Anthony Jr as a priest wearing a white tap collar during the final frames of his first medium shot the Shadow from the Setting Sun forms a colorette around Anthony's neck meanwhile an unseen light source to his right Narrows Focus as he walks forward before the scene Cuts away the light forms a white square below his Adam's Apple The White Square completes the tab collar effect as the image coalesces Anthony Jr appears Serene and reflective like a young priest walking the grounds of a monastery finally there is a curious interplay of symbolism the size and shape of the white tap collar mirrors the black void on the hearse in the background this is perhaps a nod to the notion of life after death ultimately Anthony Jr is cast in a Priestly role conjured for a brief moment from the play of light and Shadow the Embrace between the siblings is the centerpiece of the scene this is the dramatic culmination of the scene as well through the Embrace we obtain more information to confirm that Anthony Jr is a spirit likewise we get a hint as to why Meadow has come all this way to see her brother if we start from the assumption that Anthony Jr is deceased we can assign a particular role to The Stranger in the Red Cap this tiny seemingly insignificant figure is there to pull back the veil that separates the living from the dead he is there to create a space between these Realms where the siblings can meet for their embrace The Stranger emerges in a space that falls between dissonance and consonants he first appears on screen after a two-shot Montage produces a subtle Distortion in our spatial orientation in the previous shot we see a close-up on Meadow plugging the EV charger into the car battery portal with her right hand when we cut out to the wide shot which introduces The Stranger in the Red Cap Meadow is now holding the same EV charger in her left hand it is as if we are shown a mirror image of Meadow in his presence following this Distortion The Stranger moves in concert with the siblings as part of a brief choreographed procession when Meadow releases the EV charger from her left hand she puts her left foot forward as she starts to walk toward her brother from that point on we can see that Meadow Anthony Jr and the stranger walk in step with one another each puts the same foot forward at the same time the stranger seems to coordinate the Cadence of the procession a coordination that presumably guides each sibling to the other across their respective Realms of existence as Anthony Jr prepares for the Embrace he is surrounded by archetypal symbolism at the start he stands with his arms down at his sides facing the sun in a medium shot the highlands reach Bridge sprawls out above his shoulders behind him the bridge traverses the entire frame his 1985 Chrysler New Yorker turbo is situated beside him to his lower left as he steps forward toward Meadow and lifts his arms to initiate the Embrace we see the hearse emerge from behind his back if we observe the frame as a flat two-dimensional composition we see one car representing death behind him and the other car representing birth in front of him between the two we see a bridge intersecting with Anthony Jr as he continues to move toward Meadow he moves along the bridge between life and death death and Shadow are behind him light and life are before him when Meadow initiates the Embrace from her side we can see two differences in the presentation of the jewelry on her right hand as she rests it over Anthony's left shoulder compared to what we saw during her drive for Manhattan we do not see the diamond-studded tennis bracelet she wears to remember her brother it is as if the bracelet conjures the presence of Anthony Jr and upon doing so disappears from view likewise notice that the black onyx Stone on the pinky ring is now also hidden from view the pinky ring is rolled over on her middle finger in such a way that we see only the gold band we will return to discuss the implications of the Hidden Onyx Stone death surrounds Anthony Jr as he moves toward Meadow we can say this because we see his presence in circle Meadow in darkness dressed in black himself he almost appears to emanate from the void inset within the hearse behind him for example notice that the blacked out window on the hearse lines up with Anthony's dark and shadowy outsized arm as he wraps it around Meadow's shoulder in the next shot as Anthony Jr steps forward toward Meadow another black car emerges in front of him traveling from left to right across the screen the newly spawned car proceeds to pass behind the siblings Embrace between Anthony's arm reaching around Meadow on her front left side of the black car passing behind Meadow on her back right side she is encircled in darkness the circle is complete when the car passing behind the siblings is perfectly concealed in the outline of their Embrace notice that Anthony's right elbow overlaps the nose of the car as it moves across the screen the presence of the black car can be seen as a spectral manifestation of Anthony Jr the two collude to over overwhelm the scene as Anthony Jr covers Meadow in the nothingness of his black jacket the black car emerges from behind their Embrace to Eclipse her Silverado charging in the background by contrast recall that when Anthony Jr first appeared to his mere moments before he was little more than an anonymous Speck in the background the degree to which Anthony Jr overwhelms Meadow however speaks only to her love for her brother and her own sadness at losing him now that we have discussed Anthony Jr in the context of the Embrace we can more fully explain why the black onyx Stone on Meadow's middle finger is hidden from view in the same way the diamond bracelet is hidden because Anthony Jr is present the Onyx stone is hidden because death is also present the diamond bracelet symbolizes Anthony's life the Onyx Stone itself symbolizes death and Anthony Jr is dead in this scene when Meadow Embraces her brother she transcends the dichotomy of life and death in that instant the two symbols that preserve and memorialize either side of that dichotomy become irrelevant and disappear from view as it relates to the Onyx Stone specifically we can go one step further the process by which Anthony Jr encircles Meadow in darkness during the Embrace can be interpreted as a metaphoric representation of meadow stepping into the cut to Black ending to commune with her brother when Meadow hugs Anthony Jr we see her left hand for the first time as she places it on his right shoulder while the rings on her right hand memorialize the past the rings on her left hand portend the future Meadow is engaged to be married and is very likely already pregnant to start Meadow wears an engagement ring on her ring finger we have no reason to believe that the ring is an artifact from her engagement to Patrick Parisi her cool and confident demeanor on the drive out gives no indication that she is a woman trapped in the past Meadow also wears a gold ring on her middle finger basic symbology on the topic suggests a bold ring like hers worn on the middle finger projects strength power stability and balance Meadow reflects all of these qualities on route to her meeting with Anthony Jr based on these two simple factors we can surmise that her engagement ring is new and that her nuptials are pending we also have reason to believe that Meadow is pregnant the evidence here is oblique but compelling to make the case we will compare the new driving sequence featuring Meadow to the original driving sequence featuring her father throughout the majority of the drive from Manhattan to New Jersey the order and arrangement of camera shots are virtually identical there is however one crucial edit the edit appears after the shot of the Paul Bunyan statue outside of Wilson's carpet and Furniture but before the shot of a man walking up the street wearing a white ball cap and carrying a white bag in the original sequence Tony passes a gloomy Streetside graveyard in the new sequence Meadow passes an empty Park and playground featuring a lone child riding a bike in other words the new sequence replaces an image of death with an image of life more specifically the new sequence features a place where children play insofar as the scenery in each version reflects the life of the character behind the wheel we cannot butt associate that new life to Meadow Tony puts people in the graveyard Meadow puts people on the playground the engagement ring and the prospect of a pregnancy would explain why Meadow has come to see Anthony Jr today of all days this is not a reunion for its own sake she is here to tell him that she is getting married she is here to tell him that she is pregnant she is here to tell him that she must now move on with her life in this respect the purpose of the sibling reunion is not to say hello after so many years apart but to say farewell after so many years together in grief over his untimely death while The Sopranos 2022 Super Bowl car commercial features the reunion of meadow and Anthony Jr only Meadow is present in the physical world we have plenty of evidence for Meadow we know how she gets to the reunion we travel with her from Manhattan to New Jersey she interacts with the world around her we see her drive Park get out and charge her car she has a story while the rings on her right hand memorialize the past the rings on her left hand portend the future Meadow has continued to live in this world since 2007 and is now preparing to have a family of her own the portrayal of Anthony Jr suggests something else he appears to exist as many things and nothing he is a brother he is a bracelet he is a lighthouse he is a priest he is miniature and then he is overwhelming we do not know where he came from before the reunion we never see him make direct contact with the physical world except when he Embraces his sister there are no clues to indicate what he may have experienced in life over the years since we last saw him during his brief time on screen he is visually associated with symbolic images of birth death and his own murder at holston's in 2007. the Embrace itself is an amalgam of Silence solemnity and the sublime no words are spoken when we see Anthony Jr begin to reach out to Meadow he radiates a kind of gentleness and serenity as if he is already at peace when Meadow steps forward to receive Anthony Jr her eyes Redden and well up with tears this is not a simple joyous meeting something serious is taking place after the siblings make their Embrace we only see Meadows face we only see her reaction we never see Anthony's face again that is because the reunion depicted here is about meadow meadow must say farewell to her brother so that she can live her own life and be a mother to her own child interestingly the first time we see Meadow at all we see her right hand adjusting something on the dashboard touch screen in that fleeting shot we can see the diamond tennis bracelet riding up onto her black shirt sleeve we can see the diamonds catch the light in this way the first shot and the last shot of the scene parametto and Anthony Jr at this point we can return to the question posed by the viewer cited in the preface to this video can a commercial storyline that features a meeting between Meadow and Anthony Jr set in 2022 coexist with an analysis of the series finale that argues Anthony Jr was murdered in 2007. the answer to this question is yes yes because the young man we see in 2022 passed away in 2007 and has been allowed to return to absolve his sister of her grief and to bless her decision to move on with her life also note that the commercial substantiates the theory presented in our original analysis that all three family members were murdered at holston's Diner likewise the commercial picks up on the theme discussed concerning Meadow and motherhood now that the crime family no longer poses a risk to Meadow she is able to start her own family

Channel: Scenic Media

Views: 89,031

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Id: cWT5Rdy6MqM

Length: 24min 9sec (1449 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 16 2022