The Sopranos: Family or Glorified Crew?

the sopranos features a number of mafia families the main one is of course the dimeo family of new jersey also known as the soprano family that most of our main characters are a part of family i told you they're a glorified crew what is it with you and it's obsession with this varsity crap the other day you said it when i was a kid you told the girl because it's the same thing it was very hurtful but as funny as that line is is it even true are the sopranos a family or a glorified crew and what exactly is the difference well wikipedia gives this definition of a crime family which is vague enough to fit pretty much any criminal organization and the soprano family certainly fits this but there's clearly a difference between the new york and new jersey families in the show and that difference is worth exploring so let's take a look and figure out where the sopranos fall before we get started let me give a quick disclaimer i do not claim to be an expert on the real life mafia i'm just a guy sitting in his underwear watching a tv show and giggling like a little school girl my only knowledge of the mafia is stuff i picked up from the media and a little bit of online research so any statements i make are only in reference to the world of the show not real life also and i can't believe i have to say this the sopranos is fictional it's not real there are of course similarities to real life but the show is created by people who while great writers are also not experts on the mafia david chase and company were not trying to make every single detail accurate to the real world they were trying to tell a great story there are things in the show which are not true to real life and when in doubt i'm going to rely on the internal logic of the show rather than real life facts they're going to pay everything the worst these tv news people alright now that we got this pointless disclaimer out of the way let's break down what this argument is even about what exactly is the difference between a family and a crew well in season three ralphie gives this statement when we was kids we had our own little crew we do mickey mouse scores we thought we were like the sixth family but who the [ __ ] knew he was even alive right it essentially boils down to power and legitimacy when the lupertazis say that the sopranos are a glorified crew what they're saying is that they're not as prestigious or legitimate as the new york families compared to them they're a simple gang of criminals without the history or power of the actual five families okay time for a quick and semi-accurate history lesson the modern organization of la cosa nostra was established by charles luciano in 1931. it formalized the american mafia into a number of officially recognized families each with distinct territory and created the commission the governing body of the mafia the commission included the well-known five families of new york as well as chicago buffalo and at times a number of other smaller families together these make up the officially recognized families of the american la cosa nostra so one could argue that since the dimeos are not a part of the commission they are not a true family but that seems too simple of an argument after all the bonannos one of the actual five families were at one point kicked off the commission due to being infiltrated by an undercover fbi agent known as donnie brasco however i don't think that anyone would deny that they were still an actual family with history and a legacy and since we're on the topic of the real life mafia we should discuss the real new jersey mom the de cavalcante crime family people have noticed similarities between this group and the sopranos including the actual mobsters themselves if you haven't seen it you should check out the documentary the real sopranos i'll probably do a whole video on it one day as it's a fascinating story it goes over the history of the family and one incredible detail is that the fbi were able to record incriminating conversations of the mobsters discussing the sopranos show and how it was based on their actual crimes it's crazy these are actual fbi recordings of four men talking about a mob tv show they love they're discussing whether the sopranos is based on them the connection between the de cavalcantes and the dimeos further leads people to consider the dimeos a glorified crew after all in real life the new jersey mobsters are considered pawns of the much larger new york families but for what it's worth david chase has maintained that the characters on the show are not based on real life people while i have no doubt that some real life events influenced the writers they were not trying to make a historical show like rome or boardwalk empire so instead of looking at the real life details let's compare the families on the show and see what the difference is on the show the sopranos work with the lupertazzi family on various construction projects and scans together they 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associates in contrast the sopranos probably have around 60 or so if we factor in the largely unseen barisi kurto and altieri crews in terms of manpower alone the lupitazis could easily crush the sopranos and even though tony is able to negotiate a piece with them in the final episode we see just how devastating the war is for new jersey when they lose many of their key guys however size alone does not determine a family's status smaller families like the colombos have at times held lots of power and though it was messy the sopranos were able to overcome phil despite their small size he's got tremendous moxie for his size tell me about it he's a fighter another reason why the lubritasis look down on the sopranos is the lack of tradition and selectivity in making guys they make anybody and everybody over there and the way that they do it it's all [ __ ] up guys don't get their finger pricked there's no sword and gun on the table so no help either it has meaning or no meaning which is technically not true christopher does get his finger pricked though there is indeed no sword or gun on the table but as we see with phil he's more focused on history and tradition than the present reality of the mob it's why he's so focused on killing vito for being gay when in reality it really doesn't matter and this lack of realism is what ultimately leads phil to being betrayed by his own guys so if it's not size and it's not tradition that makes the sopranos less than new york what is it well part of it is the general theme of the show that new jersey as a whole is less glamorous than new york jersey come on huh now before anyone says anything that's what the show is saying not me personally i've always preferred the suburbs to the big city they're usually way too crowded overpriced and dirty from my taste but it can't be denied that new jersey has a much worse reputation in the public imagination than the big apple because i will do a lot to get laid but i am not going to new jersey chase intentionally set the show in new jersey to show the less glamorous and much more relatable side of american life compared to the traditional shows which portray life in new york as exciting and elegant come on i'm a fat [ __ ] cook from new jersey but aside from these general themes the sopranos do demonstrate themselves as powerful in their own right johnny sack mentions how much money the sopranos earn for new york and their dispute over the esplanade costs new york so much money that it makes them negotiate an end to the conflict johnny sack even has to turn to new jersey to help maintain his power once he gets sent to prison so given all of this i don't believe the sopranos are a glorified crew they're as much of a family as any other criminal organization we see on the show and given what they're able to accomplish despite their size i do think they are worthy of our respect although they still don't have the makings of varsity athletes to all my glorified patrons i say thank you for making these videos possible russell sean heart of markness logan clean john rayna jesse sterling andrew stewart ops gracing media daz j kidd conan higgins sam cedarlin don lucania celery man and jenna marie johnson [Music] you

Channel: Pure Kino

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Id: 6osfa0nj3Rw

Length: 11min 44sec (704 seconds)

Published: Thu May 12 2022