Why Did Michael Corleone Kill Fredo? & Why Did Fredo Betray the Corleone Family?

i know it was you fredo you broke my heart this is a question that godfather fans have been debating for literally years both sides have very valid arguments on whether or not it was the right thing to do however we don't believe it is that simple it's actually far more complicated and so we will be analyzing this scenario from all angles and points of view giving you a sharper view of why how and what could have happened after michael cemented his position as the most powerful mafia don in the whole country michael was now completely entrenched in his position and has become a completely different person than the one he was before avenging his father and leaving to sicily however being at the top made him and his organization a huge target for everyone under him michael had been working on an ambitious venture that would propel the corleone family to the next level he was working with a man called hyman roth a former enforcer under vito corleone he was a close friend and ally of mo greene the creator of the modern las vegas michael roth as well as a few others were entering in an insanely profitable partnership with the cuban president however roth also had a different agenda roth had schemed to avenge his close friend mo greene's murder under the hands of michael and so he manipulates michael's brother fredo into giving him information and uses him to make an attempt on michael's life after michael realizes that roth was behind the assassination attempt he remembers his father's advice he told me keep your friends close put your enemies closer so he decides to make roth think they still have a good business relationship before killing him later on he uncovers that fredo had been relaying information to hyman roth and johnny ola behind his back fredo at that time was given the extremely important role in the family the role of underboss and because of information given to hyman roth an assassination attempt was made on michael that had almost succeeded therefore fredo was somewhat responsible for that attempt also michael later discovered how fredo had both withheld important information from him about hyman roth's connection with the committee's lawyer quest ad who actually was present at the new year's party in cuba but michael uncovered how deeply resentful and jealous fredo actually was as he was his older brother yet he was treated as an errant boy also having michael as the head of the family means that he has the final say on any business ventures or pretty much anything fredo wanted to do adding contempt and resentment towards michael however even if michael could forgive fredo as he was manipulated into it and even if he gets past the resentment he had for him the reality of the situation is that fredo is a huge liability if fredo had gone behind his back and struck deals that he knows in some capacity will hurt the family and his own brother what guarantees that he won't do it again and it begs the question was this even the first time and to be fair we see michael constantly giving fredo warnings and chances and puts his trust in him to a good extent and even so he betrayed the family having a very high ranking member of the corleone family betray his dawn deeply hinders their image of power especially michael's reputation of being the powerful dawn he was having members of his own family were going behind his back and striking deals with no permission or knowledge of the boss weakens michael's reputation of intelligence and cunning and brings up old doubts that he was nowhere near the dawn his father was especially after having proven himself therefore to ensure his status of power and ensure no one else dares to challenge his position he believed he had to do the unthinkable consequently it added to his ruthless reputation let's look at all this from michael's perspective michael was on top he was the most powerful dawn in the whole country reaching heights that no mob boss had ever dreamed of reaching however being on top made him a huge target and now he was in the public he had to not only worry about street gangsters in the mafia but also greedy individuals who hit his so-called public servants having to defend the empire from so many angles he started developing a sense of paranoia which in his position doesn't really hurt to have a little bit as he has to constantly be aware and anticipate any attacks on him and the family however after the assassination attempt that he just managed to survive knowing that his enemies had somehow infiltrated his very own organization added to that paranoia in addition the senate hearings also took a significant toll on him as he could face life in prison or worse spelling the end of the corleone dynasty and so with all those factors in mind discovering that his very own brother played a part in all this seemed like the final straw let's also not forget the countless chances and warnings michael gave fredo never once even thinking of doing him any harm michael even advertently and plainly tells him you're my older brother and i love you but don't ever take sides with anyone against the family again ever he even allows him to remain in a very high position in the family even though he has constantly proven that he was very incompetent still he gives tasks that he knows he can handle so that he does not endanger anyone else's lives or even his own self what seemed to have really made michael make that fateful decision was the fact that even if fredo had been used by roth to get to mike upon realizing he had been used fredo didn't come clean to michael about the whole situation rather he knew who was after michael and the family and did absolutely nothing if he had come clean michael would have been disappointed in his brother but absolutely nowhere near feel as betrayed as what fredo ended up doing even with all this michael gave fredo a final chance when he told him come with me you're still my brother cementing the idea he still had some affinity and empathy towards fredo however fredo failed at his only chance to redeem himself there is no shying away from the fact that fredo was absolutely in the wrong his miscalculation and his incompetence almost led to the destruction of the whole corleone empire but let's look at it from his perspective fredo really didn't have any ill intentions towards michael yes he knew he would be working in favor of people outside the family and was a bit mad at michael but he was just gullible as he was manipulated into thinking he was just trying to help them with a simple business negotiation you believe that you believe that he was promised that they would help him with some business ventures that michael had rejected so he thought it was a way he actually could have something of his own by expanding outside the constraints michael had placed also saw this as an opportunity to dispel his reputation as a failure and not be in his younger brother's shadow throughout his entire life fredo felt that he was always treated without any respect being known as someone very weak and incompetent especially compared to his father and siblings fredo uh he's got a good heart but he's weak and he's stupid and this is life and death now mama used to tease me she'd say you don't belong to me you were left on the doorstep by gypsies sometimes i think it's true gypsy even though they did have a point fredo constantly wanted to prove them wrong and really wanted their validation which pushed him more into being desperate in finding ways to break out of the persona he was given even though he was given the title of underboss freda was given little real power and the title was mostly ceremonial it was probably the smart move on michael's part but freda was not blind to this and added to his growing resentment and jealousy hyman roth and his associates knew all this and so played it perfectly skillfully manipulating the desperate fredo into assisting them and aiming to destroy the corleone family empire and the facts are that fredo genuinely didn't know how treacherous they really were and how sinister their plans really were if he had known he definitely wouldn't have worked with them no matter how much jealousy and contempt he felt towards michael as they still had a decent relationship out of all the events in the godfather trilogy fredo's betrayal is probably one of if not the most tragic but now that we can see both perspectives and viewpoints the question is was it the right move to make from both a strategic standpoint as well as a psychological and philosophical point of view so simply put did michael make a catastrophic mistake or was it his only option [Music] [Music] you

Channel: The Culture Mafia

Views: 1,703,158

Keywords: the godfather, al pacino, michael corleone, fredo corleone, the godfather part 1, the godfather clip, the godfather theme, mafia, marlon brando, mafia documentary, families of the mafia, goodfellas, godfather, michael franzese, the culture mafia, don corleone, don corleone meeting, cosa nostra, mafia boss, the real life godfather, the history of mafia, real life mobsters, real life mobster movies, entrepreneur, mafia business, francis ford coppola, don vito corleone

Id: 8eYOse_EvnM

Length: 10min 3sec (603 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 10 2021