People do the exact same thing with war veterans, asking about how many people they killed and the worst thing they've seen. It's so common but yeah, to a mob boss it's pretty dumb.
How does everyone know that he was screwing with them. I didn’t get it. That went right over my head. I feel like a lot of the jokes in this show either go right over my head or I can’t hear them or decipher the words they are actually saying. It’s one really frustrating part about this show to me. Idk if it’s like 2000’s audio or the italian American lingo/acting but fuck it is so frustrating
freddie hall ...they are idiots and that would be enough to anger anyone !..Just like what was done to my infant daughter and myself ! Terrorizing and torturing for entertainment ! Sick, twisted, psychopathic, clinically /criminally insane !
@DG WASPs didn't have a trust fund but they had slaves and indentured servants to do all their hard work for them. WASPs steal all their wealth from other people. First they stole from the Irish, then when the Irish had nothing left on their little island to steal, the WASPs went to America to steal from the Native Americans and they brought along their black slaves and indentured servants to do all the hard work for no pay. WASP elites dominated American society, culture, and politics for most of the history of the United States, maintaining a monopoly through intermarriage, inheritance, and nepotism. Learn your history buddy!
There is a sadness to this scene. Tony thought that these guys were his friends. They only care about him because he is in the mafia and they know that he is connected to people who are in the big leagues of organized crime.
Spit-Shine Philly hey sorry u feel dat way but how bad u want me to feel about that? How u think Africans feel when most people consider the continent one big fuckin country? Or anyone of Arabic or indian decent gettin called a terrorist? Hate to sound like some SJW but the consolidation of CAUCASIANS isn’t nearly as damaging what other ethnicities face.
Most mobsters, made men dont want a lot of people knowing who they are and most of them really would take offense to some wise ass talking around it like that. If you KNOW who they are, its because they are grooming you, marking you, or you are a cop. If its someone who isnt in the mob but has given you reason to think they are, you shouldnt be standing so close to posers, gun fire isnt always so carefully aimed and a bad reputation can be contagious.
It this scene we are presented with a matured Tony, who has finally accepted the fact that he does not have the makings of a varsity athlete and decided to pursue a career in golf.
@Costa Zambaras The Point is that stories like that are part of the in universe characterization. I know People who can make stuff like that up on the spot. Hell, I can do it on a good day. I was appreciating that Tony was written to be a "troll Genius". Or do you bash People for calling fictional characters badasses because "They ain't!!! They don't exist and are just written that way!!"
There probably was an older wise guy, who wasn't well known to civilians, who outbid Tony for the last Bungaloo Truck. Tony probably just told these guys it was Gotti just to mess with them.
Tony looks hurt because he realized that he could never get anyone to respect him who didn’t also fear him. He can never escape the reputation of being a mafia don, and different people will interpret that differently. People can say, “he should put them in their place,” but he doesn’t want that. He just wanted some respect and he knows that the only thing intimidating them would do is alienate himself further. They’re just from a different world.
It’s just like when they were barbequing sausages and Tony asked the other one about the stock market. He replied with “ it’s always fucking changing Tony.” They went from pretending like they were content with their pretentiousness, on their high horse with a baseball bat up their ass; and thinking they were above Tony. They pretended like they weren’t interested in him as an alleged Mob figure who they knew of and not interested in impressing him. They were dying to know all the details of the mob life like fans who watch A&E. As for the swearing, I’ve been swearing since I was 7-8 years old. It rolls off the tongue naturally unlike them.
What I love about this scene is how the guys were expecting that story to be something badass or whatever, something more akin to the image of mafiosos. And when Tony just tells them a rather innocent and playful story that just involved John Gotti, they're all so confused because they can't correlate any sort of humanity towards Tony or the mob life in general - just stories of killing and mayhem. I don't know if the story was true or not, but I don't think that was the point. It's the same as when Dr. Melfi hears a scream coming from the Soprano household in the same episode. She, along with us, would've assumed it to be some poor guy getting tortured or something just like in the movies, Dr. Cusamono even talks about the brutal torture scene from the movie Casino. When the reality is it was Tony just aggressively working out like a normal person.
@@ehabel-nagar2169 If your from the US..it would mean “jerk off”…if you were from UK it would mean “wanker”…I’m sure there is a translation for every culture/language!
As a chef it can feel the same way with some people. Obviously not as dark. But people will hound you "What's it like?" "Do you know how to cook steak?" Or my favorite "What's your signature dish?" Chefs haven't had "signature dishes" since like the 70s. I feel bad for military guys that gotta go through the same stuff.
@@JG-id5vi my best friend served 23 years in Marine Recon. He did a lot of covert stuff all over the world. Tony toward the end here so reminds me of how my friend would deal with questions from military fan boys. 😂
at least they are sucessful, youtube boys here are just a bunch of wannabe italian mobster, some wannabe comedian *random shit + SHINEBOX/varsity athlete shit and the wost ones, the motherfucker who "ohhg this scene that it really tries to do is/ohh this scene what the author tried to say was" cocksuckers pieces of shit i fucking hate you all hahahah
This is my favorite scene. It can teach you precisely how to not care for others. There is nothing wrong with asking people questions and showing interest in their experiences. In fact it is the BEST way of bonding with others and gaining trust and showing that you care. However, the lack of depth and the timing of the questions is what communicates that his experiences are not something they respect as a human experience. My brother went to prison for 2 years. You have no idea how much of the "did you drop the soap?" questions he got when he got out. If any of his friends would make fun of him that way it would cut deep. We actually have great conversations about his time in prison and how prison life mirrors the outside world. I've brought up gay relationships in prison, asking how often it really happens and stuff, but it was certainly not the first thing I greeted him with. It's hard for people to not take this kind of oversight personally, but I think a lot of the time people just don't realize what they are doing. They haven't ever even vaguely tried to put themselves into the other person's shoes. In this scene that's illustrated perfectly by the fact that the questions were way too general to be able to answer in a meaningful way, and when he tries to narrow it down he realizes the guy didn't bother to think about things 1 step into the question.
Tony took that pause to look around to create the fake tension of that story they wanted a story and he gave them one and while doing it he was able to intimidate every one of them simultaneously pure genius
The quality of acting in The Sopranos never ceases to amaze me. You later see Tony discussing this experience with Melfi, and for all his gangster toughness and bravado, you could see his hurt at being used as an object of ridicule by Cusamano, someone he had considered to be something of a friend.
Tony Soprano - I remember when I was a kid, there was this guy in my neighborhood. We used to call him Jimmy Smash. Now he wasn’t retarded, but we thought he was because he had one of these, uh, whatchamacallits. “Hey, how the fuck are ya?” What do you call that? Dr. Melfi - Cleft palate. Tony Soprano - Yeah. Well, we was kids, right? So what the hell do we know? Every time he opened his mouth, we’d piss ourselves laughin’. But Jimmy didn’t mind, because he got to hang out with us. Popular crew. Although we only called him when we were bored. Called him, we’d say, “Hey, Jimmy. Sing ’Mack the Knife’.” And because he wanted to hang out with us, he’d belt it right out. We’d fuckin’ roll on the floor laughing. And then, you know, when the laughs got old, we stopped callin’ him. Wasn’t till years later that I found out the poor prick was goin’ home every night and cryin’ himself to sleep. When i found out, you know, I felt bad. But I never really understood what he felt. To be used, you know, for somebody else’s amusement like a fuckin’ dancin’ bear till I played golf with those guys.
Aside from the "ringing the bell" part, I love how Tony makes it sound like they are going to hear a real juicy story, but instead leaves them hanging.
Cusumano, unlike Tony, was hard working and disciplined. He entered a profession that helps others. In his own way he trys to make the world a better place. Tony had as much opportunity as Cusumano. He could have been a contributing member of society. Instead he chose to be a parasite. He and his associates definitely do not make the world a better place. Calling an Italian American "wonder bread" or whatever is a sign of envy.
They are not trying to be nice. They are treating him like some separate oddity to be watched and poked at for their entertainment. I really hope you are just trolling.
@@andrewbecker9062 The comment is from 7 years ago, they were probably replying to someone else's comment. Now on modern RU-vid, it appears as its own independent comment.
I imagine some part of Tony possibly hoped they would realize it was just a joke and laugh, but they didn’t, leaving him there realizing he was surrounded by a bunch of completely oblivious morons.
@aileen wournos what a pretentious child pretending he’s a lot more mature than he actually is by insulting people for no reason. That it’s a joke and he’s trolling them with the story is what I already said if you were actually reading. What I was referring to as my reasoning is the drawn out pause at the end when he makes that bell ringing hand gesture and waits for their reaction, it seems like he could be giving them the opportunity to realize that it was way too ridiculous to be true. You see this in other pieces of cinema too, especially thrillers, where the characters feign seriousness to create an awkward pause, only for it to be revealed it was all bs. You saying he’s past caring and doesn’t want them to be in on it is just your opinion since your not inside Tony’s head. And to be clear I’m sure he doesn’t care too much either way. All I was saying was some small part of him may have been curious how far he could push the stereotypical view they had of him before they started to disbelieve. It seems he never found that limit.
@aileen wournos okay this is just a waste of my time. First you were saying they aren’t in on it and he doesn’t want them to be, now you’re saying they do get it and they’re just too scared to say anything. How about you figure out which story to go with before you start telling me I’m the one who doesn’t get it?
@aileen wournos oh so your made up your mind that’s nice. It is possible to figure out somethings a joke even when it’s at your own expense. I don’t know why being the butt of a joke and being in on the joke would be mutually exclusive in your mind but ok. You can interpret the jerk off gesture however way you want. Personally, I don’t think it’s necessarily directed at them, but rather the absurdity of the conversation. Essentially saying “this conversation/story is a jerk off” not “you’re all jerk offs.” But again that’s up to you. One physical gesture does not tell you everything you need to know about someone’s mindset and intentions. That’s not how people work and it’s not how the show was written either. Maybe your just shallow enough that you just want the satisfaction of seeing people being openly insulted to their face even when it may not be necessarily happening that way.
@aileen wournos “He doesn’t want them to be in on the joke. They are the joke.” “I said that they aren’t in on the joke because they are the joke.” Are you not aware of what the phrase “in on the joke” means? It only means that your aware of it, not necessarily cooperating with it. So you not only said that they weren’t aware that they were being had twice, you also said at first that Tony himself doesn’t want them to figure out that it’s a joke, which would defeat the purpose of your entire jerk off theory as a whole. you calling my analysis childlike is laughable at this point when your own is inconsistent to the point of being hypocritical. How’s that for apt? Everything else about your analysis is just your opinion. The tone of the scene does not prove anything about whether they were aware the joke or not nor does Tony telling melfi that they were using him and he was messing with them mean anything either. We were always in agreement that they didn’t care about him and he was having fun at their expense, but perhaps you forgot. The fact that they were using him for entertainment and prodding him because of his alleged mob ties does not necessarily mean he wanted to insult them to their faces either. Obviously he wanted to have some fun of his own, but burning his bridges with them would mean not being able to visit that exclusive golf club he wasn’t a member of and defeat the purpose of going out with them as a whole. Why would he go out of his way to hang out with them, if he intended to ruin their relationship by directly calling them jerk offs? Plus one of them is both his neighbor and family doctor, not someone in one’s life one tries to have a problem with. That’s why I think it only makes sense that the joke was an inside one and that it was only intended for his amusement. Their reaction slightly supports this in my opinion because instead of looking hurt or shocked as someone’s who’s been insulted might look, they just seemed baffled and confused to me, in true oblivious fashion. Also for the record, an insult is an insult. You could have easily disagreed with me in more mature and constructive way that didn’t sink to name calling, but you chose not to. So really there’s nothing for me to consider, you were just behaving poorly.
This scene demonstrates that despite Tony’s ruthless and undeniably evil behavior, he’s hardly a pure sociopath. That type of individual would consider every relationship to be purely transactional and wouldn’t be capable of craving authentic human connection.
This has to be my favorite scene in the Sopranos because Tony doesn’t show anger or his wealth but instead gives them an unreal expectation that they didn’t expect coming.
I once had a case involving a fire in a laundromat that the insurance company thought was arson. I was at the deposition of the owner. An Italian fellow, dressed incredibly well, said a lot but said nothing. Every word was considered before he said it. Unbelievable discipline. You just knew the guy was connected. Scared the crap out of me just being in the room with him. I barely dared to breathe too loud. These guys are no laughing matter.
Tony had them goin the whole facking game-a, ...Fugeet-dabout ittt! ....Such a great actor, James Gandolfini you are and always will be missed and loved my friend, those 1hr series I watched until the last season I enjoyed every minute, thank you, Rest in eternal peace my friend, from a true fan, always.
I don't what's worse, the fact that these guys were cluelessly mocking Tony, or that these upper-middle class professionals cared so little for the violence and suffering in organised crime that they were cool hanging out with a mob boss.
I love the unspoken words in this scene and how Tony's story was an expression of how he was feeling. More or less saying go ahead keep ringing that bell and see what happens
@@Effenent its a made-up story the whole thing, and its like he's just obviously making fun of the guy (to himself) - imagine a big crime boss in an iced cream van driving around with the stupid music on, its just a ridiculous thing to imagine he's just making fun of those guys because he thinks theyre lame he's doing the hand sign for jerk off ringing the bell saying they are lame and by the end of the story they understand what he's saying but he was insulting them indirectly for being disrespectful of him asking all the stoopid-a-fucking-qustions! - hope that helps : Wagooairlines was my old youtube account!
@@straightletterz2596 Thanks a bunch for the quick reply! That clears it up for me, it's been bugging the hell outta me since I started to binge the show. I'm realizing that a lot of it went over my head the first time. The show is genius!
@@Effenent haha no worries :) yea sopranos is awesome, great acting and script, can defiantly watch it more than once.. "the wire" is also an absolute classic show from HBO defiantly recommend that if you're looking for something else to watch! they dont make good tv shows like these 2 anymore! have a great life dude!
I have known a couple mob guys, both Capos. They both looked like typical grampas, incredibly polite, deferential. I would never have even considered mentioning the existence of LCN to them.
Mount Plymouth golf course. I used to play there all the time. It was "cabbage patch". More weeds than greens. It was fun to play though. It closed about 15 years ago. The residents who lived around it loved the open space....It got sold to a developer a couple of years ago...nothing but houses now.
Great comment, though I'll add we also laughed at him, not just with him. For all the gritty intensity he bought to the role, Gandolphini was arguably equally as gifted a comedic actor, and he blended it will so expertly with the serious nature of the role. Such a great actor and sadly departed.
In jersey we had a small ice cream spot.every once in awhile a guy in a suite would come around. He would check on the supplies and had the same guys with em all the time. All of em dressed in nice shirts and the like. They collect from the safe. The boss was a nice guy or so we think. Never gave us any issues , these guys would come buy and sometimes bark orders we weren’t even sure who they where we assumed they owned the place. They always talked with the boas alone and just hung out with em for awhile. Like i said our boss was a nice guy but he held himself differently and the guys who would drop by even more so. Confidently and somewhat menacingly. Didnt say much to us employees, but never gave us a hard time. If the kids where around and customers where forming a line, no matter how many people. They bought ice cream for everybody in cash. Always cash. It turns out that they ran the bagel shop on the same strip. All im sayin as that this shit went on for years, we employees talked about it and wondered. None of us dared ask or even imply shit. We weren’t the only ones in town who suspected either. My sister in Brooklyn ran a Mandys out there. She said that on occasion a shit storm of beautiful Russian woman would storm the store and buy a shit ton of clothing damn near running the inventory empty. She said one man who spoke Russian would hand her a card and pay for all of that shit. He tipped generously and didnt except refusal. She said it aint none of my business i aint sayin shit. Her boss asked her what had happened to the inventory. She explained and he checked the income when cooperate office called and asked. She explained to them too. She pretty much told em. All of your best clothes have been purchased by one Russian man. They said i know hes done this before. Same guy same card. We just needed to check with you too. My sister flat out told em you can check all you want. I dont know who this man is, i dont know what he does, and im not tryin to find out. I wasn’t either. When you suspect guys like that are in the midst, you dont ask stupid questions.
Best part of this entire episode is Tony getting denied admission to the club. For all the wealth and power he has in "his world", he has nothing in the world of "real" business and "real" social circles. Class trumps wealth in a world outside the Bada Bing club.
Not sure I'd call it class. If someone is extremely wealthy they didn't get there by being totally ethical. I don't care what anyone says. It's a very short step from corporate boss to gangster. There are other ways to kill people than with weapons. Killing a persons spirit is arguably worse than killing them physically, not to mention enslavement to debt. Worth asking who the real criminals are. As always, The Soprano's raises more questions than it gives answers. I think that's kind of the point. Brilliant series.
No real thinking providing gangster wants to be around the same scene everyday. Tony could have mingled with bosses in his world of this type of status. But who wants to have to be guard all the time?
For me, it's quite an accurate exchange of people in real life regardless of profession, between book smarts and street smarts/common sense. They're the academic types and live in a bubble, I've come across people in life who've got letters and all sorts either side of their name but they would fall for a telephone scam, Cusamano for a minute gives a look like he knows they've crossed a line but then joins in on it. Whereas it only takes a minute of Tony's observation to make his decision "you know what, I'll let it go but won't be coming back." Tony pays a lot of people he deems below him for his enjoyment and entertainment and realises that's the only reason they'd want to push his membership, he's made to be like a collector's item/novelty.
Accurate exchange? Really? Unless these 'academic types' are incredibly stupid, they wouldn't even want to play golf or have anything to do with one (mob leader), let alone pry into his business. Big difference between falling for a scam and what they're doing.
Tony died of a heart attacks in Italy at least 20+ years ago, he was good on jury, Captain crunch, and Liam nessen on a train movie, very nice folk, rip 51, sorry folks
I met a former capo from the New Orleans mob, his name was David 'blackie" giordano, his father was the boss Anthony Giordano of St Louis ...David had to change his name to David Steece and leave st Louis as a kid because his father didn't want the mob to hurt him.....now a days he sells his documentary and books about his mob life at stores . I met him during a book signing and I asked him that exact same question about if The Godfather was realistic lol...he told me " No it's compete bullshit, I'm full blood Sicilian we do things our own way". Then I asked his wife who was there if she had any idea that her husband was a capo in the Mob and she said she had no idea until he told her". He was an intimidating guy in real life, even at old age.
The Godfather was old school though. Either way, it's a masterpiece. And they did do things their own way in the godfather so idk what that's supposed to mean. Either way the mist realistic movie imo about the Mob was Gatti
First they ask Tony about if the Godfather was realistic, which tells a story takes place in the late 1940s where Tony was probably a vitamin of an orange, then they mention Carmine Galante hit which was 1979 where Tony was probably a kid, soon they talk about John Gotti who was arrested in the 1990s where Tony was probably just an errand boy for the mob. Totally makes no fucking sense and hillarious :):)
They were just fishing for any info on the mob. Usually squared white collared guys tend to idolize certain illegal activities. Everyone wants to be a gangster until it comes time to do gangster shit.
They thought because they were lawyers and doctors they could look down on him for some strange reason with the stupid questions like a bunch of school kids about organized crime.
A lot of people didn't pick up what this scene was about. And this is going to offend a lot of people because it might open truthful wounds. This video is about the historic racial hierarchy of America and people who came from and have the mindset of Western Europe vs how they view people from non-Western Europe, in this case, Italy. It's also about the differences in lifestyles not only from where they're from, but also religion: Protestantism vs Catholicism. Tony is exotic to them as WASPs. They've done this with other races, this isn't new. Historically, the descendants of Western Europeans created a hierarchy in their heads in the US, where they were at the top. First, it was: Financially wealthy WASPs, then middle-class WASPs, then lower-class WASPs, then old immigrants (excluding Irish). That's where the line of "whiteness" ended. Then after that, it was the Irish, then most new immigrants (including Italians, etc.), then Asians, Latinos and Native Americans and then African Americans. This was the racial hierarchy they created that lasted centuries later including to our present time. This scene (and how the WASP characters viewed Tony) was influenced by that racial hierarchy that was introduced centuries ago (and is still in existence by the way, with various changes). You can disagree with it and my take, that's fine, but that's what this was about. And if you want further details about this racial hierarchy, google Troy Smith who cites Jacob Riis' work, who was a thinker, photographer, journalist, etc., of the subject matter in that time period.
This scene also shows the lack of respect and fear the mafia held at this stage compared to even 20 years earlier. A 'civilian' asking Tony those questions without being afraid of the consequences.... Not that I'm saying that the mafia deserve to be respected or feared. They're glorified thugs who kill for material gains, just like any other gangster. The only thing that one could probably find any respect is their code of silence, but they don't even stick to that anymore.
@@daniglover3871 Technically it still exists, but it's at an super-low level of power compared to how it used to terrorize the states. They're mostly cybercrime and small-time scamming nowadays, compared to their old ways of running-and-gunning and corrupt lobbying with big-name partners. So the US mafia is technically still around, but they're practically dead in terms of influence and function. Those days are long over.
If I was going to play golf with friends and one of them said to me "Oh by the way we've invited a new guy he's a mafia boss" I'm either (A) excusing myself with a fake illness or (B) Not speaking a word all day.
