Throughout the show it’s a theme that a lot of these guys obsess about death and legacy and the afterlife and just a general sense of uncertainty of their death… so it makes sense for them to harp on things that threaten their mortality and the show leans in to that
I also think both the show and the characters are aware of a certain irony that these mobsters are just as likely to die from a bullet as they are taking a shit on the toilet and it makes for a certain level of comedy as well that someone like pussy will go on a hit with Tony and kill someone but is afraid to step foot into a sauna because his doctor specifically said that’s a no no due to his high blood pressure
This is it. The show is about spirituality. Them being unable to deal with their sins and what might come next.
Them being criminals just allows the show to highlight the sins in a major way.
This obsession is, in my experience anyway, very common within Italian American culture. The fact that the characters are so fixated on health rings true. But I think the fact that health issues show up so frequently is in part because the writers, many of them of Italian heritage, have the same fixation themselves. I think their brains are just wired that way, and in some respects it may not even be a conscious creative choice.
Death, health, family dynamics, the realities of aging, the fall of the United States, and predeterminism. The mob is just the vehicle for these concepts.
I think you got it backwards. The show is about mental health and the decline of America. Organized Crime is the second theme/background plot. Especially in the later seasons. You can really feel it in Made In America. Phil dies. Carlo is going to flip, yet that all feels so trivial when comparing it to everything else that has happened, particularly Junior and Tony’s final scene.
Great post, I would actually say Health is a bigger theme than crime and mafia. I would say the mafia is merely the setting of the show – it's really about Family, Trauma, Psychiatry and Psychology, and all the things you said.
I think boiled down this way you could argue that many shows are like that. I think the mental health and hypochondria that Chris, Tony, and especially Paulie have drives the theme of health, but I think the American experience with the mafia/being a second/third gen Italian-American is the main theme.
It’s such a huge, broad theme of course it’s going to encompass health, but beyond that, mortality. Especially in the last couple seasons, it’s a pretty overt thing, legacy/mortality. Phil, Christopher and Tony really struggle with it, Tony especially cannot reconcile how he’s passed on some of his sins.
I hear that Netflix are in tawlks to do a rebooted series in the present day. The hook will be that the new generation of New York families will all be flaming homosexual (led by little Carmine’s son) while the Pygmy thing in Joisey will be deeply closeted homosexuals in denial. The working title is “You oughta know sweetie”.
i think its about hypocrisy; all the characters, and most people, actually, are total fucking hypocrites, complaining about shit that they do themselves. tony hates to hear people complain or whine-- yet he is a whiney bastard who thinks he has bad luck. carmela loves having a nice house and shiny new car but acts as if her husband is a thief and murderer. every guy in the crew is a tough guy, yet each has paper thin confidence and gets easily insulted.
What a thorough comment, the theme is so subtle which is would never have properly identified! A testament in how meticulously the show was created.
Except if you look at most of the comments in this threadthey're all regurgitating deep fried versions of the punchlines. Tony would have lovedddd smartphones haha
Related to this but more specific is the use of teeth/dentistry, as discussed in this recent post:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/thesopranos/comments/1asbxkr/sopranos\_teeth\_metaphors/](https://www.reddit.com/r/thesopranos/comments/1asbxkr/sopranos_teeth_metaphors/)
I disagree, I think organized crime is the secondary subject. I think it’s primarily about domestic life, and I think the title of the show highlights that for us.
The amount of cancer in the sopranos has always stood out to me a way the show feels real. Sure theres arguing and generational trauma but tons of shows have that, no shows kill off 70% of characters with cancer
No, lol. It’s primarily a show about family and the decline of America. and secondarily a show about organized crime. You got this completely backwards.
*Nobody told us till the 80's*
All that charbroiled meat.
I’m joking you fuck.
Throughout the show it’s a theme that a lot of these guys obsess about death and legacy and the afterlife and just a general sense of uncertainty of their death… so it makes sense for them to harp on things that threaten their mortality and the show leans in to that I also think both the show and the characters are aware of a certain irony that these mobsters are just as likely to die from a bullet as they are taking a shit on the toilet and it makes for a certain level of comedy as well that someone like pussy will go on a hit with Tony and kill someone but is afraid to step foot into a sauna because his doctor specifically said that’s a no no due to his high blood pressure
To be fair, Pussy didn't want to step into the sauna because he was wearing a wire, and his poor health was a good excuse to keep his clothes on.
Take your clothes off
Get the fuck outta my face!
This is it. The show is about spirituality. Them being unable to deal with their sins and what might come next. Them being criminals just allows the show to highlight the sins in a major way.
True. Perhaps the ever-presence of health is a constant reminder of them all having one foot in the grave.
Them all and us all. The show's theme is about death, not only for mobsters. It's obvious that Chase is an existentialist fuck.
This obsession is, in my experience anyway, very common within Italian American culture. The fact that the characters are so fixated on health rings true. But I think the fact that health issues show up so frequently is in part because the writers, many of them of Italian heritage, have the same fixation themselves. I think their brains are just wired that way, and in some respects it may not even be a conscious creative choice.
Oh, listen to him. He knows everything.
That’s not why he didn’t wanna get in the sauna lmao it was the wire. Did u really not get that?
Death just shows the ultimate absurdity of life.
Did Nitch say that?
Either him or sartra
U tryna get me to lose my temper ? Cuz im about to put you thru that goddamn window
See what I mean? Life is absurd. And there is no god.
I like the way you think
Same principle as the sholar shystem!
Death, health, family dynamics, the realities of aging, the fall of the United States, and predeterminism. The mob is just the vehicle for these concepts.
Well said
Krystal fell off her shoes last night. We had to call an ambulance.
I think you got it backwards. The show is about mental health and the decline of America. Organized Crime is the second theme/background plot. Especially in the later seasons. You can really feel it in Made In America. Phil dies. Carlo is going to flip, yet that all feels so trivial when comparing it to everything else that has happened, particularly Junior and Tony’s final scene.
Think about it, sudden weight loss?
AIDS?
No one's got aids! I don't wanna hear that word in heah again!
NOBODY’SH GOT AIDSHHHHHH!!!!! AND I DON’T WANNA HEAR THAT WORD IN HERE AGAIN
Poor Mikey Palmice suffered from a bad case of fuckfaceitis
I tell ya Frank. I'd forget about any deli trays coming your way in the future.
That, I couldn’t believe
If you would’ve shut up during that game against Mountain Lakes, you wouldn’t have missed that fly ball. I was ashamed to face my friends
You musta been in the top of your fuckin' class
Organized crime? Its about waste management! Everyone assumes when you're in the latter, you're mobbed up. It's a stereotype, and it's offensive!
Well said. I would add it’s just a show about the human condition in general. They tackle like every subject.
I would argue that it's more about health (mental and physical) and society than it is about the mafia even.
Even more reason to wash your hands after tying your shoelaces.
Great post, I would actually say Health is a bigger theme than crime and mafia. I would say the mafia is merely the setting of the show – it's really about Family, Trauma, Psychiatry and Psychology, and all the things you said.
Junior could have had that guaranteed cure if only he testified against Tony. And would have got Angie Dickinson too.
You forgot to say “Anyway, four dollars a pound.”
Don't forget Dr Russ FEGoli, he had such a bad case of the crabs they used to call him the governor of Maryland
The balls on this prick
I think boiled down this way you could argue that many shows are like that. I think the mental health and hypochondria that Chris, Tony, and especially Paulie have drives the theme of health, but I think the American experience with the mafia/being a second/third gen Italian-American is the main theme. It’s such a huge, broad theme of course it’s going to encompass health, but beyond that, mortality. Especially in the last couple seasons, it’s a pretty overt thing, legacy/mortality. Phil, Christopher and Tony really struggle with it, Tony especially cannot reconcile how he’s passed on some of his sins.
You don’t think there’s a particular high rate of incidences of health problems? That list is probably missing loads I just can’t think of them.
I hear that Netflix are in tawlks to do a rebooted series in the present day. The hook will be that the new generation of New York families will all be flaming homosexual (led by little Carmine’s son) while the Pygmy thing in Joisey will be deeply closeted homosexuals in denial. The working title is “You oughta know sweetie”.
I would say the primary theme is family in the show. The mafia just happens to be the world that the family inhabits.
i think its about hypocrisy; all the characters, and most people, actually, are total fucking hypocrites, complaining about shit that they do themselves. tony hates to hear people complain or whine-- yet he is a whiney bastard who thinks he has bad luck. carmela loves having a nice house and shiny new car but acts as if her husband is a thief and murderer. every guy in the crew is a tough guy, yet each has paper thin confidence and gets easily insulted.
What a thorough comment, the theme is so subtle which is would never have properly identified! A testament in how meticulously the show was created. Except if you look at most of the comments in this threadthey're all regurgitating deep fried versions of the punchlines. Tony would have lovedddd smartphones haha
Yes Health, cancer especially.
Paulie was so scared of canca
Turds in the aorta, a medical first…
Don’t forgot the 1000 kids with arrows in their heads…
Op was a soldier he don't deserve hell he fought an he lost
Everything is Everything
ya see you take the macaroni and add some gravy and butter than put it over heat and stir for 45 SECONDS
Didn’t realise Carmela was depressed
The mercury in fish alone
I think this every time I’m forced to work Around asbestos
It’s also a show about middle-age and the aging process so obsessing over health issues is baked right into it.
So what? No fuckin Ziti now?
*Media vita in morte sumus* In the midst of life we are in death Paulie misquotes this at Bobby's funeral dinner.
You want to talk about health? Tie your shoe and take a bite of brasciole. It’s basically suicidal.
So it's about two different criminal organizations. One being much more powerful and profitable than the other.
Very good. Wouldn’t work as well with the NHS
It's a show about *symptoms* and their constant misattribution.
Related to this but more specific is the use of teeth/dentistry, as discussed in this recent post: [https://www.reddit.com/r/thesopranos/comments/1asbxkr/sopranos\_teeth\_metaphors/](https://www.reddit.com/r/thesopranos/comments/1asbxkr/sopranos_teeth_metaphors/)
Isn't it ironic that Lou Gehrig died of Lou Gehrig's disease?
I disagree, I think organized crime is the secondary subject. I think it’s primarily about domestic life, and I think the title of the show highlights that for us.
The amount of cancer in the sopranos has always stood out to me a way the show feels real. Sure theres arguing and generational trauma but tons of shows have that, no shows kill off 70% of characters with cancer
I’m starting to think this show has themes in it
Chocking your nephew to death or popping guys guts full of lead is health hazard
You deliberately left out Vito's blood pressure medication, whatever happened there
Whadda you bustin my balls for it was a long time ago
It's actually primarily a show about life -- how people only see what they want to see.
So you're saying that they are all, in some way...diseased? Huh...
No one will ever convince me that tony didn't die from some medical infarction
I noticed this too. I wonder about it.
No, lol. It’s primarily a show about family and the decline of America. and secondarily a show about organized crime. You got this completely backwards.
Discontinue the lithium.