#158 - Scream of the Sopranos
Continued from Culture Rover #157.
If the silent faces of the psychoanalysts scream out for analysis, the screaming obviousness of other symbols on the Sopranos can leave us gasping in silent amazement.
That is, deep meanings and emotions emerge through over-the-top, corny modes: bad jokes, puns, and malapropisms (Tony at "the precipice of a crossroads" according to Little Carmine), overused poems (Yeats), cheesy, sixties pseudo-spirituality (peyote in the desert), trashy pop culture (the ubiquitous Cleaver posters and hats), bathroom humor (shitting in the shower), and the mundane (pools, ducks, "How to Clean Everything" manuals).
The criss-crossing of farce and profundity produces a strange kind of authentic expression clothed in ironic, almost sardonic mockery.
Everything is bullshit -- stale bullshit at that -- but this does not mean that it won't make you feel: it makes you feel things quite deeply, sorrowfully, and powerfully.
For more Sopranos discussion:
- Slate's TV Club.
- Heather Havrilesky's "Sopranos" Wrap-Ups in Salon.
07 June 2007