Originally Posted by taxwonk (Post 486410)

My goodness, you young punks have abysmal taste in music. Creep? Possibly the single most overrated song to be recorded since Free Bird.

Originally Posted by Atticus Grinch (Post 486428)

The Godfather movies are about sin and its wages. Michael dies alone, having fucked up everything that mattered to him, including his plans to legitimize his family. Mary lies dead on the steps, even though the family have become opera-goers and church bigwigs. Vito failed to keep Michael straight because Michael thought that there were duties higher than being straight, and he was proved wrong.

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski (Post 486434)

by "old" I assumed he didn't want to hear about Sugarhill Gang, but only em will know....

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski (Post 486436)

Under Obamacare Wonk has been self-administrating his prostrate exams. Wttw.

Originally Posted by Atticus Grinch (Post 486428)

I don’t have much to say about rap, but I find this observation interesting. Personally I think the Godfather movies made the Mafia look more glamorous and genteel than it really was, but I wouldn’t say that it glorified it. The consequences of the criminal life are shown on-screen.

The Godfather movies are about sin and its wages. Michael dies alone, having fucked up everything that mattered to him, including his plans to legitimize his family. Mary lies dead on the steps, even though the family have become opera-goers and church bigwigs. Vito failed to keep Michael straight because Michael thought that there were duties higher than being straight, and he was proved wrong.

Originally Posted by ferrets_bueller (Post 486437)

Prostrate? Really? My prostate gland, which is the size and approximate consistency of a bowling ball, is usually examined while I'm standing, but with my elbows on the examining table.

Originally Posted by ferrets_bueller (Post 486426)

1. I will wager a fair sum that I am the senior citizen posting here.

2. I am far, far less informed about the contemporary music scene than the rest of you.

3. I like a good deal of both mass market and the "have you heard about the new group of garage band monsters." stuff that I hear now.

4. There is an exception. In the spirit of Socrates, another old guy, (“Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.”) I have to say that the overwhelming majority of rap I hear is without social merit, musical merit, and just plain awful. I do not accept that sexist drivel and the glorification or criminality is even remotely justifiable under the tired refrain of "keeping it real."

5. The names of current rap artists that could alter my views on this subject are solicited.

Yours in gin and juice,

Ferrets

Originally Posted by ferrets_bueller (Post 486426)

I have to say that the overwhelming majority of rap I hear is without social merit, musical merit, and just plain awful. I do not accept that sexist drivel and the glorification or criminality is even remotely justifiable under the tired refrain of "keeping it real."

Originally Posted by Sidd Finch (Post 486443)

Not sure what you mean by "straight" in this context. Vito died peacefully in a garden, playing with his grandkids, after a long and successful life during which he murdered and terrorized any number of people.

I'd call that a glorification of criminality, even without considering that he got to be played by both Brando and DeNiro.

Originally Posted by Atticus Grinch (Post 486447)

Well, this is true, but from the opening scene the series sets up that Michael is the protagonist. And if being a thug was really all that, why did Vito feel so strongly about keeping Michael out of the family business? Vito knew Sonny was a lost cause, but Michael coulda been somebody (i.e., not a Don). That’s the central conflict.

But yeah, we would all trade with Vito in a heartbeat. If we could assure ourselves we wouldn't sleep with the fishes and/or be stabbed through the throat with a pair of eyeglasses.

Originally Posted by Sidd Finch (Post 486443)

Not sure what you mean by "straight" in this context. Vito died peacefully in a garden, playing with his grandkids, after a long and successful life during which he murdered and terrorized any number of people.

I'd call that a glorification of criminality, even without considering that he got to be played by both Brando and DeNiro.

Originally Posted by Sidd Finch (Post 486448)

I don't disagree with you -- maybe a little, certainly not entirely, and probably less than usual. The movies make being a gangster look like fun, but you have to leave out all the death and stuff. The same is true of a lot (not all) of rap music -- people may think rappers are glorifying the drugs and violence, but either they are listening to a lot of crap music or they are not listening at all.


Vito's dream (and, if I ever read the books, I expect this will be confirmed) was for the family to go legit. He viewed Michael as the path to legitimacy, guided by Tom Hagen. But then Vito went comatose, Michael got his jaw broken and got pissed off, he spent too much time talking to Sonny, he realized that he could solve problems by killing them, and badda-bing, badda-boom, it was all over.

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski (Post 486422)

Coach K. going into the Mercer locker room strikes me as pompous, not noble. Like, "you shouldn't have been anywhere near us, congrats!"

Originally Posted by Atticus Grinch (Post 486428)

I don’t have much to say about rap, but I find this observation interesting. Personally I think the Godfather movies made the Mafia look more glamorous and genteel than it really was, but I wouldn’t say that it glorified it. The consequences of the criminal life are shown on-screen.

The Godfather movies are about sin and its wages. Michael dies alone, having fucked up everything that mattered to him, including his plans to legitimize his family. Mary lies dead on the steps, even though the family have become opera-goers and church bigwigs. Vito failed to keep Michael straight because Michael thought that there were duties higher than being straight, and he was proved wrong.