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'The Many Saints of Newark' Review (with Tirhakah Love) (Patreon)

Published:
2021-10-03 15:12:56
Edited:
2021-10-03 15:20:20
Imported:
2024-06
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David chats with Tirhakah Love from The Daily Beast about The Many Saints of Newark, the new Sopranos prequel that's streaming right now on HBO Max. We discuss how well these actors inhabited these characters, the show's legacy and how the film deals with race. 

Be sure to follow Tirhakah on Twitter and check out his work at The Daily Beast.  

Patrons: You can get this audio in your podcast app by going to patreon.com/davechen, going to the "My Membership" section, and copying and pasting the RSS link to your podcast app. Thanks as always for your support!

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Comments

Frank Parrinello

Hi Dave, I loved the chat. While I don’t think the movie is perfect, I feel a lot more positive about it than either you or Tirhakah. You guys talked at some length about how the movie doesn’t really show how Dickie influenced Tony. I had the same feeling while watching the movie, but when I thought about it afterward, I realized that what the movie is probably saying -- without ever articulating it directly -- is that the main thing Dickie shows Tony is how to delude himself into thinking he’s a good person while acting like a monster. On the one hand, we have a scene where Dickie makes Tony promise to be good. But then, a few years later, Dickie tells Tony to take stolen speakers and to just tell himself that he’ll never do it again. “And stick to it,” Dickie says, kind of unconvincingly, especially when you consider who Dickie turned out to be. Dickie sees himself as a good guy, which is why he’s constantly surprised by his own capacity for violence against people he loves. Tony also sees himself as a good guy; certainly, not a guy capable of choking Dickie’s son to death. Killing Christopher is the thing that ultimately leads Tony to his peyote-induced revelation -- that he’s not a good guy, and pretending that he was good was holding him back. We can even understand that in the context of the film, which begins with Christopher pointing out that Tony would go on to choke him to death. Dickie will later choke Giuseppina to death. We also see the same early scene between Dickie and Tony that Tony, having witnessed his father’s friend being shot in the back, feels anxiety about having the same thing happen to him. Dickie assures him that he won’t let that happen “as long as I’m around.” Later, Dickie is killed -- shot in the back. This probably goes without saying, but it also foreshadows the sense we get at the end of the series -- that Tony will eventually let down his guard, and someone from his past will want to settle a score. I disagree with the idea that we need an origin story of Tony’s racism. I know people just as racist as Tony Soprano who have no origin story other than being raised by racists, friends with the kids of other racists, and living in a racist country. You guys brought up midichlorians in your conversation, and that really would have been some midichlorians -- a totally unnecessary explanation for something no one was wondering about. You mentioned that the movie didn’t feel very much like an episode of The Sopranos, and I kind of agree. It’s far more sprawling and discursive than an episode of The Sopranos, which kind of surprised me. On the other hand, it retains a lot of the DNA of the show. The movie, like the show, is rife with self-delusion, hypocrisy, and stupidity. It also features a very Sopranos anti-climax, in that just as we think Dickie’s fight with Harold will come to a head, the cops arrive on the scene, and that effectively ends their conflict. Dickie is killed not as a consequence of the building conflict, but because Junior is jealous of him. The movie feels epic, but a lot of what happens is the result of pettiness, self-delusion, and insecurity.

Tony C

Loving these twitter spaces converted to podcasts. Love the old school style "radio resets" "if you're just joining us"- what a great way to break up the action and pivot to new topics. Can't wait to hear more. Love your stuff as always Dave!