Is tony sopranos anti gay against vito
Inside the real-life mob story that inspired Vito’s iconic gay storyline on The Sopranos & why it was tricky to pitch
TWENTY-five years ago today, The Sopranos premiered on HBO - a cornerstone moment in pop culture that undoubtedly changed television forever.
Across its six seasons, the James Gandolfini-led mobster grand brought to life a colorful cast of remembered characters and crafted lasting storylines, punctuated by bursts of graphic violence, iconic one-liners, and dark humor.
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But The Sopranos was more than just a standard mob story; it was a groundbreaking show that served as a subtle character study, tackling the then-taboo topics of male mental health, toxic masculinity, and even sexuality.
Perhaps The Sopranos's boldest convention-challenging exploration came during the show's final season when Vito Spatafore - Tony Soprano's highest earner - was revealed to be a closeted gay man.
Vito's sexuality was first hinted at during season 5 of the show when the portly mafia captain was spotted by the boyfriend/girlfriend of Tony Soprano's daughter giving oral sex to a male security guard near a construction site.
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Whentheactor Joseph R. Gannascoli, or "Joey G," as he is more widely established, phoned Howard Stern's SiriusXM Satellite Radio channel to argue the recent death of James Gandolfini, I expected to hear a boilerplate summation of the late actor's achievements, as well as a few rote references to his erstwhile warmth and humility. Instead, Gannascoli told a disturbing story that turned on Gandolfini's alleged awareness of the dangers of "playing gay," of the sheer chagrin that can surround a straight actor contractually obliged to embody (or at least suggest) same-sex long for.
On The Sopranos Gannascoli portrayed Vito Spatafore, a captain in Tony's crew, who, by the series' sixth season, is shacking up with his covert boyfriend in the woods of northern New England, seemingly far beyond the retributive reach of the mob. But if Vito's investment in his "second life" is quixotic at best, then so is the hope that no upsetting stereotypes will attach themselves to the Gandolfini-themed peans, which, thus far, have expressed some alarming tendencies.
Take, for instance, Gannascoli's tale about a unique Sopranos rehearsal, the first to hinge on his character's "gay storyline." I
"A 'Finook' in the Crew": Vito Spatafore, The Sopranos, and the Queering of the Mafia Genre
A ''Finook" in the Crew Vito Spatafore, The Sopranos, and the Queering of the Mafia Genre George De Stefano Throughout its eight-year run, The Sopranos scrutinized categories such as "the Mafia," "the gangster," "Italian American," and "American" and reconceived them, demythicizing conventional wisdom and forcing us to look at them anew. The Mafia, for example, was not the thriving undertaking of the immediate post-World War II years depicted in the Godfather films (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972, 1974, 1990), but instead a decadent cartel whose optimal years were behind it. David Chase's gangsters lived within the phenomenon that the Italian writer Vittorio Zuc- coni called il declino del padrino -literally, the decline of the godfather (De Stefano, An Offer We Can't Refuse, 62). The Sopranos also critically probed the details and nuances of sex and gender. More specifically, it interrogated the meanings of masculinity and femininity as l
“Sometimes you tell a lie so lengthy, you don’t recognize when to stop.” These are perhaps the most uncovering lines ever uttered by Vito Spatafore, the rotund construction tycoon whose homosexuality rocked two separate mafia families.
Vito wasn’t even in reality “Vito” when we first see him on the screen. The actor playing him is first introduced as “Gino,” a man who comes into a bakery to buy some bread. But never mind that. Continuity was never a strong suit in the production of The Sopranos, so when Gino reappears as “Vito” in the second season, we agree to play along.
We uncover out Vito is a member of Richie Aprile’s crew, and he is assigned to put in wheelchair accessible “terlets” in the abode of Beansie Gaeta. “Mustang Sally” later beats Vito’s brother Brian, and Vito begs for revenge, which Tony is happy to bind. Later, we view Vito’s first on-screen act of aggression when he shoots Jackie Jr. in the back of the head. At Jackie Jr.’s awaken, his sister says her brother “Was killed by some fat fuck in see-thru socks,” which Meadows scoffs at, although