Why do you suppose the movie,The Godfather, is so popular after all these years?

[Stella_Omega]

Well it's certainly not because anyone sees Diane Keaton as a sex object.

Not even me.

 

[squarejohn]

What you say, plus no one escapes justice within Vito's world. If you think about it a little, Americans respect specific cohorts more than others: Indians, Confederates, gangsters, athletes, Marines, cowboys, and a few others; people who walk the walk....actors, too, cuz theyre a metaphor for what American's value.

You are right about no one escaping justice in Vito's world. In the old neighborhood where I grew up, there was a guy like Vito. Most of the day he'd be sitting or standing around his house with some other guys. People came and went all day. This guy ran everything.

Calling the cops in the old neighborhood was a mortal sin. So if the word got out that some guy was beating up on his wife, a couple of guys would go over and have a friendly talk with him. It would end something like this: "So you're not gonna slap your wife around, capiche?" An affirmative answer, in an instance such as this, meant, Yes, I understand if I hit the wife again, I'll have the shit really kicked out of me.

That was the mildest form of justice. From there it went to increasingly severe beatings to "getting taken for a ride," the max penalty being a one way ride into the country. The guys who did the beatings and killings were called "troubleshooters." They were on the full time payroll. Depending on the need, other men were hired according to their skills, such as safe cracking. Most of the time these men had regular jobs like everyone else. The crime jobs augmented their income. My own father was truck hijacker and drove get-away cars. The "jobs" were armored car robberies, warehouse burglaries, hijacking trucks, gambling and prostitution, and probably some other things I don't know about.

There was never any crime around the old neighborhood, nobody went hungry, or endured any other hardships. If someone needed a job, one was provided. Ahh, the good ole days!

 

[cloudy]

You've watched way, way too many movies.

 

[Loring2]

FLAG ON THE PLAY!

'There is no God, no religion, no recipe to follow," AMICUS BLOVIATORCUS

AMICUS doesnt know, in fact, if there is or isnt a God. Not unless he has perfect, infallible knowledge.

Amicus of course believes that he is infallible and is so egocentric as to believe that his own thought processes are the only ones worth considering in the search for truth. It appears more and more that he has sanctified himself and pities those of us who disagree with him.

The man has become an intellectual charlatan and a fool who knows no limits.

 

[amicus]

Amicus of course believes that he is infallible and is so egocentric as to believe that his own thought processes are the only ones worth considering in the search for truth. It appears more and more that he has sanctified himself and pities those of us who disagree with him.

The man has become an intellectual charlatan and a fool who knows no limits.[/QUOTE]

~~~

Interesting, if somewhat unexpected, Loring2; I am sure you have your reasons for dissing me...no biggee....

Truth exists independent of the mind of man; I try, like any other rational person, to pursue and discover truth. Faith and belief are a non sequiter when appled to reason and rationality.

'egocentric?'. Not hardly, I have never for a moment thought the planets revolved around me, as God fearing people must, by definition.

Squarejohn posed what became an interesting query; I wonder had he asked the same about Professional Wrestling, which more people have seen that have watched the Godfather series, if the defense for the WWF would have been as compelling?

The lore of Italian, Sicilian 'family' connections, is a reflection of the 'old ways', as someone said, but the old ways were a mere reflection of the glorious times, (sic) of Monarchies throughout Europe where-in everyone knew their place in life, the Class system, and everybody was taken care of, according to their place in the pecking order.

It never ceases to amuse me that those most claiming tolerance of differing cultures, on this forum and elsewhere, are so quick to descend upon anyone daring to offer an opposing opinion on anything.

The Godfather sucks; so does God.

Deal with it.

Amicus

 

[cloudy]

Just watched it again.

If anyone ever doubted the acting ability of Brando or Pacino, watching this movie would remedy that situation. Watching Michael (Pacino) evolve from a fresh-faced ivy league war hero into a cold-eyed snake is chilling, but fascinating. He was so perfect for that role.

eta: amicus, you've never watched it, so you wouldn't know, would you? Your ignorance never ceases to shine through, in everything you post.

 

[Stella_Omega]

You are right about no one escaping justice in Vito's world. In the old neighborhood where I grew up, there was a guy like Vito. Most of the day he'd be sitting or standing around his house with some other guys. People came and went all day. This guy ran everything.

Calling the cops in the old neighborhood was a mortal sin. So if the word got out that some guy was beating up on his wife, a couple of guys would go over and have a friendly talk with him. It would end something like this: "So you're not gonna slap your wife around, capiche?" An affirmative answer, in an instance such as this, meant, Yes, I understand if I hit the wife again, I'll have the shit really kicked out of me.

That was the mildest form of justice. From there it went to increasingly severe beatings to "getting taken for a ride," the max penalty being a one way ride into the country. The guys who did the beatings and killings were called "troubleshooters." They were on the full time payroll. Depending on the need, other men were hired according to their skills, such as safe cracking. Most of the time these men had regular jobs like everyone else. The crime jobs augmented their income. My own father was truck hijacker and drove get-away cars. The "jobs" were armored car robberies, warehouse burglaries, hijacking trucks, gambling and prostitution, and probably some other things I don't know about.

There was never any crime around the old neighborhood, nobody went hungry, or endured any other hardships. If someone needed a job, one was provided. Ahh, the good ole days!

This post provides 100% of the government recommended fairy-tale intake for one day.


I especially like how you describe all sorts of brutalities and criminal acts and then say there was no crime. Absolutely brilliant!

 

[squarejohn]

This post provides 100% of the government recommended fairy-tale intake for one day.


I especially like how you describe all sorts of brutalities and criminal acts and then say there was no crime. Absolutely brilliant!

Where do live? Disneyland?

I never said there was no crime. I said there was no crime in our neighborhood.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Where do live? Disneyland?

I never said there was no crime. I said there was no crime in our neighborhood.

Yeah, uh huh.

I know what you said. You exported your violence and crime.

Where did the whores come from?

What small businesses were destroyed when your father and his cronies hijacked the stock or cracked the safe?

And how do you square this fond memory of yours with your anger over your buddy getting six measly grand extorted from a multi-billion-dollar corporation that cares less about you than you care about the people your dad, with all due respect, fucked over?

You dad comes home from driving away from a robbery-- crime has come to your neighborhood, like dogshit on the bottom of a shoe.

 

[squarejohn]

Yeah, uh huh.

I know what you said. You exported your violence and crime.

Where did the whores come from?

What small businesses were destroyed when your father and his cronies hijacked the stock or cracked the safe?

And how do you square this fond memory of yours with your anger over your buddy getting six measly grand extorted from a multi-billion-dollar corporation that cares less about you than you care about the people your dad, with all due respect, fucked over?

You dad comes home from driving away from a robbery-- crime has come to your neighborhood, like dogshit on the bottom of a shoe.

Did you really believe all that stuff, Stella? Actually, I'm a pathological liar; it's impossible for me to tell the truth. Do you believe me?

 

[Stella_Omega]

Did you really believe all that stuff, Stella? Actually, I'm a pathological liar; it's impossible for me to tell the truth. Do you believe me?

Do I care? Nope, I don't. You exhibit cleverness without mindfulness, it's interesting. You make an interesting fiction device.

 

[squarejohn]

Do I care? Nope, I don't. You exhibit cleverness without mindfulness, it's interesting. You make an interesting fiction device.

This is all entertainment. Right? Some people react like a caged bear being poked with sharp sticks. I get a lot of laughs out of this and I'll bet you and most everybody else does, too.

 

[Stella_Omega]

This is all entertainment. Right? Some people react like a caged bear being poked with sharp sticks. I get a lot of laughs out of this and I'll bet you and most everybody else does, too.

You're not supposed to confess it though. If you warn people they're being played for fools, they won't play any more.

Naw, I'm going to put a guy into my big story, he will think like you do-- one step ahead, never two or three. I love the idea of a guy who really thinks that there was no crime in his neighborhood because the local mafia stomps it out of anyone that tried. That's the kind of stupid I see all the time in real life.



There's a village in India that boasts that they've "never lost a daughter" to any other village, meaning in marriage. They've done that by killing ALL of the girl babies that have been born there. All the young men bring brides back from other villages, ones that don't kill their daughters.

They've been having to go further and further ways nowadays, because the knowledge of this all-girl infanticide has gotten around, and women like to have daughters.

Your idea of entertainment is kind of small beans.

 

[squarejohn]

You're not supposed to confess it though. If you warn people they're being played for fools, they won't play any more.

I look at all this back and forth as an electronic, quasi-intellectual, kind of, arm wrestling. In real life, I have my hands as full as everyone else.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Spamming will get you banned-- practically the only thing that will.