The Haves and Have Nots

Let's talk "Sopranos." If you're not all caught up with the latest season of the show, do not read the rest of this post, because I'm totally going to give stuff away. Oh, but at the very end of the post, I'm going to mention that I really really love the new TV on the Radio album, Return to Cookie Mountain, so instead of reading all these spoilers and ruining your enjoyment of this fine season of television, go download a few sample tracks from Red Blondehead.

Alright, with that business dispensed with, I love how "The Sopranos" never quite goes thematically where I expect. Sometimes, I can figure out where the plotlines themselves are headed. That Tony's cousin Tony, ably played by Steve Buscemi, would freak out and need to be dispensed with...I don't think that was a complete shock for anyone. Also, enjoyable though it was to watch Joe Pantoliano have fun with the character, I think we all knew Tony would have to whack Ralphie a good season ahead of time.

But the ways the show choses to explore these topics always feels fresh, always comes at things from a different perspective than I wold have anticipated. This year, it's been all about pulling back the curtain on Tony's whole world, exposing the inner demons haunting these guys in the quiet moments between acting like a hood.

Tony, the man who's always in charge, has been extremely vulnerable all season. Not only was he shot by his elderly uncle, needing to defend his position at the head of the crime family by beating the hell out of his young driver, but in the fog of his coma, he dreamed about transforming into an ineffectual businessman who has lost his wallet.

Paulie, the quintessential tough guy, is crippled by the knowledge that his mother is not who she seemed to be. Silvio, the supporting right-hand man, pines for the status and responsibility of Tony's job more than he's ever let on. And, of course, Vito forces them all to confront an extremely awkward reality - that behind their macho heterosexual posturing, a surprising number of them have dabbled in man-love both in and out of prison.

What I enjoyed about this weeks episode, in particular, was how once again we see how poorly these guys fit into the world outside their insulated little sphere of East Coast gangsterism. Christopher, used to getting what he wants through his connects to Tony Soprano and his money, doesn't have corporate sponsorship like a celebrity. His ideas, which New Jersey mooks have to tell him sound great, don't get any respect from Sir Ben Kingsley. Finally, the big career criminal, the Made Guy, is reduced to a glorified purse snatcher. The scene itself is hilarious, but the aftermath, with Chris on the plane back to his safe haven of Jersey, is kind of heart-breaking. He's got a violent streak and criminal connections, and that's enough to be a mobster, but it won't get you very far anywhere else.

James Wolcott doesn't agree, which is unfortunate, because he's a much better writer than I am.
But Sunday the Sopranos temporarily abandoned Vito to his antiquing and fobbed off an episode partially involving Christopher and associate flying to LA to pitch a film idea to Ben Kingsley poolside at what looked like the Bev Hills Four Seasons, salivating at the luxury freebies dispensed to unneedy celebrities, and, after taking extreme umbrage after getting the Hollywood brushoff, mugging Lauren Bacall for her goodie bag and burning rubber to the airport. A more egregious, extraneous expedition it'd be hard to imagine. Introducing Kingsley and Bacall into the terrarium of The Sopranos was arch and implausible (I didn't buy for a moment that Christopher would be able to nab a meeting with Kingsley), similar to the stunt casting near the end of Miami Vice's run and compounded by the cameo appearance of series creator David Chase himself near the end.

Ouch. No show wants to be compared to late seasons of "Miami Vice."

I would point out to Wolcott that the Hollywood-East Coast mob connection isn't really all that unthinkable. I've heard tales of certain film productions becoming infiltrated by mobsters, who gain access to the set through their union connections. Was the episode a bit far-fetched? Perhaps. But it's not like "The Sopranos" hasn't explored Chris' fascination with Hollywood before. Remember his stint as an advisor to Jon Favreau?

Having The Sopranos slop over into Entourage and Ricky Gervais's Extras starfuckiness made a show already afflicted with acute self-consciousness go even more meta on us. I also decline to give Kingsley and Bacall points for being good sports. Everybody in show biz is a good sport these days, poking fun at their own celebrity image, going along with the gag, no matter how lamebrain it is (Christopher to Bacall: "You were great in 'The Haves and Have Nots'"). When Hollywood stars played themselves on I Love Lucy, they weren't catering to cynicism about celebrity and autographing it with their own smirk; they presented genial versions of themselves. I prefer those antics to the hip jadedness that's become de rigueur today and winks at the audience as it winks back. All that winking has degenerated into a spastic tic.

Kind of unfair to lump "Sopranos" in with "Entourage" merely because of a one-off episode in which some stars appear as themselves. The entire show "Entourage" is built around pretending to exist in the real world of Hollywood celebrity. Without cameos and real locations in LA, there would be no show. "Sopranos" exists in a tremendously detailed world of its own creation, that occasionally intersects for the sake of humor with real-world Hollywood. Not exactly analogous. (Also, how could you make a show about an extra on movie sets without working in well-known actors? It's an obvious decision.)

But he does make a good point. The winking ironic stance is getting a bit tiresome from television. Today, I watched an episode of "Wonder Showzen" on MTV2 which, while amusing, perfectly demonstrates the ultimate result of all this po-mo self-aware cynical irony. For those not in the know, "Showzen" parodies children's programming, in particular shows like Sesame Street or Barney. In essence, "Showzen" uses the condescending, playful style of these shows to discuss human weakness, perversity and degredation. So you get "Sesame Street" style animated segments about suicidal depression, bits with puppets interviewing sad homeless people and kids saying the darndest things at Ground Zero in New York.

Some of it's funny. That bit with a kid interviewing strangers about the nature of comedy at Ground Zero in particular made me laugh a few times. But it's not really good satire, or anything else when you get right down to it. The show doesn't really have a point about children's programming, and it doesn't have anything to say about human nature that you wouldn't get from reading a depressed 16 year old's journal. It's just pure snark, disaffection for disaffection's sake, a sneer at the notion of being entertained in the first place.

"You want entertainment or uplift or insight? Screw you, dweeb!" Wonder Showzen seems to say. And I get the similarity with "The Sopranos" in some ways. Casting Ben Kingsley as himself and then pitting him against your fictional character, particularly when there are important, thoughtful storylines already going on, in some ways just calls attention to the artifice of the show instead of taking the drama seriously. It's a cop-out in a way.

So I get that, kind of, but I still thought it was a great, perceptive and entertaining episode. Thoughts?

Oh, and you should all check out the new TV on the Radio album, Return to Cookie Mountain. I'd write a whole post, but I don't really have that much to say because I've only heard it a few times. But it's fantastic. Maybe I'll write a more complete review in a few days...