Lounge question: Godfather II is on tonight. So what would you have done...

[Robeson]

...with Fredo? :freak:

[LeftyFingerPop]

1. Not killed him as long as his mother was still alive...

oh...wait....that's what happened :)

[Robeson]

5. Christ, with your multitude of hearts, I can't believe no one has given you...

...an Evil DU'er heart yet. Bunch of slackers on this site.

[Danger Mouse]

2. Snuff him. It's the only way.

[GOPisEvil]

3. I'd have kept him close by.

He'd have a daily reminder of what he'd done. Killing him was almost a relief for Fredo. However, I suspect killing Fredo was more about putting on a show for his enemies.

[Shell Beau]

4. Well, I will speak as if I were a gangsta. He had to be dealt with.

He was getting in the way of business. He didn't have to be killed. He did need to be dealt with seriously.

[rug]

6. I'd nominate him for Secretary of Commerce.

[Robeson]

8. BEST. ANSWER. EVER!...

...:rofl:

[PaddyBlueEyes]

7. remember the chainsaw scene from Scarface

Bingo.

[Jamastiene]

9. Strangled him with his own entrails.

Homo don't play. :smoke:

[Robeson]

11. Damn. Ain't no shame in your game....

...;-)

[nomorenomore08]

12. Doesn't look much like a king *or* priest to me...

:P

[leeroysphitz]

10. What can I do? He went against the FAMILY.

[JVS]

13. He has to forgive him.

The central exchange to the whole trilogy is when Michael discusses the possibility of losing his family and his mother assures him that he can never lose his family. Michael makes a liar out of her by destroying his family. Beginning with his brother in law, extending to his brother, the disintegration of his marriage, and ultimately the death of his daughter. Now, some would say that Fredo went against the family. To them I offer several points. Fredo's involvement in the plot to harm Michael and his family is not that of explicit conspirator. Although it is never made clear exactly how involved he was in the planning of the attack, the role that Fredo most probably played was restricted to being eager for business unrelated to his brother's business (similar to Jerry Lundegard of Fargo) and his culpability in the attack on his Brother would be identical to that held by Sonny, whose unwise comment to Salazzo indicated an eagerness to do business that launched an attempt on Vito's life. Did the family try to kill Sonny? Whereas Vito forgave his son, Michael is incapable of forgiving his brother. The question arises concerning whether Fredo is a threat. At the time of his death Fredo was no longer a threat, having been kept outside of the family business for years (the duration of his mother's life) without compromising the security of Michael's nuclear family. Finally, we are left to question what Michael's understanding of the family's criminal undertakings are. In GFII we see young Vito establishing this criminal enterprise at a humble level as a means of ensuring the survival of the family. By the end of Vito's reign, with the death of Sonny, Michael losing his civilian status, and the necessary exile of Michael; we already see that this business is beginning to take a toll on the family rather than protect it. Vito laments this fact shortly before his death when he tells Michael that he had never wanted Michael to be involved with the family's criminal empire. Kay also points to the deleterious effect of the "sick sicilian thing" when she is declaring their marriage over. Michael seems to have lost sight of the fact that the business exists for the survival of the family, which is the assumption underlying his mother's assertion that he cannot lose his family. Because Michael keeps getting pulled back into the crime business, a business which his family no longer needs, it seems that he is putting the business ahead of the family and he does lose his family and dies alone with an orange.

[Robeson]

14. That's a lot to ponder, JVS...

...I think with Michael, the family was a business. Anything that damaged that business, also damaged the family. It wasn't nuanced. He simply looked at potential threats, and felt threats had to be dealt with. If the threat came from without - or within - it mattered not.

But, I do get your point.

He was very destructive within his family, but the questions has to be asked, would the enterprise have lasted as long, if he had not been?

[Bake]

30. I think he DID forgive him, as a brother. But he still had to whack him.

He had to. It was business.

Bake

[Darth_Kitten]

15. Press Agent for the Octuplets' Mom

:hide:

[MilesColtrane]

16. Fredo cooperated with fuckers who were trying to whack me.

If he knew what he was doing, he deserves to die.

If he didn't, he's too stupid to live, and is a fatal liability to the continued viability of the family.

Either way, he sleeps with da fishes.

[Robeson]

17. Hey MC, can I employ you to deal with the credit card companies...

...that keep calling me? ;-)

[MilesColtrane]

24. The credit card companies work for the family.

Where do you think they learned how to conduct business?

My services are not for sale, but I may consider doing this for you.

Just know that one day I may call upon you for a favor. That day may be soon, or it may never come. If, however, it does, you must do this favor for me, whatever it is, and at whatever cost to you it entails.

Capiche?

[MrSlayer]

18. Burned his head off with an acetylene torch.

Fredo was an idiot, regardless of what his own opinion was on that point.

[EastTennesseeDem]

19. Shot him in a canoe in the back of the head while the cinematographer

shoots our silhouettes against the lake and the woods in the late afternoon.

The Oscars love that shit, dawg!

[Lethe]

20. forgiven him, and kept him out of the family business

almost every scene Fredo is in, he is pathetic, but you can tell he admires Michael. There was no cause to kill him.

[Robeson]

21. You're a good person, though clearly outnumbered. Seems like the consensus...

...on this thread is to whack him.

[friendly_iconoclast]

22. In the context of the movie (and real mob life)

one in the brainstem was pretty merciful considering his half-assed machinations had almost
gotten Michael assasinated.

By the time Fredo is killed, Michael is already 'lost', and seeing
enemies (real and imagined) everywhere. After the night machine-gun assault,
and knowing of his secret dealings with Hyman Roth and Johnny Ola,
Michael can only see Fredo as a traitor who must be eliminated

[Zavulon]

23. Exactly what Michael did.

Fredo had to go.

[Lost in CT]

25. Left him in Cuba... nt

[OmahaBlueDog]

26. I'd have made him appear in the Godfather Part III, that's what I'd have done!

...and then, I'd have strapped him to a chair and made him watch it (a la "A Clockwork Orange")

Heck, shooting him and dumping him in Lake Tahoe was merciful compared to what was in store in the third flick.

[Paladin]

29. God, You're Really Heartless, Aren't You?

Beautiful post. Well done.

[Blue_Tires]

27. invited him to help on a bank robbery so i can pay for my sex change operation

[Burma Jones]

28. I would have made him carry the Ring to Mordor.....

[Debi]

31. Michael did it right

but watch out for Connie.