(VIDEO) Tony Soprano agrees with Rick "Man-on-Dog" Santorum

[Greeby]

http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gmarchive/2006/04/tony_knows_rick_1.html

:evilgrin:

[ShaneGR]

1. Senator Sanatorium

san·a·to·ri·um ( P ) Pronunciation Key (sn-tôr-m, -tr-)
n. pl. san·a·to·ri·ums or san·a·to·ri·a (-tôr-, -tr-)
An institution for the treatment of chronic diseases or for medically supervised recuperation.
A resort for improvement or maintenance of health, especially for convalescents. Also called sanitarium.

I do think it's important to keep in mind the Sapranos is a fictional story about New Jersey mobsters, if in real life a Captain of a New Jersey crime family was outed, you'd probably see something very similar to what you're seeing in the show, maybe worse. It's gonna be interesting to see what Tony ends up ordering. It would be quite shocking if Tony ordered him to be killed (Doesn't typically fit his character). I'd guess he gets killed by the other mobster who's related to his wife.

[trumad]

2. That's why the Sopranos are so briliant.

That's exactly how you would expect Tony Soprano to react.... and at the same time they include a major diss at Santorum. Classic.

[Atman]

3. I like that he called him "Sanatorium." BUT...

I think the addition of the Al Q angle was overtly transparent Bush bashing by the writers. More power to 'em, if you ask me. But the conversation with Meadow about the Afghani family just didn't belong...it seemed very forced. And it got worse when Christopher, a numb-nut bigot character, suddenly is well-versed on the differences between muslims and Al Q. It was about as believable as if he started talking about quantum physics, imho. It just didn't seem to fit.

[alcibiades_mystery]

4. Actually, I thought Christopher's dialogue was great, and very nuanced

His entire justification was that "Mohammed and his girlfriend have a dog."

This extreme non-sequitor (this is what you call "well-versed on the differences between muslins and Al Q"?!?) says a helluva lot about the way he constructs Otherness. It was such an absurd answer that it was perfect for Christopher.

[Atman]

5. That was SUBTLE?

Wasn't it a reference to the Abu Ghraib use of dogs to terrorize prisoners? It is a cultural thing, I believe. Muslims are generally afraid of dogs because of their religious beliefs. And dumb-fuck Christopher was supposed to know that much about Islam? I didn't buy it for a minute.

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. That wasn't it at all

Christopher noted that they had a dog - not because he supposedly knew that "Muslims don't like dogs" or anything so stupid - but because he considers owning a dog to be a familiar American practice, period (can't be a bad guy if you have a dog). That was it. You're reading is bizarre - no wonder you think the dialogue was not subtle...you're importing an idiosyncratic reading into it and ruining it completly.

[Atman]

7. One of us is interpreting wrong, obviously.

Funny how you assume it's me! I assumed it was you. Amazing how that works. I think it's pretty incredible that you were able to read so much into Christopher's dog comment to be sure it was only because Americans like dogs. But in reality, Muslims generally have a cultural/religious dislike of dogs. Given that, why do you assume my reading of it is the wrong one?

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. Because it is thoroughly out of character with Christopher

As even you admit.

Your reading is not wrong; it's just silly. Christopher's character is always written with little bits of comedy - like Christopher assuming that a guy who lives with his girlfriend and owns a dog couldn't be a terrorist. What's funny about it is its non sequitor status - it literaly makes no sense, like most of Christopher's theories about the world. But no, for you, the writers were attributing to Christopher some extensive knowledge of Muslim cultural practices. You'd be right that such knowledge would be heavy-handed and completely out of character. Reality schmeality: the show is almost always internally consistent in its writing of characters, as it is in this case.

[Atman]

9. On the other Sopranos thread, the poster had an entirely different take

He called Christopher "the enlightened one" on the show. Your responses are beginning to sound insulting and defensive. We can drop this now if you'd like. I think I have a very valid point, and if you'd like to discuss it without the snarky insults, I'd be happy to. Start here, perhaps...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=946974&mesg_id=948169

[alcibiades_mystery]

11. But that's not what you think

For you, Christopher is a dumb fuck and numb nuts (I'd also disagree vehemently that christopher is the "enlightened one"). In any case, it is completely inconsistent, in my view, for Christopher to have knowledge of Muslim cultures that would allow him to "read" Mohammed's dog that way. He even says so himself to the FBI agents when they stop in at Satriale's and ask him to keep his eyes open. It is much more consistent for Christopher to fix on something like dog-ownership as "normal."

Look at his other "evidence":

They're gun nuts, but they're harmless
They hate that protest shit on the cartoons, because the protestors make Islam look bad
Mohammed's brother works as a government interrogator in Lebanon or Syria or wherever the fuck
Plus, Mohammed and his girlfriend own a dog

It's supposed to be a funny line, as I read it, more Christopher indicting himself as simplistic than revealing himself as an expert on Muslim cultures. Christopher picked up these snatches of information in conversation with the guys. Items 2 and 3 actually make some sense, but come straight from the horse's mouth, as it were. Item 4 makes no sense, and is Christopher drawing his own conclusion from dubious evidence. It's a joke - on Christopher.

Now, that said, I did think the Meadow stuff was way over-the-top, but it was also utterly consistent with meadow's character. Like her mother, she gets all involved in random learning from time to time, then takes it to its extreme. This season also sees meadow asserting herself as a knowledgeable young adult, but it is always pegged about 1 decibel too high, like her nonsenses in the hospital, and now her "knowledge" of the law. So, it was over-the-top, but only because Meadow is over-the-top - the quintessential case of a little knowledge being a dangerous thing.

[ShaneGR]

10. Ya, I see it the way you see it....

The guy sees a muslim and his girlfriend living with a dog and equates that to typical American behavior which in his own mind means they can't be terrorists. Very simple, which fits Christopher to a glove.

The other poster read WAY to far into it IMO.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

12. I think Meadow is a young woman who's eyes are opening to the world.

With that comes passion for a cause and at the same time she remains blind. I didn't feel as if her passion was forced in regard to the Afghanistani family at all, and of course loved it when she gave the spiel about the Shrub and our rights being eroded. Then you had the irony of her position pointed out. The last scene between Meadow and her boyfriend. She's concerned about people's rights, and he by way of the discussion points out something very important. Her father and cohorts took their sense of justice into their own hands, never giving their victims their rights.

[stanwyck]

13. And Carmella voted for Bush

which fits with her Republican blonde "I'm all about the money. And I don't care who has to die so I can drive my Porsche, wave my gold jewelry around, and swim in my pool."
Meanwhile, listen to me spout my spirituality and family values. So what if my husband kills people for a living? He's just another CEO...you know, like Halliburton and Enron.
But little spitfire Meadow keeps ranting back at Mom with her liberal tirades. Bless her.