Always keen to be right at the cultural cutting edge, I started watching the Sopranos last night. Season 1, episode 1. It's very good, isn't it? You can quote me on that, should the series need promoting.
I have of course seen the Sopranos before, but never with any success. The problem is that I have never been able to tell any of the characters apart. It's like when white people say that all black people look the same, I think that all Italian Americans look the same, especially the middle aged men. I think it's because they all have the same hair colour. It always amazes me when I ask someone for a description of a person, and they say "oh, such and such an age, yea tall, kind of skinny." (Well that would be a particularly stupid thing to say, but you know what I mean.) And I'm like: Hair you fool! HAIR! Anyway, in the past, when I have on a sporadic basis watched an episode of the Sopranos, I just got a headache thinking hang on, isn't he the guy who - no, that's the one that - wait, didn't he get whacked? (Not to mention trying to remember whether Dr Melfi is played by Lorraine Bracco or Edie Falco, but that's a private hell of my own making.) How am I supposed to tell? I'm just looking at the hair and the eyebrows.
(Incidentally, on the subject of white people thinking all black people look the same, my sister lived for a while on a Caribbean island with very few white people, and none of the black people there could tell the white people apart. It's a familiarity thing I think, you just don't know what differentials to look for. I obviously haven't met enough Italian Americans to guide me through this difficult time.)
Anyway, the makers of the Sopranos were kind enough to pepper the first episode with several mentions of the characters' first names, so that you can start getting a grip of who is who and maybe start noticing other helpful determinants to keep them apart in your mind. Determinants like Christopher being the most repellant character I have ever encountered in any television show, ever. It's quite impressive: I have watched The Office.
So yes, as I said, episode one, very good. I'll let you know what I think of the finale in about, oh, eight years.
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If you've got access to all 6 series and you're anything like me, don't worry, it won't take you anything like eight years, closer to eight weeks. The Sopranos is, as you say, very good and so I kept hitting play and my one episode a night easily became two or three. Immerse yourself and you will watch those haircuts subtly change (pay particular attention to Paulie's "wings"). I envy you starting at the beginning, you've got it all to come. When you're out the other side read my post (http://justwilliamsluck.blogspot.com/
2007/09/sopranos.html) and see if you feel the same way.
"I envy you starting at the beginning, you've got it all to come."
Yes, I feel a bit smug about that - like my sister must have done, all those years ago, when I'd bolt my sweets and she'd savour hers slowly as I looked on in envy...
I've not tried Sopranos yet but a couple of weeks ago we started The West Wing.... What a treat and it's so nice to know that we can watch seven seasons worth of material back to back. If we so choose. Which we might. OK - will.
Hang on - maybe this is why I am getting very little reading or work done!
isn't in 9 series? welcome to my favourite poison. If you hurry up you'll catch me up and we can start comparing notes.
Hair indeed. It's only in the last couple of years that I've noticed how often women I know will describe someone (especially otger women) by referring to their hair colour first, often accompanied by a hand gesture to delineate the length or shape of it.
Whereas, men? "John. John. Oh, you know John - tall, quite big nose, talks rubbish all the time. John."
No references to hair at all, you'd think all men were bald.
J
So it's not just me. Why don't men ever mention hair, why? Is it because they think it will make them look gay?
Also: John, was that a description of you? And what is your hair like?
"It's like when white people say that all black people look the same"
Does anyone actually still say this? I don't think I've ever heard it outside of some TV programme. Maybe the BNP or NF, but let's face it, they are morally myopic anyway. But otherwise, surely just a cliche? Sort of thing I'd expect from you North London intelligentsia. Ha, I see your cliche and out-cliche you! ;)
With regards going through old series - we're currently midway through 5 seasons and 5 films of Bab5. Sci-fi at it's crazy best.
Bro
Sorry Bro, that was lazy shorthand. I don't think that white people actually *say* that all black people look the same. But I do think they can struggle to tell them apart, and can voice this in cringily crass terms eg telling any black person they meet that they look like some famous but utterly different-looking black person - a phenomenon that I have observed in person.
On that note I was watching season 1 of The Wire recently (maybe the best thing I've ever seen on TV) and about half the cast is black, and I did have trouble telling some of the minor characters apart even after twelve episodes, so I really should include myself in that one too.
Marie: Yes, that would pretty much describe me, I guess. And my hair's moderately long (I keep saying 'cut it like Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver', but thankfully the man with the scissors knows better). Oh, and as for why men don't mention it, lord knows, though we're not as hair-aware generally; once you get beyond the long/bob distinction, I find it hard to find the right terms for female haircuts, I must admit...
Anon: I think I've heard people say this, but generally people who probably have questionable views on race anyway. Kind of like the way people might say 'and Bono's an idiot' as the finishing-off of a diatribe about U2, if that analogy makes sense.
But I know what you all mean about the thrill of boxed sets; my intended bought me s2 of "Twin Peaks" for Valentine's Day and I'm looking forward to watching the entirety of it with her (she's never seen any of it, so part of my glee comes from wondering how she'll react).
J
I think it's fair to say that we tend to watch only boxed sets in my house. My adult son, in particular, will watch an entire season of House Md, or 24, or indeed The Sopranos in around three days (assuming it's a bank holiday). He just doesn't like waiting a week for the next episode.
Indeed one of the Sopranos episodes reminded me of Peter Gunn, and I watched four half-hour episodes of that in a row.
Oh blimey, The Soprano's is bloody good. Literally, ha ha.
re hair: there is a bouffant thang happening on Soprano's, a lot of really surprising hair, none more so than Paulie Walnut's (was there ever a better name?) but you will get the hang of it.
Christopher became a telly crush of mine, much to my own disgust, there was something about that nose...
What is so clever about the series is when you become implicated yourself by cheering for more mayhem and blood and revenge, and then you suddenly come to, and shudder. Brilliant dialogue as well, complex layering of story lines, fantastic acting, truly superior tv. Enjoy!
That was not me, that was Anna! And it was generally ice lollies. In any case, I am extremely jealous as I LOVED the Sopranos but emigrated long before the end. So you know what to get me and Paulo next time you're stuck for a birthday/Christmas/whatever present.
And I admit that, while in general I have visual recognition problems with anyone, they are much worse when it comes to black people, precisely because of the lack of obvious differentials like hair and eye colour. Not great when you live in Mozambique! But then again, they can't tell me and other white women apart either.
To return to Bro's point, last night at the pub quiz, the compere made a joke about Chris Rock looking like Chris Eubank. Which he doesn't - oh, except that they're both black.
Well, I look like Richard Armitage. Honest.
Bro.
PS. Who's Chris Rock? (Am I showing my age?)
Marie, I missed pretty much all the Sopranos. Then it got too long and late for me to enter the fray. Then we borrowed some episodes from my sis who is big fan, then we didn't watch them all either and gave them back... However my other half was hooked. So you've now given me a really good idea for his birthday (and I was getting desperate, so thanks for that!) and I've bought series 1 for him. And maybe we'll get through it by next Christmas!!
On the hair thing and blokes. My husband used to have hair that could only be described as bouffant (well we did meet in the 80s), but I liked it. As he has grown older, his hairline has receded alarmingly, so now if he grows it long it flops all over the place but not in a good way. So he has it cut short. Only he is too mean to pay for the barbers, and has bought his own hair cutting kit. We are constantly arguing about why I won't cut his hair (because if I do it wrong you'll never forgive me, der-brain), except the other week he forgot to put the guard on and had one side looking like a football pitch and the other like a field of corn. He had to wear a hat to work so as not to frighten his patients. I still would like more of it. Hair that is. But he'll only grow face fungus which I detest. Sigh...
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