Tony Soprano

Tony Soprano is the main character of The Sopranos: the head of a mafia family who is also a husband and a father. Issue.16 gives the essentials itself. It says the series premiered on HBO on January 10, 1999, that the character and the show were created by David Chase, that James Gandolfini played a mob boss for 8 years, and it names the actors who played Carmela Soprano, Meadow Soprano and Dr. Jennifer Melfi.

The introduction of Issue.16 says the edition is perhaps a scolding in disguise, in the same Italo-American way that James Gandolfini did through his character Tony Soprano. The chapter on heroes and villains then argues that society is past the archetype of perfect heroes and that The Sopranos popularized the anti-hero, a protagonist who fully embodies an imperfect human nature.

In the section with the character's name, the author writes that Tony develops around his therapy sessions, where he tries to understand the root cause of his anger issues so that, regardless of the lifestyle he inherited from his ancestors, he can be a better father and husband. The author adds that many negative stereotypes and prejudices are also reinforced through Tony, but that anti-heroes are not written to be entirely loveable.

The edition then returns to the actor. It says that perhaps the most significant sacrifice Gandolfini made was grasping as much of Tony's shadowy and evil side as he could, because that part of the character can represent buried aspects of the personality in every one of us. For the edition, Tony Soprano is the legacy Gandolfini left, and a reason to celebrate.