Originally posted by Don Cardi:
It's the "clever" writng of Puzo and directing of FFC that make the viewer see a character lik Vito as a "good guy." We are shown a side of Vito that refuses to deal in drugs and that makes the viewer say, oh, he's not so bad. We are shown a side of Vito that despises infidelity by a married man, and the viewer says to themsleves " see, he has morals." We are shown a side of Vito that portrays a Robinhoodesque air about him because he helps a poor old widow fight a mean landlord. Very clever writing! These are the kinds of attributes used by a writer that makes the viewer almost root for the bad guy to get away or win! But as both SC and Turnb [b]e ll, I mean Bull
have both said, this is not a really nice guy when you get down to the nitty gritty!
Don Cardi
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Superb analysis, DC! And, for the record:
Vito didn't oppose drugs because he was concerned about protecting the community from the horrors of addiction. He was against drugs on self-interest: he saw (correctly as it turned out) that "drugs will be the ruination of us all." Drugs also constituted a threat to his regular businesses--the cops and politicians who were supportive of his gambling/unions rackets wouldn't go along with him on drugs.
