Thank you TB!
We even see glorification with real life mobsters. Especially back in the 80's when John Gotti was dodging accusations, charges, convictions, etc. from the governement, and the media hyped him, sort of making him "the people's man." They basically portrayed him as the poor italian who was getting picked on by the governement! If you remember when he beat one of his last court cases, the people outside the courts CHEERED as he walked down the steps, and the residents of Howard Beach threw him a victory party in the streets! Talk to almost any resident of Howard Beach and they will tell you that John Gotti was a hero in that community and that he got a bum rap!!! Talk about glorifying a gangster! Yes, in the scope of things in regards to "underworld standards" Gotti was a man's man, one of the only ones who did his time like a man and never turning rat as most of the other mobsters have done. So in viewing this from within "the life" yes, he is someone to be admired for what he did. But from the view of a legitimate civilian, there is nothing that should ever be glorified, for he was what he was. While it is obvious that I myself have a Gotti avatar, and a Gotti quote as my signature, in no way do I percieve this guy as a hero. We post on these boards and are interested in the lives of mobsters, be it fictional, non-fictional, or what have you, but it is an interest for us, and not to glorify these people. I know that speaking for myself, my interest lies in this sort of genre because of the people that I grew up around, and because of my curiosity of what makes someone choose the path to this sort of a life. So I think that we want to read books, watch movies, etc. in order to get into the minds of some of these people to see what made or makes them tick. There is no question that some of these mobsters are very intruiging, as I have always been intriuged by the Luciano's, Lansky's and Bugsy's of the underworld, as I thought it very interesting that these guys had a knack for the business world, a knack for making money,but yet chose to take the "easy" path in life to acheive and get whatever they wanted.
Read about them, yes. Watch them on the screen, yes. Talk about them, yes. Show interest in them, yes. Glorify them, never!
Don Cardi
