Originally Posted by Evita
Originally Posted by Capri
He got no fatherly love fatherly guidance fatherly responsibility Great Mafia King but no father

I reckon, the Great Mafia King neglected his blood family, leaving all sorts of needless problems behind

Sonny
No guidance to hotheaded, bad Don and blind eye to his infidelity

Fredo
He was left rudderless, resulting him turning traitor for his kid brother's murder, to be Don

Michael
The only mentoring he got was coaching him about the Baptism massacre and leaving him with a murderous legacy

Connie
deaf ear to spousal abuse, resulting in Sonny's murder


I think you're being a bit harsh on Vito here.

We see him criticize Sonny for the "comedy" with Lucy Mancini and his outburst in the Sollozzo meeting. Surely there was plenty of other guidance we didn't see onscreen. And the coaching of Michael we see is clearly just part of their interactions after Michael's return from Sicily.

As for Fredo, we really don't know what support he got from his father. He did seem to be treated well and warmly, although Vito's "Fredo was..well..." comment was dismissive but also probably accurate as to his potential. I've always wondered whether Fredo's childhood pneumonia we see in GFII left him permanently diminished.

I do agree that Vito's apparent unwillingness to meddle in Connie's romance with Carlo was very harmful to pretty much everyone in the Family, including Connie.

"A man in my position cannot afford to be made to look ridiculous!"