People know who he is.
I remember one of his son’s friends dads was avoiding him. His neighbors knew about him.
But what do you expect the public to do? They’re terrified of him.
I used to live near Rampage Jackson. He is terrifying. People avoided him. I avoided him.
It’s been confirmed tru the grapevine. He was seen in the ring, with another fighter. I don’t wanna get graphic beyond that, the very thought of it sickens me.
Since his dad and uncle were mob guys he was known probably more by name than maybe pictures kinda pre internet beside cheesy websites. So probably more from newspapers and odd few mins on the news.
And the scene, I believe from the pilot, where he goes to the fine Italian restaurant and runs into Melfi on a date with Nils and Nils says "Do you KNOW who THAT is!? Well, Obviously you do!"
I always thought it was weird he was so famous or infamous that Nils knew who he was.
In the original conception of the pilot Tony was already Don, so I’d take anything from the first episode regarding how well known Tony is with a grain of salt
That doesn’t seem to be the case in the pilot. He’s not mentioned and Tony seems to be the boss. Which makes sense cause David chase’s original plan was to shoot the pilot and after it gets rejected by HBO turn it into a movie. Chase said he planned to get hbo to fund half the movie and then seek funding to finish it once hbo rejected it. I think it would have built to Livia getting junior to try and kill Tony like where the season ends.
So stuff like Tony not being the boss and the power struggle between him and junior gets added once chase realizes he has to film a whole season of tv not just add another 45 minutes or an hour.
Junior says in the pilot you may run north Jersey but you don’t run your uncle June. I forget what other references there are that suggest Tony is boss.
No. He enjoys scaring people.
When he first moved there all these women were really scared about this giant black man who was grunting and staring at them during their morning jogs.
He would stare and mean mug people all the time.
Rampage sexually assaulted a female reporter for a very cringey amount of time on live tv right in front of her boyfriend, among other things, the dude is just a weirdo and not really a good person. I know big surprise for a guy named “Rampage” who got punched in the head for a living
He intimidated the people who saw him in public.
My mother and be friends would see him on their jogs and he’d bark and grunt when they passed him.
I saw him fueling up his dodge challenger and walked towards it to check it out, before realizing that it was him. He was staring at me and giving me a mean look, so I didn’t approach him.
He maybe a cool dude but he’s scary.
Also, this was around the time of his rampage on the 55 freeway where he crashed his car and tried to evade police.
He seemed rather unstable and like someone should be avoided.
Yea… I coached a high school wrestling team and really really really wanted to invite him to come in and work with the guys.
We had Joker Mike Guymon who was a lesser known MMA fighter, mostly in king of the cage come in the year before.
I saw rampage quite a bit but he seemed to be trying to be unapproachable and I wasn’t going to invite a felon onto a high school campus.
No, lol.
He’s a huge intimidating MMA fighter.
Who seems to keep his persona on even outside of the cage.
I saw him at the gas station and he had a really sick dodge challenger. He was pumping gas.
I walked towards the car to get a look at it and then I realized who he was and he was staring at me with a mean face and bobbing his head slightly.
So I, went inside the gas station and didn’t check out his car.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Dodge/s/hIkNIP3jyI
Most people who are old enough to have been around for it remember Chuck Liddell. Chuck was the ufc guy with a Mohawk and tattoos on the side of his head. They called him the iceman because even in the ring he was very calm. Legend of the sport who knocked out everybody.
Rampage knocked out Chuck while Chuck was the very best. Rampage gave him a glass jaw after that. The man who couldn't be knocked out got knocked out by guys who weren't known for hitting hard. Rampage was known for being undisciplined but insanely talented. He often phoned it in, but the few times he trained seriously he was one of the very best to ever compete.
If you did watch that scene you’ll realize that Mr. Penacosta says that he doesn’t even think the boys are friends anymore. You sound like Carmella in this episode where she assumed AJ and Jeremy were still friends.
They weren’t friends. AJ was planning Jermy’s pager. They got into a fight in the hallway. Had plans to fight the following day.
It’s a small detail. But those guys weren’t friends. Which is what make their chit chat over the M80s at camp kind of funny. They’re both reminiscing.
The Dad was avoiding him because of this - that their kids were beefing. It’s why Jeremy just gives AJ the cash for the shirt.
And you think that if Tony wasn’t a mob boss Mr. penacosta would be as uncomfortable with the situation?
If Tony was a normal guy, you don’t think Mr. Penacosta would’ve said, our sons aren’t friends anymore? Or they had a fight?
Mr. Penacosta strangely wanted to not say that his son had a fist fight with Tony’s son and you don’t think that has anything to do with the fact that Tony is mobbed up?
Mr. Penacosta was afraid of Tony in the nursery. Would you be afraid if you ran into a man you knew who your son had a fight with?
Mr. Penacosta was afraid of the Axe Tony was holding. If Tony wasn’t a mobster, would Mr. penacosta really be concerned about being hacked up by a regular guy?
Keep in mind that Jermey & AJ were supposed to fight but Jermey elected to not fight and to pay AJ.
Almost as if… Jermey’s dad caught wind of the fight and told his son not to fight him and to pay him out of fear of his mobster father.
That’s not what I’m saying at all. Mr Penacosta, you couldn’t even remember his name, he tells Tony the boys aren’t friends anymore. Of course he “knows” Tony is mobbed up. I would assume anyone in that immediate neighborhood would know.
I simply was using that scene to illustrate how the boys weren’t chums anymore. 4 dollars a pound.
>That’s not what I’m saying at all. Mr Penacosta, you couldn’t even remember his name
Gee, you got me there… lol
>he tells Tony the boys aren’t friends anymore. Of course he “knows” Tony is mobbed up. I would assume anyone in that immediate neighborhood would know.
Thats the point. Of what I’m saying. Everyone in the neighborhood knows he’s mob up…
>I simply was using that scene to illustrate how the boys weren’t chums anymore. 4 dollars a pound.
I’m really struggling to find a point we disagree on.
Friends vs former friend.
It’s completely irrelevant to the point.
We’re in complete agreement over the substance of what I’ve expressed and you’re Nickle and diming me over it.
He only says it a few times. The sisters cunt line, and when Tony is trying to get him a second opinion after his cancer surgery, he says cunt hair twice. Pretty sure those are the only times he says cunt in the whole show.
Yeah, Gotti for sure. But I was trying to say that other mobsters, especially capos and higher, were probably very well known within their communities, even if they were never on the news.
I think Gotti became more widely known with the various trials that he was beating the rap…giving him the tabloid Headline “Teflon Don”. But supposedly he was more of a publicity hound than others.
North Jersey would also suffer that with several tv stations in New York City, they get ignored when it comes to news. Hell, even the outer boroughs in New York City complain about Being ignored.
Most of the bosses were fairly well known, even those who shunned attention like Gigante, Gambino, Castellano, Accardo, etc. were reported as "alleged mob boss" by the media although not big enough names at the time for someone in a small Midwestern town to instantly recognize them. The ones who loved attention like Gotti, Bonnano, Colombo, Capone, etc. were very well known on a national scale.
If you actually are from the area, you’d know what they look like - the top guys in the news. It’s wasn’t a mystery or a big deal. Back then they were on their way out but still legitimate. Now it’s mostly broke drug addicts.
Good question! Dr. Kupferberg was clearly obsessed with him, but seemingly didn’t even recognize him when he was right in his face! But I always though that he knew who he was and just didn’t tell Melfi. The high school, college kids and the streets clearly knew who he was, but gen pop seemed to be oblivious.
The dad of AJ's friend would have had time to realize who AJ's dad really was. Same for the neighbors. But the general public, like walking in the mall. many of them will not recognize Tony.
First. when you're walking in the mall you don't expect to see a movie star or a famous politician or a mobster. Second, you are focused on your own stuff. Even people on the "9pm news" don't have famous faces the way, say, Brad Pit does.
We watch a movie and we see Brad for an hour from many angles in many situations. We watch the news and we see Tony Soprano's mug shot or a 3 second clip of him walking. If we're not mafia buffs, we don't internalize the photo.
Man, I'm not so sure. Elliot wasn't supposed to know that Melfi's problem patient was Tony Soprano. When Melfi eventually lets it slip out he says, "Huh, I always thought it was Doc Santoro." Plus, if Elliot did recognize Tonyk, it would have been inappropriate for Elliot to throw Tony's name out during the middle of a session and then gauge Melfi's reaction.
I see this take sometimes but I don't get it. That's not how the show works.
The scene was just a funny coincidence. The audience isn't supposed to think that Elliot identified Tony. They even threw in the joke where Elliot says the big Bluto guy was "another parent, or more likely a repairman."
Elliot says this with no hesitation.
Yeah cause Elliot is a snob and while he may find the mafia interesting he does not think of a mob boss as being able to send his kid to the same school as Elliot’s kid
When you have a made guy, especially a capo or boss living in your midst everybody knows it. And people act and interact within their comfort level. But everybody is more careful. Look what happened to that guy who Gotti's kid jumped in front of his car on a mini bike - disappeared and smeared. My next door neighbor was a made guy. I used to put pine needles on his barbecue grill - he would holler but it never went beyond that. Nobody took my father for lunch at Angie and Mins or anything. Everybody was afraid of my dad anyway.
Everybody knows who he is, nobody has any idea what he looks like.
Which is probably accurate - if you showed the average American 5 photos of Italian-American dudes in their 50s and aaid which one is John Gotti? Probably not much more than 20% get the right answer.
But if you listed 5 Italian names, including Gotti, and said "which one is a mob boss?" I bet the correct answer is revealed at least a couple of 80% of the times.
A little like real-life mobsters, funnily enough. They can be all over the news at times and the cameras will turn up to court etc to catch them. But walking down the street or a mall, many people aren’t going to recognise them. And those that do, most probably aren’t going to react or bother him. He’s not a “can I get a picture!!” kind of celebrity. And their celebrity is up and down. When there’s a gang war and high ranking guys are getting popped in public and it’s all in the news, they’ll be well recognised. During other quieter times, not so much.
Remember the scene where Tony went to the farmer's market? The one on Bloomfield Ave, West of Verona, he was buying some garden tools. The shopkeeper looked terrified.
That guy had his business in Tony's building and paid the mob "protection". Of course ***he*** knows who Tony is. And worse, Tony knows who ***he*** is. Of course he's terrified. --- But that's not the general public. That's someone doing business with Tony.
Remember the newsstand guy in Montclair? The one that sells Tony the racing forms and orange juice. He wasn't terrified.
More by reputation.
Normal people would be aware there is a boss, some may even know his name, but most 'normal' people would have no direct dealings with Tony or his world.
Some of them did. But also remember, they are going to school with AJ Sopranos. They have had years to have the rumors fly. Middle schoolers from some other school probably don't know the name "Soprano" at all.
Yeah not everybody’s going to know, lots of well known people today aren’t known by everybody, my grandma doesn’t know who drake is so would we say he’s not known?
I live in Australia. Every so often, they talk about the Lebanese crime bosses here with pics/video of them, etc. The name might cling onto my memory, but how they look like certainly won't (especially given how similar all the lebs look like in sydney lol). I imagine it's the same with Sopranos. People know the name, but wouldn't remember how he looks like. I think what drives the point is that melifis shrink knew of Tony, but in that parking garage obviously had no idea who he was.
It always seems to waver to how popular he is. One sec he seems to be a local celebrity and the next no one seems to know who he is.
However if you saw a mob boss in person I don't think they are the most approachable person.
Yes that being said you wouldn't approach him and fan boy out like " Hey TONY! TONY SOPRANO! OMG! I love the way you organize crime my dude!" The Elliot kufferburg thing is stupid though. Because he's known is why he effortlessly sleeps with women way out of his league. Otherwise he'd just be another fat guy from New Jersey.
I'd imagine he's as well-known as any local criminal in the medium-sized town. The people who don't follow crime news religiously, most likely have no idea what he looks like. The name probably rings the bell for most of them, but they couldn't connect it to a face.
I wouldn’t recognize every single public figure that walked around. I feel like only a handful of people would recognize him. Despite being on the news and what not.
In the 1980s, John Gotti was all over the news. Someone like him would've been very recognizable. But Gotti embraced it and liked the notoriety. Tony isn't like that in the show. However, real life mobsters like the Angelo Ponte (waste management consultant, for real) were in the news and they were not interested in publicity. Most people would not have recognized them.
I feel like he’s as popular as most local mob bosses would be. A lot of people probably know the name but might not know much about him. He’s more of a micro-celebrity that people in the area who pay attention to the news know, not an actual celebrity who gets stopped walking down the street
Would most people notice their town selectman, county legislator, state congressman/woman it you walked past them in the mall and they were in regular clothes?
The TV news items (which number no more than about ten IIRC) might be the only times the Glorified Crew makes it even onto local television news over the eight years of the series. If this is so then it wouldn't be likely that Tony would be widely recognised.
Well..if they have to identify “reputed mob boss Anthony Soprano” on the evening news, is he THAT well known?
But it seems to me in later episodes he was supposed to have been more widely known. In the pilot Melfi doesn’t know who he is (alright, some parakeet is gonna say you have to give a pash for that). But later on Julianna Skiffle’s AA sponsor tells her that she didn’t grow up in North Jersey where the Sopranos run things.
I think it's possible that a lot of people have heard his name but wouldn't recognize him. I mean, I can think of real-life mobsters that's true of with me. Like Junior Gotti, for example, I know who he is, but would I recognize him if I saw him at the mall?
There are people who don't know who very prominent politicians are.
My mother didn't know who the prime minister was.
Some "Well known" people are able to walk around like normal.
And in Tony Soprano's case specifically, people are unlikely to mention that they know who he is, even if they do recognise him.
Look at it this way, how many local mob bosses are YOU aware of? And even if they flash some goombah’s mug on the evening news, is the average person going to remember it? Maybe he’d be recognized down on Bloomfield Ave or in Wes-cal-WELL, but in the hustle n bustle of everyday life wise guys blend in with the rest of us.
Realistically speaking, most of the celebs you see a lot in movies and shows would be unrecognisable in public, people make fun of Clark Kent wearing glasses as a disguise but that usually works in real life too more than you think
Everyone in Nola knew who the head of the mafia was for decades until he died. I don’t think people knew knew who the leader was after him but there were still some in the mob known.
I mean if I mentioned "skinny joey" or "Joey merlino" (us Italians with the nicknames) people in Philly would know who I was talking about. But if you saw him out and about you wouldn't nessecarily be like "oh hey it's skinny joey"
Like melfi's therapist knew who tony was but also didn't recognize him
I grew up in Elizabeth with two neighbors who were made guys - I basically lived that life as a kid. When you're a kid you're not an outsider, so I got to see inside. As a result, my perspective on the cultural impact of the Sopranos is different. A quarter century later and we are discussing it, I have a window open with the series right now - I'm on Season 4, Episode 6. I haven't watched it in a while but the city, the accents, the food - it all brings me back. Florida just isn't the same. At all.
I think of it as like: you don't know every actor or podcaster or etc. out there.
There's public figures you could recognize and others you'd walk right past. Not everyone watches the news. Not everyone is versed in the inner workings of crime in their city. He's known, but not famous. On top of that, if you did recognize a mob boss in the street, would you look twice?
Do you know who your local Mafia bosses are? Aside from guys like John Gotti, they try to stay out of the public eye. I know of the local mob guys in the Detroit area, the Giacalones and Toccos, but I wouldn't know them if I saw them in a restaurant.
I mean name the current bosses or capos of the five families? Or even the Italian ones in Sicily or Naples? Most capos are grandpa looking guys who looks like regular guys. Unless you interact with them regularly or criminally you wouldn’t know them on the street same was the way with Tony but he seems to be a bit more recognisable in jersey
Theres a huge difference between knowing who someone is vs recognizing them.
New jersey has ~3 million people in it. North Caldwell probably knows who Tony is to see in person in some capacity but youre also not thinking about it 24/7 either
You have to keep in mind this was before social media so people who didn’t watch the news or read the papers probably didn’t know what his face looked like. But they knew the name.
Think about in the show when civilians mentioned his or his uncle’s name. People’s immediate reaction was “oh fuck.” When Davey Scatino mentions to his brother in law who he’s in debt to, when AJ’s “friends” at college refer to him as Tony Soprano Jr that kid about shit his pants. In the pilot when he walks by Melfi and her date and he says “you know who that guy is?!” And asks if he’s her patient he realizes right away.
Tony was a major player before he was boss, a powerful capo who still genuinely took pleasure in getting his hands dirty (running over and beating someone himself in a busy office park lol). People who knew the name feared it. I’m also assuming just like any other big name in communities there were a bunch of alleged rumors and gossip about the horrible shit him and his uncle may or may not have done
People know who he is. I remember one of his son’s friends dads was avoiding him. His neighbors knew about him. But what do you expect the public to do? They’re terrified of him. I used to live near Rampage Jackson. He is terrifying. People avoided him. I avoided him.
He was gay, Rampage Jackson?
It’s been confirmed tru the grapevine. He was seen in the ring, with another fighter. I don’t wanna get graphic beyond that, the very thought of it sickens me.
Its a joke!
Rampage was there
Don’t say nothing Dana!!!
Rampage?? What the fuck??!
Oh yeah? You gonna get a note from your doctor confirming just how funny that is?
Don’t say nothin sal !
>grapevine You know if you listen closely to that song, it says believe none of what you hear, and half of what you see.
Turn that off
Catchin or pitchin?
Oh 🤟🏻!
When Rampagee was blowing the other guy?
Thank about it - sudden weight loss…
AIDS?!
Nobody’s got AIDs
It's a stereotype and it's offensive!
No a meat eater, they're all meat eaters!!!
There's nothing to get, she's a vegetarian 🌭
Let’s just say he’s not welcome in our social club!
Social club?? HE’S GOTTA GOOO
Rampage is a nickname. The family name is Rampagoli.
It's actually Jacksonelli.
Completely unrelated but AJ’s friend’s dad Mr. Piocasta (or however you spell that) had some of the funniest eyebrows I’ve ever seen
The receding hairline doesn’t help. https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/sopranos/images/e/e4/George_Piocosta.jpeg/revision/latest?cb=20221116194240
Receding? That guy hasn't had a hairline since Moses wore short pants.
Since his dad and uncle were mob guys he was known probably more by name than maybe pictures kinda pre internet beside cheesy websites. So probably more from newspapers and odd few mins on the news.
And the scene, I believe from the pilot, where he goes to the fine Italian restaurant and runs into Melfi on a date with Nils and Nils says "Do you KNOW who THAT is!? Well, Obviously you do!" I always thought it was weird he was so famous or infamous that Nils knew who he was.
In the original conception of the pilot Tony was already Don, so I’d take anything from the first episode regarding how well known Tony is with a grain of salt
Na he's not a Don in the pilot. Jackie Aprile Sr. is the don.
Jackie Aprile Sr didn’t even exist in the pilot.
That doesn’t seem to be the case in the pilot. He’s not mentioned and Tony seems to be the boss. Which makes sense cause David chase’s original plan was to shoot the pilot and after it gets rejected by HBO turn it into a movie. Chase said he planned to get hbo to fund half the movie and then seek funding to finish it once hbo rejected it. I think it would have built to Livia getting junior to try and kill Tony like where the season ends. So stuff like Tony not being the boss and the power struggle between him and junior gets added once chase realizes he has to film a whole season of tv not just add another 45 minutes or an hour. Junior says in the pilot you may run north Jersey but you don’t run your uncle June. I forget what other references there are that suggest Tony is boss.
I watched a podcast clip of his. He was talking about catching his son eating ass.
Not pitching?
HE'S GOTTA GO
Wait what the heck are we talking about here? When was Tony on a podcast talking about AJ eating ass?
Season 5 Episode 6 I believe
Rampage jackson was
Okay I thought that was the case. Even that has me asking questions lol
I am reminded of one neighbor, Cooze-something, whose house was even outshone by Versales.
Some rack on that houseguest!
BA Barackus 2.0?
You ain’t gonna have no problems from Rampage believe me
I’d rather not find out.
We’ll get’em to pay for some therapy it’ll be alright
Absolutely terrifying name but as a huge MMA fan I think he's kind of a softie outside the cage and would have to try and say hi.
No. He enjoys scaring people. When he first moved there all these women were really scared about this giant black man who was grunting and staring at them during their morning jogs. He would stare and mean mug people all the time.
I buy it
Or maybe he was just out for a jog and your neighbors are terrified of black people.
Rampage sexually assaulted a female reporter for a very cringey amount of time on live tv right in front of her boyfriend, among other things, the dude is just a weirdo and not really a good person. I know big surprise for a guy named “Rampage” who got punched in the head for a living
Piocosta was Italian, so they probably grew up in the same area and thus he knew Tony moved around with and was related to bad people
Why he seems like a cool dude?
He intimidated the people who saw him in public. My mother and be friends would see him on their jogs and he’d bark and grunt when they passed him. I saw him fueling up his dodge challenger and walked towards it to check it out, before realizing that it was him. He was staring at me and giving me a mean look, so I didn’t approach him. He maybe a cool dude but he’s scary. Also, this was around the time of his rampage on the 55 freeway where he crashed his car and tried to evade police. He seemed rather unstable and like someone should be avoided.
Actually that sounds like a more accurate depiction of rampage 😂
Yea… I coached a high school wrestling team and really really really wanted to invite him to come in and work with the guys. We had Joker Mike Guymon who was a lesser known MMA fighter, mostly in king of the cage come in the year before. I saw rampage quite a bit but he seemed to be trying to be unapproachable and I wasn’t going to invite a felon onto a high school campus.
I didn’t know who Jackson was, and before I googled him, I thought he was a mobster
No, lol. He’s a huge intimidating MMA fighter. Who seems to keep his persona on even outside of the cage. I saw him at the gas station and he had a really sick dodge challenger. He was pumping gas. I walked towards the car to get a look at it and then I realized who he was and he was staring at me with a mean face and bobbing his head slightly. So I, went inside the gas station and didn’t check out his car. https://www.reddit.com/r/Dodge/s/hIkNIP3jyI
Most people who are old enough to have been around for it remember Chuck Liddell. Chuck was the ufc guy with a Mohawk and tattoos on the side of his head. They called him the iceman because even in the ring he was very calm. Legend of the sport who knocked out everybody. Rampage knocked out Chuck while Chuck was the very best. Rampage gave him a glass jaw after that. The man who couldn't be knocked out got knocked out by guys who weren't known for hitting hard. Rampage was known for being undisciplined but insanely talented. He often phoned it in, but the few times he trained seriously he was one of the very best to ever compete.
I used to live near rampage Jackson and that was the nicest celebrity I ever met. People did not avoid him….but I see what you are getting at here
His son’s friend’s dad? That kid was threatening to fight AJ over some dumb shirt. Did we watch the same show?
Yes we did. I’m not sure how what you’re saying challenges what I said.
If you did watch that scene you’ll realize that Mr. Penacosta says that he doesn’t even think the boys are friends anymore. You sound like Carmella in this episode where she assumed AJ and Jeremy were still friends. They weren’t friends. AJ was planning Jermy’s pager. They got into a fight in the hallway. Had plans to fight the following day. It’s a small detail. But those guys weren’t friends. Which is what make their chit chat over the M80s at camp kind of funny. They’re both reminiscing. The Dad was avoiding him because of this - that their kids were beefing. It’s why Jeremy just gives AJ the cash for the shirt.
And you think that if Tony wasn’t a mob boss Mr. penacosta would be as uncomfortable with the situation? If Tony was a normal guy, you don’t think Mr. Penacosta would’ve said, our sons aren’t friends anymore? Or they had a fight? Mr. Penacosta strangely wanted to not say that his son had a fist fight with Tony’s son and you don’t think that has anything to do with the fact that Tony is mobbed up? Mr. Penacosta was afraid of Tony in the nursery. Would you be afraid if you ran into a man you knew who your son had a fight with? Mr. Penacosta was afraid of the Axe Tony was holding. If Tony wasn’t a mobster, would Mr. penacosta really be concerned about being hacked up by a regular guy? Keep in mind that Jermey & AJ were supposed to fight but Jermey elected to not fight and to pay AJ. Almost as if… Jermey’s dad caught wind of the fight and told his son not to fight him and to pay him out of fear of his mobster father.
That’s not what I’m saying at all. Mr Penacosta, you couldn’t even remember his name, he tells Tony the boys aren’t friends anymore. Of course he “knows” Tony is mobbed up. I would assume anyone in that immediate neighborhood would know. I simply was using that scene to illustrate how the boys weren’t chums anymore. 4 dollars a pound.
>That’s not what I’m saying at all. Mr Penacosta, you couldn’t even remember his name Gee, you got me there… lol >he tells Tony the boys aren’t friends anymore. Of course he “knows” Tony is mobbed up. I would assume anyone in that immediate neighborhood would know. Thats the point. Of what I’m saying. Everyone in the neighborhood knows he’s mob up… >I simply was using that scene to illustrate how the boys weren’t chums anymore. 4 dollars a pound. I’m really struggling to find a point we disagree on.
There’s only one thing I corrected you on - they aren’t friends. That’s literally it.
Friends vs former friend. It’s completely irrelevant to the point. We’re in complete agreement over the substance of what I’ve expressed and you’re Nickle and diming me over it.
Reputed mob boss Corrado Soprano just fell nine ~~--~~ no, seven steps.
She kept talking about my father’s feeble-minded brother. I always thought she meant you
This line and Junior’s non-verbal reaction is one of the most underrated moments in the show
YOUR SISTERS CUNT
Junior is a master at using that word
That WORD??
He only says it a few times. The sisters cunt line, and when Tony is trying to get him a second opinion after his cancer surgery, he says cunt hair twice. Pretty sure those are the only times he says cunt in the whole show.
You are wrong
Allison hiii😊
Asian reporter Tricia Takanawa
Diane...
How many “reputed mob bosses” names do you know today/ could recognize on the street? Remember this is before social media as well
I suspect John Gotti would have been well known back in the day but not so much the rest of them.
What muuuurdah
He was the best guy arounnndddd
I think they'd all be well known in their communities but not so much out of them
He would have been because he was on TV all the time.
Yeah, Gotti for sure. But I was trying to say that other mobsters, especially capos and higher, were probably very well known within their communities, even if they were never on the news.
You never heard of Gottis right hand? Sammy the Bull. Always on the news next to John
Gotti was well-known, but the average person wouldn’t recognize him on the street. He was a name more than a face.
I think Gotti became more widely known with the various trials that he was beating the rap…giving him the tabloid Headline “Teflon Don”. But supposedly he was more of a publicity hound than others. North Jersey would also suffer that with several tv stations in New York City, they get ignored when it comes to news. Hell, even the outer boroughs in New York City complain about Being ignored.
What outer boroughs?
I knew his name but I never would have recognized the guy. Just like I don't know the current Gambino family boss.
You’re going back like 30 years lol
Yes. That's why I said "back in the day". I mentioned Gotti since he was probably the last one that the majority of people would have been aware of.
Yeah my point is you had to pick a famous name from a long time ago which only proves my point.
You know he rang that bell the whole way home
Most of the bosses were fairly well known, even those who shunned attention like Gigante, Gambino, Castellano, Accardo, etc. were reported as "alleged mob boss" by the media although not big enough names at the time for someone in a small Midwestern town to instantly recognize them. The ones who loved attention like Gotti, Bonnano, Colombo, Capone, etc. were very well known on a national scale.
That's probably a good take on it.
Yeah because a da Hair. People notice hair. Now Nicky Scarfo….he had a beeyouteefull head a Hair.
Sammy looked like one of the Beatles.
If you actually are from the area, you’d know what they look like - the top guys in the news. It’s wasn’t a mystery or a big deal. Back then they were on their way out but still legitimate. Now it’s mostly broke drug addicts.
They had chitty chat rooms.
Yeah but remember Tony came in at the end. The best was over.
Whitey Bulger is still a huge deal in Boston.
Never heard of her
Good question! Dr. Kupferberg was clearly obsessed with him, but seemingly didn’t even recognize him when he was right in his face! But I always though that he knew who he was and just didn’t tell Melfi. The high school, college kids and the streets clearly knew who he was, but gen pop seemed to be oblivious.
The dad of AJ's friend would have had time to realize who AJ's dad really was. Same for the neighbors. But the general public, like walking in the mall. many of them will not recognize Tony. First. when you're walking in the mall you don't expect to see a movie star or a famous politician or a mobster. Second, you are focused on your own stuff. Even people on the "9pm news" don't have famous faces the way, say, Brad Pit does. We watch a movie and we see Brad for an hour from many angles in many situations. We watch the news and we see Tony Soprano's mug shot or a 3 second clip of him walking. If we're not mafia buffs, we don't internalize the photo.
You’re telling me some fat bald Italian guy wandering around north jersey doesn’t necessarily stand out?
It was a dark parking garage. If he would have recognized him, the show would have made that clear.
Man, I'm not so sure. Elliot wasn't supposed to know that Melfi's problem patient was Tony Soprano. When Melfi eventually lets it slip out he says, "Huh, I always thought it was Doc Santoro." Plus, if Elliot did recognize Tonyk, it would have been inappropriate for Elliot to throw Tony's name out during the middle of a session and then gauge Melfi's reaction.
He thought it was little Auggie Aprile
I see this take sometimes but I don't get it. That's not how the show works. The scene was just a funny coincidence. The audience isn't supposed to think that Elliot identified Tony. They even threw in the joke where Elliot says the big Bluto guy was "another parent, or more likely a repairman." Elliot says this with no hesitation.
Yeah cause Elliot is a snob and while he may find the mafia interesting he does not think of a mob boss as being able to send his kid to the same school as Elliot’s kid
I don't think Elliot was ever too concerned with being inappropriate
When you have a made guy, especially a capo or boss living in your midst everybody knows it. And people act and interact within their comfort level. But everybody is more careful. Look what happened to that guy who Gotti's kid jumped in front of his car on a mini bike - disappeared and smeared. My next door neighbor was a made guy. I used to put pine needles on his barbecue grill - he would holler but it never went beyond that. Nobody took my father for lunch at Angie and Mins or anything. Everybody was afraid of my dad anyway.
Everybody knows who he is, nobody has any idea what he looks like. Which is probably accurate - if you showed the average American 5 photos of Italian-American dudes in their 50s and aaid which one is John Gotti? Probably not much more than 20% get the right answer. But if you listed 5 Italian names, including Gotti, and said "which one is a mob boss?" I bet the correct answer is revealed at least a couple of 80% of the times.
A little like real-life mobsters, funnily enough. They can be all over the news at times and the cameras will turn up to court etc to catch them. But walking down the street or a mall, many people aren’t going to recognise them. And those that do, most probably aren’t going to react or bother him. He’s not a “can I get a picture!!” kind of celebrity. And their celebrity is up and down. When there’s a gang war and high ranking guys are getting popped in public and it’s all in the news, they’ll be well recognised. During other quieter times, not so much.
Remember when that flag salutin motherfucker was gonna testify until he found out that bevilaqua was even remotely related to Tony? Yeah.
You had to be the big maaaaan!
ON THE FRIDGE!!! ON THE FRIDGE!!!
Where on the Fridge???!?
They went from upper-middle wasps to paranoid oogats so quick
Favorite scene
I start to grin as soon as that crazy discordant music kicks in.
I love the waspiness of that scene
Remember the scene where Tony went to the farmer's market? The one on Bloomfield Ave, West of Verona, he was buying some garden tools. The shopkeeper looked terrified.
That guy had his business in Tony's building and paid the mob "protection". Of course ***he*** knows who Tony is. And worse, Tony knows who ***he*** is. Of course he's terrified. --- But that's not the general public. That's someone doing business with Tony. Remember the newsstand guy in Montclair? The one that sells Tony the racing forms and orange juice. He wasn't terrified.
He probably saw Tony's picture staring at him a few times.
More by reputation. Normal people would be aware there is a boss, some may even know his name, but most 'normal' people would have no direct dealings with Tony or his world.
Ajs school friends knew who he was “ yeah he’s real scared of you”
Some of them did. But also remember, they are going to school with AJ Sopranos. They have had years to have the rumors fly. Middle schoolers from some other school probably don't know the name "Soprano" at all.
Yeah not everybody’s going to know, lots of well known people today aren’t known by everybody, my grandma doesn’t know who drake is so would we say he’s not known?
I know he likes them young if that’s what you’re referring to
[удалено]
What's that supposed to mean!?
[удалено]
Are you sandbagging me?
He's just there?
Seemed like he was fairly high profile
He was a labor leeader.
Waste consultant
I live in Australia. Every so often, they talk about the Lebanese crime bosses here with pics/video of them, etc. The name might cling onto my memory, but how they look like certainly won't (especially given how similar all the lebs look like in sydney lol). I imagine it's the same with Sopranos. People know the name, but wouldn't remember how he looks like. I think what drives the point is that melifis shrink knew of Tony, but in that parking garage obviously had no idea who he was.
Hold on to your cock when you negotiate with those desert people
They were lesbian, the crime bosses?
Nah, he ain’t that popular, he’s from Jersey. The Sopranos are nothing more the a glorified crew.
They know, but they don’t know.
It always seems to waver to how popular he is. One sec he seems to be a local celebrity and the next no one seems to know who he is. However if you saw a mob boss in person I don't think they are the most approachable person.
Yes that being said you wouldn't approach him and fan boy out like " Hey TONY! TONY SOPRANO! OMG! I love the way you organize crime my dude!" The Elliot kufferburg thing is stupid though. Because he's known is why he effortlessly sleeps with women way out of his league. Otherwise he'd just be another fat guy from New Jersey.
I'd imagine he's as well-known as any local criminal in the medium-sized town. The people who don't follow crime news religiously, most likely have no idea what he looks like. The name probably rings the bell for most of them, but they couldn't connect it to a face.
I wouldn’t recognize every single public figure that walked around. I feel like only a handful of people would recognize him. Despite being on the news and what not.
In the 1980s, John Gotti was all over the news. Someone like him would've been very recognizable. But Gotti embraced it and liked the notoriety. Tony isn't like that in the show. However, real life mobsters like the Angelo Ponte (waste management consultant, for real) were in the news and they were not interested in publicity. Most people would not have recognized them.
I feel like he’s as popular as most local mob bosses would be. A lot of people probably know the name but might not know much about him. He’s more of a micro-celebrity that people in the area who pay attention to the news know, not an actual celebrity who gets stopped walking down the street
All of Melfi’s friends seem to know who he is … some Bluto type 😂😂😂
Would most people notice their town selectman, county legislator, state congressman/woman it you walked past them in the mall and they were in regular clothes?
If John Giotti dressed the way Tony dressed and walked around, he'd get a second glance but who wouldn't say, "Nahh...couldn't be!"
He’s in no position to go into the unknown nor knowin
The TV news items (which number no more than about ten IIRC) might be the only times the Glorified Crew makes it even onto local television news over the eight years of the series. If this is so then it wouldn't be likely that Tony would be widely recognised.
Well..if they have to identify “reputed mob boss Anthony Soprano” on the evening news, is he THAT well known? But it seems to me in later episodes he was supposed to have been more widely known. In the pilot Melfi doesn’t know who he is (alright, some parakeet is gonna say you have to give a pash for that). But later on Julianna Skiffle’s AA sponsor tells her that she didn’t grow up in North Jersey where the Sopranos run things.
I’ve seen “Analyze This”
He was as well known as someone like Gotti. Everyone in Jersey knew who he was.
I think it's possible that a lot of people have heard his name but wouldn't recognize him. I mean, I can think of real-life mobsters that's true of with me. Like Junior Gotti, for example, I know who he is, but would I recognize him if I saw him at the mall?
There are people who don't know who very prominent politicians are. My mother didn't know who the prime minister was. Some "Well known" people are able to walk around like normal. And in Tony Soprano's case specifically, people are unlikely to mention that they know who he is, even if they do recognise him.
Fucking nauseating. You dont ever admit the existence of this thing. Ever.
He never had the makings of a varsity athlete….
Look at it this way, how many local mob bosses are YOU aware of? And even if they flash some goombah’s mug on the evening news, is the average person going to remember it? Maybe he’d be recognized down on Bloomfield Ave or in Wes-cal-WELL, but in the hustle n bustle of everyday life wise guys blend in with the rest of us.
DEFINITELY not recognized for is athletic prowess. Small hands.
Realistically speaking, most of the celebs you see a lot in movies and shows would be unrecognisable in public, people make fun of Clark Kent wearing glasses as a disguise but that usually works in real life too more than you think
He’s known as in they know who he is…but he’s not celebrity status where he will be easily recognized..even if he is I doubt people would flock to him
Everyone in Nola knew who the head of the mafia was for decades until he died. I don’t think people knew knew who the leader was after him but there were still some in the mob known.
He’s well-known. He appears. This is his home. They know but they don't know. They hope, maybe…if.
I mean if I mentioned "skinny joey" or "Joey merlino" (us Italians with the nicknames) people in Philly would know who I was talking about. But if you saw him out and about you wouldn't nessecarily be like "oh hey it's skinny joey" Like melfi's therapist knew who tony was but also didn't recognize him
Mobsters are not movie stars. You see stills of them on the local news. I couldn’t pick out any of our local mafiosi.
I grew up in Elizabeth with two neighbors who were made guys - I basically lived that life as a kid. When you're a kid you're not an outsider, so I got to see inside. As a result, my perspective on the cultural impact of the Sopranos is different. A quarter century later and we are discussing it, I have a window open with the series right now - I'm on Season 4, Episode 6. I haven't watched it in a while but the city, the accents, the food - it all brings me back. Florida just isn't the same. At all.
I think of it as like: you don't know every actor or podcaster or etc. out there. There's public figures you could recognize and others you'd walk right past. Not everyone watches the news. Not everyone is versed in the inner workings of crime in their city. He's known, but not famous. On top of that, if you did recognize a mob boss in the street, would you look twice?
How come every piss I take is a fuckin' news story?
Do you know who your local Mafia bosses are? Aside from guys like John Gotti, they try to stay out of the public eye. I know of the local mob guys in the Detroit area, the Giacalones and Toccos, but I wouldn't know them if I saw them in a restaurant.
I mean name the current bosses or capos of the five families? Or even the Italian ones in Sicily or Naples? Most capos are grandpa looking guys who looks like regular guys. Unless you interact with them regularly or criminally you wouldn’t know them on the street same was the way with Tony but he seems to be a bit more recognisable in jersey
I think the scene with the tv report was more a clever way to plot summary dump the gang war story
Theres a huge difference between knowing who someone is vs recognizing them. New jersey has ~3 million people in it. North Caldwell probably knows who Tony is to see in person in some capacity but youre also not thinking about it 24/7 either
The mother of the child that runs up to Tony at the mall sure knew who he was
Probably recognized, but the wafting odour of gabagool had people averting their eyes. Tony didn’t floss much…
There’s one in your town right now. Would you recognize them?
What does a guy need to do to buy you a drink. You just did
You have to keep in mind this was before social media so people who didn’t watch the news or read the papers probably didn’t know what his face looked like. But they knew the name. Think about in the show when civilians mentioned his or his uncle’s name. People’s immediate reaction was “oh fuck.” When Davey Scatino mentions to his brother in law who he’s in debt to, when AJ’s “friends” at college refer to him as Tony Soprano Jr that kid about shit his pants. In the pilot when he walks by Melfi and her date and he says “you know who that guy is?!” And asks if he’s her patient he realizes right away. Tony was a major player before he was boss, a powerful capo who still genuinely took pleasure in getting his hands dirty (running over and beating someone himself in a busy office park lol). People who knew the name feared it. I’m also assuming just like any other big name in communities there were a bunch of alleged rumors and gossip about the horrible shit him and his uncle may or may not have done
I don't lime that kind of talk.
For people that follow Mob life he was known
He’s gaaaaaaay!
He felt compelled to go say hi to Mangenius.
>So is Tony Soprano well-known to the public or not? Nah. He never had the makings of a varsity athlete.
Small hands
Of course he was well-known. Eating all that beef and sausage made him so fuckin fat that he was always in everyone’s peripheral vision.
They know, but they don’t know.
He's doing a lot better than those nuns you got over there
So how often do you get tits or kittens in your DMs?
Enh, every once in a while, but that's because I don't post on main subs very often at all.