Yeah of course. Thats why it was such a great show. As I said: show me another movie/show that can make you root for the "bad guys"? Breaking Bad is one, and its why its one of the best shows on TV at this time.
Even Chase made the comment after the show that people should NOT be rooting for tony to make it. I am paraphrasing, but he basically said: heres a guy you watched do all of this horrible stuff for 6 seasons. You watched him kill people in cold blood, cheat on his wife, be a bad father, and all this straight up awful shit. And yet you people are ROOTING for him?!
Definitely one of his goals was to highlight that, and the irony that exists.
I will say also say that a sociopath is not exactly equivalent to a human being in my humble opinion, because they lack a key aspect of humanity: empathy. A natural human emotion is to feel for others and that is why we do not do certain things. These people really had none of that.
Real mafioso do not give TWO SHITS about their family. Many stories exist of mafia members cheating on wives, giving up their own family members, or even KILLING them in some cases. An example off the top of my head would be to look into the guy who 'French' from the Departed was based on. He killed his step daughter and lover among other heinous acts.
I think thats aspect was the biggest "fudge" of the entire series. they showed some of these guys actually giving a shit about other people. Most mafioso dont: they see people as a means to an end. And they view their family as just a status symbol, not something to actually care about. I mean think about it, could you really do some of that messed up shit if you even cared an iota about someone other than yourself?
Most of these guys are narcissistic sociopaths, and in the show that is very clearly portrayed through many characters. Ralph Cifaretto as I said, as well as Richie Aprile. Richie Aprile is the best example: he basically disowned his son. The fudged part is that all of these characters should have been like that. I dont mind that they aren't, artistic liberty does exist.
But consider this bit: NO ONE gets to where Tony Soprano did by being LESS cold, and LESS ruthless, than these other men (ie Ralph and Richie). Since he did, he inherently had to be worse. But they portrayed him in a few sympathetic ways. Again this was achieved by showing that he somehow cared about his family; ironic since he did a lot to hurt them constantly through the show.
I want to reiterate that all of this is what made this show so bad ass!!!!
Even Chase made the comment after the show that people should NOT be rooting for tony to make it. I am paraphrasing, but he basically said: heres a guy you watched do all of this horrible stuff for 6 seasons. You watched him kill people in cold blood, cheat on his wife, be a bad father, and all this straight up awful shit. And yet you people are ROOTING for him?!
Definitely one of his goals was to highlight that, and the irony that exists.
I will say also say that a sociopath is not exactly equivalent to a human being in my humble opinion, because they lack a key aspect of humanity: empathy. A natural human emotion is to feel for others and that is why we do not do certain things. These people really had none of that.
Real mafioso do not give TWO SHITS about their family. Many stories exist of mafia members cheating on wives, giving up their own family members, or even KILLING them in some cases. An example off the top of my head would be to look into the guy who 'French' from the Departed was based on. He killed his step daughter and lover among other heinous acts.
I think thats aspect was the biggest "fudge" of the entire series. they showed some of these guys actually giving a shit about other people. Most mafioso dont: they see people as a means to an end. And they view their family as just a status symbol, not something to actually care about. I mean think about it, could you really do some of that messed up shit if you even cared an iota about someone other than yourself?
Most of these guys are narcissistic sociopaths, and in the show that is very clearly portrayed through many characters. Ralph Cifaretto as I said, as well as Richie Aprile. Richie Aprile is the best example: he basically disowned his son. The fudged part is that all of these characters should have been like that. I dont mind that they aren't, artistic liberty does exist.
But consider this bit: NO ONE gets to where Tony Soprano did by being LESS cold, and LESS ruthless, than these other men (ie Ralph and Richie). Since he did, he inherently had to be worse. But they portrayed him in a few sympathetic ways. Again this was achieved by showing that he somehow cared about his family; ironic since he did a lot to hurt them constantly through the show.
I want to reiterate that all of this is what made this show so bad ass!!!!
in going to go ahead and just buy it though on Amazon. 
