But we can read about them and talk to people who know them. If people are going to offer opinions on the Civil War, I hope they'd be based on some research. If I were to start talking about kinship conventions in Borneo, I hope no one would listen, because I wouldn't know what the hell I was talking about.
Doug
^^^^^^
CB: With all the discussion of "The Sopranos" here, I am likely to take a look, but I'd be surprised if I became a regular watcher, because I don't watch television sit-tragicoms much.
However, I do think I can get a reliable report on it from Carl, you, Marv, Justin and others who watch it. Yes, we can talk to you others who have seen it. The difference of opinion on it just makes the report more accurate (!), thorough; reality is contradictory. I can rely on anthropologists reporting on Borneo kinship, and have to because I will never get there. Chris Doss tells us about Moscow.
There has to be a division of labor in this knowledge business. We have to be able to rely on others to share observations that we aren't going to make. That's the human thing. We have many experiences way beyond our direct, individual experience because we share the direct observational experiences of others. I don't think this is as trivial as it may seem on the surface.
I guess maybe you are referring to the feeling that the direct experience of the show gives. But I even trust Carl and you that it resonates with Jersey life , American immigrant experience other "things" you all have mentioned.
I won't be able to appreciate the Jersey bits even when I watch the show, although I _have_ been to Jersey much, but mainly visiting and passing between Philly and NYC.
It's not all bad that in explaining it to those who haven't seen it, you are forced to more fully articulate your feelings here. Expressing and sharing catharsis is an enhancement of having it passively , no ?
I think it's a good bet that some youths into American gangster cults - like those wearing Luciano or Capone t-shirts - will have a different take and inspiration than you from the exhilaration of watching the protagonist whacking people he doesn't like.
Diversion of working class frustrations into admiration of gangster rebelliousness seems an American tradition, including the Bogart, Cagney et al stars in the 30's, legends about Jesse James or Billy the Kid. Lets call it the "lumpen diversion".
In this sense, The Sops sounds like it might be an American classic, as is Gangster Rap. As Justin says, this doesn't make it bad art. Good art can be "bad". Wherein ,"bad" means good, like in the Ghetto, as in "The S is a badass show". It is not unusual in history for art, good art , to serve simultaneously the purposes of its rich patrons: The Aeneid , the art of the Medicis' artists, etc.