10.24.2007

hell hath no fury...

I've never really watched 'the sopranos', so I didn't have much to contribute to the discussion of the 'fade to black' ending. (I guess it was more 'cut to black', but i digress.)

After reading this interview, I have to say the relative disdain David Chase feels for his fans/viewers is more than palpable. And he's a fantastic example of the pot, the kettle, and the color black:

"There WAS a war going on that week, and attempted terror attacks in London," says Chase. "But these people were talking about onion rings."

'These people' is generally the classic reference one uses when the hate is boiling over and can barely be contained. (I am imagining it spilling through his teeth.) And yes, I am constantly struck by the things a country fighting two wars becomes fixated on, but at the same time--is Chase really any better than 'these people'--when he is the one putting the 'onion rings' out there? Is he going to make the argument that during war we should be viewing only patriotic/informative/homeland security videos? Because that's both freakishly totalitarian and, more importantly, would put him out of a job.

The loathing is so out of place, isn't it? He made MILLIONS of dollars, called the shots, delayed the series time and again...and now bites the hand.

I am perturbed. And glad I never committed to watching 'The Sopranos'. Who really needs to feel betrayed by the likes of David Chase?

1 comment:

Tim said...

I'm a longtime and enthusiastic fan of The Sopranos, so I'm primed to read this interview differently. And I do! :-)

The thing that you have to remember is that people were PISSED about the nonresolution of the ending. So I take Chase as saying, "I don't understand why you're upset about this. If you're going to be upset about anything, be upset about the war." The Sopranos was filled with messages opposing the war in Iraq, including a whole plotline paralleling the Bush-Cheney invasion. So that's where I think he's coming from.