The Sopranos: Paulie Becomes Awful
Oct. 25th, 2021 10:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerPaulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri has been one of the core characters of The Sopranos since its first episode. In the first few seasons he's portrayed sympathetically— at least comparatively for a member of an organized crime gang. "Honor among thieves," etc. But in season 3 and especially in the later part of season 4 his portrayal changes. He becomes a very unsympathetic character, showing tendencies toward sadism and rash, desperate behavior.
The change of character first appeared in season 3 when Paulie rode Christopher hard after Christopher became a "made man". Hazing the new guy would be one thing. Teaching him tough-love would be one thing. But Paulie takes it to an extent that is sadistic... and at least slightly perverted. When Christopher appeals to Tony to put a stop to it, Paulie threatens to kill him.
Also in season 3 we saw Paulie's growing rashness. In the memorable Pine Barrens episode I wrote about, the whole situation of Paulie and Christopher getting lost in the woods and almost dying is precipitated by Paulie choosing to escalate things with a guy who paid them their money but wasn't polite enough (in Paulie's eyes) about paying it. Through Christopher's POV, and indeed from how we see guys like Tony behave, we know that other guys in Paulie's position would've shown better judgment and not picked a fight over such a minor slight.
Two developments in season 4 reveal Paulie as a really awful person. In s4ep8 Paulie finally settles his elderly mother in an expensive care home, but she is ostracized by women she's known for years. Paulie threatens the son of one of the women, who's a high school principal, telling him to tell his mom to be nicer to Mrs. Gualtieri. Then when she doesn't, Paulie sends two goons to beat the guy up in his own school. He suffers a broken arm. Later we see the principal, his arm in a cast, with his wife pleading with his mom to be nicer. She refuses. The guy's wife warns her her behavior is likely to get her son killed and that they will take cease supporting her if she doesn't change.
What's so wrong with this, in the context of a gangster story where everyone's awful? It's awful because it's using violence over such a trivial matter. Compare it to Big Pussy's explanation about when he decided to turn against the gang and become a rat. He was offended that Tony ordered him to find a car belonging to a school teacher that had been stolen by low-level criminals. Big Pussy felt it was so far below him (or anyone at his level in the gang) to use violence and face risk over such trivial things that he considered it a reason to break his oath to the gang.
The second thing in season 4 that shows Paulie to be a really awful person is how he hurts an innocent person in s4ep12. While out with his elderly mother and a few of her friends, he hears that one of the women "stores her money in her mattress" because she doesn't understand how to keep her money in a bank. (This situation totally resonates with me as my own mother only learned how to use an ATM a few years ago.) Paulie breaks into her house at night to rob her. She's at home, unexpectedly, and tries to call the police despite his flimsy excuse about how he's there to give her a gift. Paulie knocks her down and smothers her— an elderly woman who's a friend of his mom— on the floor of her own house.
One of the themes of The Sopranos is that careful, judicious people survive and advance, while rash and violent people die— either at the hands of people they cross, or at the behest of their own superiors who deem them a hazard to the organization. In light of this I believe the writers are laying the groundwork for Paulie to get whacked by his own people.
The change of character first appeared in season 3 when Paulie rode Christopher hard after Christopher became a "made man". Hazing the new guy would be one thing. Teaching him tough-love would be one thing. But Paulie takes it to an extent that is sadistic... and at least slightly perverted. When Christopher appeals to Tony to put a stop to it, Paulie threatens to kill him.
Also in season 3 we saw Paulie's growing rashness. In the memorable Pine Barrens episode I wrote about, the whole situation of Paulie and Christopher getting lost in the woods and almost dying is precipitated by Paulie choosing to escalate things with a guy who paid them their money but wasn't polite enough (in Paulie's eyes) about paying it. Through Christopher's POV, and indeed from how we see guys like Tony behave, we know that other guys in Paulie's position would've shown better judgment and not picked a fight over such a minor slight.
Two developments in season 4 reveal Paulie as a really awful person. In s4ep8 Paulie finally settles his elderly mother in an expensive care home, but she is ostracized by women she's known for years. Paulie threatens the son of one of the women, who's a high school principal, telling him to tell his mom to be nicer to Mrs. Gualtieri. Then when she doesn't, Paulie sends two goons to beat the guy up in his own school. He suffers a broken arm. Later we see the principal, his arm in a cast, with his wife pleading with his mom to be nicer. She refuses. The guy's wife warns her her behavior is likely to get her son killed and that they will take cease supporting her if she doesn't change.
What's so wrong with this, in the context of a gangster story where everyone's awful? It's awful because it's using violence over such a trivial matter. Compare it to Big Pussy's explanation about when he decided to turn against the gang and become a rat. He was offended that Tony ordered him to find a car belonging to a school teacher that had been stolen by low-level criminals. Big Pussy felt it was so far below him (or anyone at his level in the gang) to use violence and face risk over such trivial things that he considered it a reason to break his oath to the gang.
The second thing in season 4 that shows Paulie to be a really awful person is how he hurts an innocent person in s4ep12. While out with his elderly mother and a few of her friends, he hears that one of the women "stores her money in her mattress" because she doesn't understand how to keep her money in a bank. (This situation totally resonates with me as my own mother only learned how to use an ATM a few years ago.) Paulie breaks into her house at night to rob her. She's at home, unexpectedly, and tries to call the police despite his flimsy excuse about how he's there to give her a gift. Paulie knocks her down and smothers her— an elderly woman who's a friend of his mom— on the floor of her own house.
One of the themes of The Sopranos is that careful, judicious people survive and advance, while rash and violent people die— either at the hands of people they cross, or at the behest of their own superiors who deem them a hazard to the organization. In light of this I believe the writers are laying the groundwork for Paulie to get whacked by his own people.
