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Early in season 3 of The Sopranos Tony's mother, Livia, dies. Sorry if that's a spoiler to anyone 20 years after the episode originally aired. I'm saying it out in the open here because I want to use it as a stepping stone for talking about real life. The best fiction does that; it holds a mirror to real life in a way that helps us understand it better.
In the series, Livia is a monster. She goes out of her way to insult and demean nearly every person around her. She revels in making people miserable. She plants ideas in various people's heads that they should kill Tony— her son!
When Tony first learns of Livia's death his eyes light up for a moment. "Really?" he asks, seeming excited. His mood turns quickly from glee to sorrow, though. At a meeting with Dr. Melfi later in the episode he reveals that part of his sorrow is guilt over not feeling sorrow. "I'm glad she's dead," he says, then laments whether that makes him a "miserable, disgusting bad son".
This is the where the story that holds a mirror to reality. A lot of us have a relative (or multiple relatives) who are cheerless individuals; people who are not merely unhappy themselves but deliberately cause strife and unhappiness with others. I can think of a few people in my family like that (some deceased, some not). We may not wish them to die but we certainly won't miss them when they do. And that's the point— that's okay. Horrible people should not be honored just because they're genetically related.
Related blog entry: The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.
In the series, Livia is a monster. She goes out of her way to insult and demean nearly every person around her. She revels in making people miserable. She plants ideas in various people's heads that they should kill Tony— her son!
When Tony first learns of Livia's death his eyes light up for a moment. "Really?" he asks, seeming excited. His mood turns quickly from glee to sorrow, though. At a meeting with Dr. Melfi later in the episode he reveals that part of his sorrow is guilt over not feeling sorrow. "I'm glad she's dead," he says, then laments whether that makes him a "miserable, disgusting bad son".
This is the where the story that holds a mirror to reality. A lot of us have a relative (or multiple relatives) who are cheerless individuals; people who are not merely unhappy themselves but deliberately cause strife and unhappiness with others. I can think of a few people in my family like that (some deceased, some not). We may not wish them to die but we certainly won't miss them when they do. And that's the point— that's okay. Horrible people should not be honored just because they're genetically related.
Related blog entry: The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.
