• blakestacey@awful.systems
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    2 months ago

    While I’m sure that some people were cool on The Godfather when it came out, it was the highest-grossing film of 1972 and won Best Picture at the 1973 Oscars. That’s not exactly a good example of a movie being vindicated in retrospect.

      • blakestacey@awful.systems
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        2 months ago

        Organized crime is not a rejection of Americanism, it’s what we fear Americanism to be. It’s our nightmare of the American system. When “Americanism” was a form of cheerful bland official optimism, the gangster used to be destroyed at the end of the movie and our feelings resolved. Now the mood of the whole country has darkened, guiltily; nothing is resolved at the end of “The Godfather,” because the family business goes on.

        Wow, it’s nice that that doesn’t feel at all relevant in this, the year 2024