WWAWD Gomorrah?

[Not bad]

I always liked the movie from 2008. It shows these mobsters for the seedy housing-complex niggers they are, as opposed to the fake suit wearing luxury criminals you see in American depictions, including in The Sopranos, which supposedly didn't glamorize the mafia. Remember that overly idyllic scene with Tony in Italy, drinking wine and eating bread in the back yard of a mafia complex while kids play around with dogs and shit? I'm sure that's how things go down in real life.

I've watched two episodes of the show, and so far it's PFG youknowmean. It seems to go for a similar tone as the movie. The one guy who does have money still lives surrounded by slums, and the decoration in his gaudy house is so desperate it would even make Nana blush.

 

[LingerLonger]

You realize that Gomorrah was written by a jew with no underworld connections. It is highly unrealistic. Goodfellas, Casino, Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, are all based on real life events. Donnie Brasco is a true story and everyone wore suits and they rented 200ft yachts and owned nightclubs. Everyone wore fancy suits in Boardwalk Empire and they would reference their clothes constantly. People in the mafia in America live like kings for a decade then either go to jail or get whacked or arrested and lose all of their money. Same for lots of career criminals. They all think they will never get arrested but it happens eventually.

Gomorrah is not really like Sopranos it is more like The Wire. With ghetto characters being portrayed as like 'super niggers' like Omar who was wiping out entire gangs by himself and leaping from the penthouse apartment to the ground (which David Simon swears really happened yet has no proof). The show is not really about high up gangsters but more about street criminals with no political or social graces. So expecting them to live normal lives outside the mafia like Tony Soprano is not realistic. These guys are more like the drug dealers or dock workers from The Wire in that they never really leave the ghetto no matter what.

Good show but not a realistic show at all.

 

[Not bad]

You realize that Gomorrah was written by a jew with no underworld connections. It is highly unrealistic. Goodfellas, Casino, Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, are all based on real life events. Donnie Brasco is a true story and everyone wore suits and they rented 200ft yachts and owned nightclubs. Everyone wore fancy suits in Boardwalk Empire and they would reference their clothes constantly. People in the mafia in America live like kings for a decade then either go to jail or get whacked or arrested and lose all of their money. Same for lots of career criminals. They all think they will never get arrested but it happens eventually.

Gomorrah is not really like Sopranos it is more like The Wire. With ghetto characters being portrayed as like 'super niggers' like Omar who was wiping out entire gangs by himself and leaping from the penthouse apartment to the ground (which David Simon swears really happened yet has no proof). The show is not really about high up gangsters but more about street criminals with no political or social graces. So expecting them to live normal lives outside the mafia like Tony Soprano is not realistic. These guys are more like the drug dealers or dock workers from The Wire in that they never really leave the ghetto no matter what.

Good show but not a realistic show at all.

I don't know much about the author, but wasn't he a crime reporter who investigated the mafia for a long time?

I see your point about the American pasta niggers. But I think those guys - who live material dream lives like Tony Soprano - are/were an extreme minority. I also think the Henry Hill types are pathological liars who do everything they can to make that lifestyle seem glamorous and exciting.

Omar and Brother Mouzone (and Michael later on) were my least favourite characters on The Wire. They seem like cartoons compared to the rest of the show.

 

[johnnynoname]

You realize that Gomorrah was written by a jew

Jews in show business?

when did this start happening?

 

[LingerLonger]

I don't know much about the author, but wasn't he a crime reporter who investigated the mafia for a long time?

He was a reporter who made a fictitious show. Not someone deeply familiar with the mafia like Nicholas Pileggi or Joe Pistone. David Simon was also a reporter who just made up his own stuff for The Wire. Edward Burns the other Wire creator was a cop and a teacher in Baltimore who basically wrote the stories of McNulty and Prezbo based on his own experiences (minus shooting a cop by mistake).

I see your point about the American pasta niggers. But I think those guys - who live material dream lives like Tony Soprano - are/were an extreme minority. I also think the Henry Hill types are pathological liars who do everything they can to make that lifestyle seem glamorous and exciting.

Exactly. That is the point of Sopranos. Tony lives in a mansion. Chris lives in a tiny apartment. Paulie lives alone in a tiny condo. Uncle Junior lives alone in an old house and dies in a nursing home. And if you believe that Tony dies in the ending his end is pretty brutal. Being massacred in front of his own family at dinner. No one lives a glamorous life. But it is a far cry from the stupidity of Gomorrah where they are in shootouts and firefights every five minutes and guys are surviving headshots and pregnant women are getting slaughtered.

Hill was responsible for one of the largest robberies in history. He was also one of the largest point shaving and gambling rigging criminals in history for a time. He definitely had millions that he blew on his lifestyle of gambling, drugs, vacations, and so on. You basically had to spend all of your money because if you got arrested you lost it all to the FBI. Remember in Sopranos where Johnny Sac spends $1million on his daughter's wedding? He does it because the FBI was going to take it anyways.

Omar and Brother Mouzone (and Michael later on) were my least favourite characters on The Wire. They seem like cartoons compared to the rest of the show.

The entire plot of Omar letting his guard down against a kid and getting shot was supposed to be this grand poetic moment. But it comes across as hilarious every time. Like the Terminator or the Predator getting killed by a kid. Imagine if in Predator 2 the "want some candy" kid just whipped out a pistol and killed the Predator.

 

[Not bad]

He was a reporter who made a fictitious show. Not someone deeply familiar with the mafia like Nicholas Pileggi or Joe Pistone. David Simon was also a reporter who just made up his own stuff for The Wire. Edward Burns the other Wire creator was a cop and a teacher in Baltimore who basically wrote the stories of McNulty and Prezbo based on his own experiences (minus shooting a cop by mistake).

Exactly. That is the point of Sopranos. Tony lives in a mansion. Chris lives in a tiny apartment. Paulie lives alone in a tiny condo. Uncle Junior lives alone in an old house and dies in a nursing home. And if you believe that Tony dies in the ending his end is pretty brutal. Being massacred in front of his own family at dinner. No one lives a glamorous life. But it is a far cry from the stupidity of Gomorrah where they are in shootouts and firefights every five minutes and guys are surviving headshots and pregnant women are getting slaughtered.

Hill was responsible for one of the largest robberies in history. He was also one of the largest point shaving and gambling rigging criminals in history for a time. He definitely had millions that he blew on his lifestyle of gambling, drugs, vacations, and so on. You basically had to spend all of your money because if you got arrested you lost it all to the FBI. Remember in Sopranos where Johnny Sac spends $1million on his daughter's wedding? He does it because the FBI was going to take it anyways.

The entire plot of Omar letting his guard down against a kid and getting shot was supposed to be this grand poetic moment. But it comes across as hilarious every time. Like the Terminator or the Predator getting killed by a kid. Imagine if in Predator 2 the "want some candy" kid just whipped out a pistol and killed the Predator.

Disappointing hearing that about Gomorrah. I don't want it to be show that shoehornes 'exciting' scenes every episode just to keep viewers around. Is the overarching story any good?

 

[guest]

Also have to point out Tony wasn't at some random Mafia compound in Italy, that was the Don's home. Probably fair to expect it to be pretty nice, but I don't know. And I'd argue it definitely didn't glamorize the Mafia. None of them have good endings, and those last 9 or so episodes are fucking depressing. It's a constant stream of hospital visits, deaths and betrayals.

 

[LingerLonger]

Disappointing hearing that about Gomorrah. I don't want it to be show that shoehornes 'exciting' scenes every episode just to keep viewers around. Is the overarching story any good?

First three seasons of Gomorrah are strong. The show focuses primarily on two or three main characters each season and the side characters are basically briefly there. The fourth season is a huge change of pace but the ending was good enough that the show arguably could and should have ended there.

First three seasons keep the violence within the ghetto. By the end of the show they are genociding half of Italy it seems like. Like how in Godfather 1 the hits are small and by Godfather 3 helicopters with machine guns are whacking entire hotel floors.

But the fifth season is almost so comically absurd it borders on parody. There is almost no way of talking about the fifth season even vaguely because it will spoil everything. But I would highly recommend watching the first four seasons in a row. Then watching the movie (do not look up the plot or else it will spoil tons of the show). Then watching the fifth season.

Ending of the fifth season is like Game of Thrones level stupidity in my opinion. I can watch Sopranos over and over. I doubt I will watch Gomorrah ever again beyond maybe one more time.