Here’s one I’ve been meaning to write for a while. I’m putting it under the banner of “Streaming Saturday” because the two things I’m talking about can both be found on streaming apps. I’m also going to try to thread the needle a little bit because this isn’t a political blog. I try to keep it all pretty friendly here, and avoid contentious discussions that don’t belong here. So, I’ve got some heavy lifting to do with this article. Ready? Here goes.
The best American movie ever made
For roughly two generations (or however you count 50 years), it’s been generally accepted that the duo of The Godfather and The Godfather, Part II are the best American mainstream movies ever made. It’s said so often that we think of it an an immutable fact. I’m sure there have been hundreds of books and essays on the subject. A quick search even shows a number of doctoral dissertations. If there is something close to a flawless film, if that even exists, most folks will say that one of these two are it.
But what if that wasn’t true?
It was a bit of a gut punch to boomers to watch this scene in the most recent season of The White Lotus:
This is the only copy of the scene I can find online, so I apologize for the weird framing and TikTok-style text overlays. I’ll also apologize on behalf of the video’s author for forgetting that Generation X even exists (even though Michael Imperioli, a GenXer, is in the scene.)
If you don’t feel like watching, the stinger comes when the younger folks say that The Godfather is only considered to be a great movie because it feeds boomers’ nostalgia for the patriarchy. Could that be true? Could it be that we only like this film because it makes men feel like it’s ok to be 1940’s style gangsters?
Clapping back a little bit
Folks, I’m male in case you didn’t figure that out. And I’m not a millennial, GenZ, or alpha. You probably knew that too. I don’t speak for every male over 45, only for myself. So, disclaimers out of the way, here’s my opinion.
The Godfather and The Godfather, Part II are unmistakably great films. They advanced the art of filmmaking through their technique, their acting, and their production value. They rode the vanguard of a more naturalistic, even animalistic, storytelling form. These films influenced not only gangster films, but other films as well. At the time, there was nothing that looked like it. You can trace a line back from all of today’s moody HDR-enhanced dramas straight to The Godfather and its intentionally dark cinematography. The writing is utterly, utterly compact. You can sit there and debate practically any line in it for hours.
But, I will admit, this is a male-centric film. Heck, Don Vito’s wife doesn’t even have a name! The crowning moment of the film comes at the end, when Michael has finally assumed the mantle of Godfather, and Kay is literally shut out of the room. This is a savage movie about savage people, all of whom are male. But I do not think it glorifies “the patriarchy.”
The patriarchy, in retrospect
Simply watching this film and getting “glorifies the patriarchy” out of it means you’re not looking at the whole picture. The characters do adopt patriarchal values and they do tend to exclude, denigrate, or minimize the role of women. Some of them also act honorably, loyally, and with deep heart and commitment. They struggle with the animalism of the life they lead and how it affects their relationships.
However, if you watch these films and think these characters live a glorified life, you need to watch more carefully. Both films start by showing you what seems to be a happy life where the males control everything and the females are largely window dressing or agents for plot exposition. But as both films progress, you see the crushing descent that these characters make into pure evil. In some cases, it literally destroys them. In other cases, they learn to pay only lip service to those patriarchal values as their actions become more and more selfish.
At the end…
The scene above from The White Lotus probably doesn’t reveal a universal truth, at least not one about baby boomers and their love for The Godfather. Instead it feeds into the show’s overall message: that whatever privilege you possess, you will inevitably use it to destroy or marginalize others. There’s actually a bit of that message in The Godfather, too. But this scene shows it for what it is. The boomer, and the GenXer, revel in something which surrounds them with their own culture, elevating it and lording it over the younger folks. The youngers, on the other hand, use their own self-confidence and natural prickliness to try to deflate and marginalize something that isn’t “theirs.” Both sides do their thing without any real depth, really just repeating what they’ve heard before. All they’re doing is trying to make themselves feel better and the others feel worse.
For the record, I personally do think The Godfather and The Godfather, Part II are really transcendent films that advance the art form. They don’t shy away from the reality of the society they portray, and while they show the negatives, they also give you a glimpse of what people of the time really liked about it. These films leave it to the viewer to decide right or wrong, and that’s why so much has been written about them.
The Godfather and The Godfather, Part II are available for streaming on Peacock. The White Lotus is available for streaming on HBO Max.
