Is the saga a demonstration of the failure of Michael to achieve the American dream of escaping the responsibilities of protecting his family? When I watched it I felt it was more a corruption of the American dream
The American dream of escaping the responsibilities of protecting his family?
I have no idea of whose American dream that would be. But the trilogy is the story of the American dream denied, first to Vito, then Michael. Vito summed it up nicely right before he died.
I work my whole life, I don’t apologize, to take care of my family. And I refused to be a fool dancing on the strings held by all of those big shots. That’s my life, I don’t apologize for that. But I always thought that when it was your time, that you would be the one to hold the strings. Senator Corleone, Governor Corleone, something.
Let me give my take of the big story arc for Vito/Michael. (Stopping with 2 for the usual reasons.)
- Finds that there’s corruption in America. To protect his family he becomes part of that system.
- Becomes very successful at exploiting the corruption.
- Finds the crruption is harmful to their family.
- Tries to extricate themselves but they keep dragging him back in.
- Ends up destroying the family, being alone.
Clearly a tragedy. But is it an American one? Takes place in America. Exposes some of the hypocrisy of the American dream. So, sure. American Tragedy.
Coppola said he and Brando talked a lot about capitalism before shooting the movie.
I love that the book and the movie actually portray this with the puppet strings holding up the word Godfather.
Of course there are multiple interpretations of the “strings” as with any art but this is one of them.
If anything, it’s an American story about laziness.
There are literally millions of us, including Italian immigrants, that take care of our families, lead good lives, and are not subject to the puppet string of the “masters”. And we manage to do it without extortion, protection, prostitution, bribery, selling drugs and murder.
Vito chose the easy path. The rest is self-justification.
It’s largely a story of what happened in America in the middle part of the 20th century - mobsters getting “respectable” by buying their way into legitimate businesses and corrupting them.