Monday, July 9, 2018

Discussion 17: The Godfather (July 11)

Is Don Corleone your new hero?
Despite the fact that he is a murderer who will not stop at anything to get what he wants, namely power and more power?
Despite the fact that he lies and cheats (he cheats even Johnny Fontaine) and is OK with his daughter getting beat up by her husband?
 
COMMENT and REPLY

15 comments:

  1. For some reason, every man in America- including my brother, husband and father, believe that The Godfather is the greatest movie of all time. Honestly, as a woman I do not really see the appeal. But I do understand. Men think that all this violence and action is great. This is what they "live for", so to speak. Don Corleone is definitely not MY hero, but he is the hero to so many men in America who worship this movie. To them, this is the greatest thing they have ever seen. To me, it's a little offensive and degrading.

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    1. I agree. So many men worship this movie because of the violence and action. They dont really see how the women are treated and lied to by these men.

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  2. No, Don Corleone is no hero to me. Even though he did other people favors, he couldn’t even help his own family (specifically his daughter). Also, it’s hard to ignore the lies and the cheating and the killing when the word hero is being used. Most heroes don’t carry those characteristic traits.

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    1. I agree. That he couldn't even help his own daughter was horrible and selfish.

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  3. Don Corleone is not a hero in my eyes. To be a hero you have to be a well rounded person who I admire, you must have high moral and noble standards. Being a cheat, lair and murderer are characteristics which isn't associated with the meaning of a hero to me regardless of how partially good you may be.

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  4. I never read the book or watched the movie but I heard a lot about it. I thank professor for giving this assignment because I was fascinated by the book and amazed by the movie. Don Corleone is not a hero to me. However, I am stunned by his life. At the end of the film, despite all the murders, despite the fact that it is a mafia, the sympathy is still firmly held by the Corleone family. And the question arises: "How the Italian mafia family can have such a true value, for which men give a life and in which women feel like behind a stone wall?" Don Corleone did everything he could have for his family and people who were loyal to him. He was a man of his word. He wasn't saint and simply lived according to the laws of his world. Every character has a different business. That is, business - not as a profession or service, but as the main business of their life. For those who are really devoted to the family, business is first of all the protection of the family, its security and its interests. He couldn't save his son, Sonny, or his daughter in law, Apollina, but at the end the family destroyed all their enemies to ensure their own security.

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  5. Don Corleone wouldn’t be considered a hero in my eyes. A hero makes sure to protect everyone as much as they can and try to have as little blood on their hands as possible. But Don Corleone is not one of those he was merciless and stopped at nothing to get what he wanted. I do like to say in fact that he does everything he can to protect his family and kept his word but he was in a business where nothing was legitimate and in the world of crime there is no way a guy like him can be a hero.

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  6. Don Corleone is not a hero to me. Instead I would consider him a picaresque character. He used his wits and experiences in order to achieve the level of power he did and ensured the wellbeing of his family. Although he committed many heinous and monstrous acts, it was all in response to what he was faced with and the only means of survival for his family and himself. I wouldn't consider him a hero because of the illegitimate world he partook in however, I can understand the why it may have been necessary to embody that cold approach to the world. In the end though none of it proved valuable in keeping the family protected.

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    1. I agree with why you would not consider Don to be a hero and I think we also have a similar opinion. There was many examples within the story that showed that his approach just lead to a constant loop of death and despair.

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  7. In my opinion, Don Corleone is not a hero. None of his actions throughout the film or book portrayed those of a hero's. His ruthlessness and violent nature are more than enough to consider him a villain before. And though the Don does have this sense of family and somewhat of loyalty, all of that still can't be outweighed by the fact he is a murder, liar, cheater. If anything, the actions of a hero are the exact opposite of Don Corleone.

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  8. I do not find Don Corleone to be a hero. While I do understand his intentions I do not believe a life of crime and murder is the way to go about seeking a power stance. The "any means necessary" mentality is not always the best and caused many casualties along the way but did allow for the protection of his family. And despite all the measures Don Corleone took to protect his family he still want not able to completely keep them out of harms way as we unfortunately saw with his daughter being beat by her husband.

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    1. I agree regardless of all his attempts to protect his family in the end they did not hold and ultimately broke his family apart.

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    2. I definitely agree with this. The way how you explain the mentality of Don hits it right in the nail. Nobody thinks his actions were justified especially domestic abuse.

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  9. Don may seen lovable but he is cold as ice he care only for power not family or friend. Inorder to get help from him you most you have to give him a favor one day that is not a hero that is the devil sign over your soul for gifts.

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  10. Personally I don't have any heroes but I respect Don for doing the actions that were necessary to keep the Calerone family afloat. Although his acts were heineous and criminal it was all business. You can't hate the player just hate the game...the mafia game. The movie and novel doesn't glorify him as a hero but just a central character instead. None of his actions were right but in the business, Don had to take every measure to survive.

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