4 ms·

It's very true. The Godfather and the Godfather II are a direct adaptation of the book. In Godfather II, the movie outlines how Vito Corleone becomes the Godfat

It's very true. The Godfather and the Godfather II are a direct adaptation of the book. In Godfather II, the movie outlines how Vito Corleone becomes the Godfather and it's all about being poor and Italian and the unfairness of society towards them. In the First movie it's only alluded to how society is so unfair to poor Italians and that crime is the only way for great men to find their destiny. The movie is about Italian immigrants but it can easily be about any poor social class. If a person doesn't have the opportunities and role models then crime is often the way many people see their best path to greatness and riches. BTW, the discrimination of immigrants has always been a reality so the book is building on the true facts of how our society functions.

MichaelCollins 4y ago
I haven't read the book, but the movie doesn't show Michael's decision to join the family business being motivated by mistreatment by society, except for a corrupt police chief who is himself part of a marginalized ethnicity (Irish-American) and paid off by another Italian-American gang. The movie doesn't show Michael being victimized by WASP society.
- WheelsAtLarge 4y ago
  But he is, Michael didn't have a choice. He had to defend his father by killing Zollozzo and McCluskey. And once Sunny was killed there was no one else to take over the family empire. The reason the family is in the business is in is because it's the only path Vito Corleon saw as a way to scape poverty and discriminations. Once the path was set by him, it's hard for the family to escape it. The predominate theme is Michael's desire to get out of the life of crime but not being able to do it. He gets blocked by the family's history and what others expect of the family business and its leader. The story is a tragedy, Vito is a great success in an area in society that no one outside the crime families respects. Imagine what he and his family could have been had he not been discriminated.
greenthrow 4y ago
It is explaining them but it is not condoning them. It never says they have no choice, it merely shows the circumstances that made the choices they make more understandable than you might think. But that doesn't mean they are ok.

MichaelCollins 4y ago

I haven't read the book, but the movie doesn't show Michael's decision to join the family business being motivated by mistreatment by society, except for a corrupt police chief who is himself part of a marginalized ethnicity (Irish-American) and paid off by another Italian-American gang. The movie doesn't show Michael being victimized by WASP society.

WheelsAtLarge 4y ago
But he is, Michael didn't have a choice. He had to defend his father by killing Zollozzo and McCluskey. And once Sunny was killed there was no one else to take over the family empire. The reason the family is in the business is in is because it's the only path Vito Corleon saw as a way to scape poverty and discriminations. Once the path was set by him, it's hard for the family to escape it. The predominate theme is Michael's desire to get out of the life of crime but not being able to do it. He gets blocked by the family's history and what others expect of the family business and its leader. The story is a tragedy, Vito is a great success in an area in society that no one outside the crime families respects. Imagine what he and his family could have been had he not been discriminated.

greenthrow 4y ago

It is explaining them but it is not condoning them. It never says they have no choice, it merely shows the circumstances that made the choices they make more understandable than you might think. But that doesn't mean they are ok.