Was the Sopranos about more than just the Mafia?

The mob in The Sopranos circa early 2,000's was a stand in for contemporary U.S. society. The way Tony waxes about the earlier 'golden era' of OC, how his father had his people and he feels like the Italian-American community has been dissolved in a lot of ways all the way to his incessant 'Gary Cooper' lamentations. These are all analogies for how many people would describe what they see as societal decline as a whole. Tony's insecurities re being a contemporary gangster echo how many Americans found themselves grappling with the new American Century. A lot of this dovetails with Tony's grappling on a personal level (how do traditional LCN Italian-American criminals operate in a new world of DVD's, fuckin' Intanets as well as things like interracial relationships and emerging acceptance of homosexuality?)

/r/thesopranos Thread