When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." -
Lao Tzu
This quote came to mind today while thinking about the latest episode of the Sopranos. I can still remember my one and only acting class, when the professor looked hopelessly at me and said that I was too busy being myself to be anybody else. He was probably right.
There's been a lot said already regarding Christopher's demise... perhaps some of it a bit too esoteric, like this in depth analysis of the song choice for that fatal ride, "Comfortably Numb."
Okay, "I get it!!!!" --(with regard to the lyrics)-- "The child is grown, the dream is gone... I have become comfortably numb. "
You don't have to PLAY IT LOUDER.I can easily see the "child" connection to Tony and/or Christopher, and the obvious drug reference. I started to drift into the great performance by Van Morrison, Roger Waters and The Band with only a surface level appreciation of what grander scope that song takes in, sung in that particular venue in Berlin, after the fall of the Wall.
Here's my take:
Tony Soprano's epiphany at the end is open to interpretation. I choose to think he uttered those words "I get it," in his drug induced state, because he finally felt free of his own delusions of who he is, and now understands he could become the great leader he might be.
Perhaps it wasn't his first dabble with drugs, given his lifestyle, but this time the experience freed him from the "paranoia," and from the constant chatter of thoughts in his head, and that need for approval. His mental problems stem from trying to straddle two worlds, and be the best at each one. With the collapse of his organization, money problems, marital strife, kid problems, problems with his earners, his associates, etc., he is not making it in either world.
You see, from the very start, this show was about the dichotomy of those two worlds and the tensions which resulted from straddling them. (Meadow's College visit episode comes to mind.) Now I believe the end of the show will reveal how he will ultimately be caught up in the entropy of this downward spiral.
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Update: 5/17/07
If you still haven't had enough analysis of the Sopranos... read on... You could probably OD reading Sopranos analysis here. You want to look on the list down the right hand column till you see SOPRANOS. There are a bunch of posts to choose from. Thanks JT for the link. Wish I had this weeks ago.
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