The Mob: Reality and TV

Last Sunday, one Tony got whacked while another escaped from a FBI takedown. Here on Staten Island, fans gathered around the television sets in bars or at private parties to watch the season finale of the HBO hit "The Sopranos." At the Corigliano home in Princes Bay, Joseph Gannascoli, who plays Vito Spatafore on the show, watched the finale with dozens of fans and joined the debate about who should or shouldn't have been killed. Meanwhile, in Brooklyn federal court, reality bites much harder than any television show. One of the last reputed Dons of the Bonanno crime family, Joseph Massino, is on trial for seven murders, loan sharking, arson, illegal gambling, money laundering, and conspiracy. Because one of the murders he's accused of ordering is of Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano, the trial is being dubbed "Donnie Brasco II." In the original film, starring Johnny Depp as FBI undercover agent Joseph Pistone, who infiltrated the Bonanno family, Sonny Black helped bring Brasco into the mob. Now we get to hear the details of how he was whacked. Former Bonanno captain Frank Lino testified how he was ordered by Massino to pick up Napolitano in Brooklyn and take him to another mobster's home on Staten Island. There he threw "Sonny Black" down the basement stairs where his cousin, Robert Lino Sr., and Ronald "Monkey Man" Filocomo were waiting for him. Sonny was shot once by Lino Sr., whose gun then jammed. At that point, Napolitano begged to be finished off. Frank Lino testified, "Sonny Black says: 'Hit me one more time. Make it good.'" Now I ask you, isn't that way more dramatic than the usual four-letter-word dialogue heard in the back of the Bada Bing club? We also heard testimony describing the killings of Massino's rivals, Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato, Philip "Philly Lucky" Giaccone, and Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera. Fans pining for new episodes of "The Sopranos" will have to wait until January, but what could be more exciting than watching federal prosecutors try to put away the last of the infamous Bonanno family? Currently there are two dozen mobsters awaiting trial on various charges. A Massino conviction will be the end of the Bonanno family. There's been a lot of controversy surrounding the popular series "The Sopranos." Critics of the show charge that it glamorizes criminals, or worse, de criminalizes them. A columnist for the webzine the American Thinker, Bob Weir, writes: "To me, the most dangerous part of the series is the attempt to make the characters appear normal, or traditional. They appear as loving parents and siblings who have a genuine compassion for their neighbors and friends. The fact that they exist by robbing, assaulting, and murdering their fellow man is often viewed as a subtext to their otherwise benevolent nature." Sorry, Bob, but you're not paying close attention. These are not normal people. They just appear to be, but the undercurrent evil of their true nature is always spilling over into their private lives. One of the most telling episodes showing the true character of Tony Soprano involved his sister, Janice, who was taking anger-management therapy to quell her violent nature. It appeared to be working and she was happily making progress, but her newfound serenity only incited Tony into provoking her into an angry tirade. The malevolent smile on his face as he left her house was a keen insight into his soul. Another valuable lesson that the television program offers is a glimpse into the high cost of crime to the city. If you ever wonder why it costs so much to build anything here in New York and New Jersey, just watch an episode where Tony and the other mobsters negotiate how many nonworking patronage jobs need to be included in the construction costs - or else. Watch the men, like Vito Spatafore, sit around the work site in their lawn chairs doing nothing but collecting cash. Watch the thievery, the gambling, the ruthless killings, and the hypocrisy of the mobster wives pretending close ties with the church, knowing full well the depths of their husbands' sins. This is not glamorizing crime. What is going on in the Brooklyn court is the end-all to the sagas of the fictional Sopranos and the real-life Bonannos. But please, don't tell me anymore about the so-called omerta. This is the Mafia code of silence that Frank Lino is supposed to have broken. He has identified his son as a fellow mobster, causing New York Post columnist Steve Dunleavy to castigate him in print. "After watching and hearing Frankie Lino and his outraged relatives, it also could be the greatest testament to treachery since Judas kissed a guy called Jesus," Mr. Dunleavy wrote. Give me a break! Let's stop pretending that there is such a thing as honor among people who value life so cheaply. Let Frank Lino confess his sins and that of his fellow henchmen, and let justice be done. Those relatives that are so outraged that he is testifying about the murders he witnessed are the ones guilty of mixing fantasy with reality.