The villain in this movie is Barzini as he is the head of all the families. Though he pretends to be the peacemaker and the rational leader, he secretly plans to kill Michael and doom the Corleone family. The manifestation of evil is a multitude of different things. Evil is only present when there is good to counteract it. If the world is only filled with evil, then it can't be perceived as "bad." Evil is manifested in acts of malice or ill intentions. Even when a person thinks they're doing the right thing, for example, in the Godfather, when they are constantly murdering each other, they think it's for the good of their families. They might not perceive it as evil. Evil is very selfish. People only think of how they are effected by their decisions, not how it is affecting another person. People who are self aware and still commit heinous crimes should be considered the manifestations of evil.
Because we see the Corleone family as the "good family", the villain in our mind is the man who poses the greatest threat to the Corleones. This man is Don Barzini. Because Vito refuses to be a part of Barzini's drug trade, Barzini conspires with the other heads of the families to bring down the Corleones. The manifestation of evil in the movie is the greediness of each family to control everything they want. The Corleones want to control the gambling business, and demand a high level of respect and fear to achieve this. The other families want to control things such as drugs, prostitution, and gambling as well, and each family demands fear from the others, as well as the respect of their clients and from the other families. This greediness leads to murder, as each family has no problem killing anyone who opposes their will. Throughout the movie, a great number of murders are committed, showing that evil exists in each person, especially when their own wants are opposed.
Everyone's a villain in The Godfather. None of the men who take part in the family business cannot call themselves the "good" guy because they are in the organized crime underworld. Even though we see the Corleone family as the good family, it's only because Don Vito has a higher standard for his business. He runs a gambling ring because it's legal; he stays away from offers about drugs and prostitution because those are illegal. He only provides one of the guilty pleasures many men seem to become addicted to. Now, the manifestation of evil is in the organized crime business. All of these men prove to be quite ruthless. For example, Don Vito orders Tom Hagen to offer Jack Woltz a deal he can't refuse and when Woltz denies Vito's request, his prized horse's head is severed. The same essentially happens when Sollozzo proposes a motive for Vito to enter the drug business (except no head is severed). Don Vito rejects the business offer and Sollozzo attempts to kill him. These men have a business agenda to abide by and when someone refuses, that someone makes a huge mistake.
Over the course of The Godfather, we see evil in action scene after scene. Neither the Corleone nor the Barzini family is the true evil in this movie even though they clearly support crimes such as gambling and murder; however, they can be seen as victims in the vicious cycle of their crimes. Don Corleone confesses in the garden scene of how he never wanted Michael to be a part of his business but believed his crimes would benefit and protect his family in the long run. Evil may look attractive to people with good intentions, yet traps others into continuing the cycle.
The villain in the movie is clearly Barzini. He presents him self as a man who just wants peace for all of the 5 families, but he really is only interested in what he can do to benefit himself. This is made clear when the heads of all the 5 families come together to settle the war and declare a truce. Barzini insists that Don share his connections with everyone. Barzini's persistent insistence upon having Don share his political connections makes me wonder if Barzini has a hidden agenda. I personally believe that anyone who attempts to take down the lovely Corleone family is a villain.
The way the movie is shown makes me feel almost as if I'm a family member. Being in the family means there is no way I can see anyone in the family as evil. Business is business in the Corteleone family; nothing is evil, in my opinion, until things get personal. And things get personal when Barzini plays the mediator and ends up trying to kill Don Corteleone and succeeds in killing Sonny. I would not go so far to say that Barzini is evil, (had the movie been shown from inside the Barzini family, I'm sure I would be calling the Corteleones evil) instead I think what he did was evil. Evil manifested itself in Barzini's double playing of the Godfather. A certain amount of trust and respect had been established between Don Corteleone and Barzini, but that trust and respect was broken when Barzini put his personal agenda ahead of the agenda of the "greater good" for the five families.
It is hard to define a certain villian for this story. From an objective perspective, one would assume that every head of the mob families would be the villian; however, we are told the story from the perpective of one of the mob families. We learn their good qualities and their motives for certain evil actions; therefore, we don't think they are evil. If I had to choose, the villian would be Barzini. From our perspective, he starts the war without much meaning, just to gain power, thus starting a string of events that spark much violence and acts of revenge. As the story progresses, I believe Michael ultimately becomes a villian. He transforms from the good boy of the family to someone who is responsible for the murders of all the heads of the family. He lacks guilt when he lies to Kay, showing that even her words no longer affect him. The manifestation of evil would have to be organized killings or acts of violence. In addition to these, the certain things of leverage (such as the horse's head in the movie director's bed) relate to the manifestation of evil.
I think that Micheal is the most evil character in the movie because he chose to become involved with the family business. Don Vito and Don Barzini became mob bosses in order to provide for their families and earn a name in America, but Don Vito hoped that his children, or at least Micheal, would not have to follow in his bloody footsteps. Despite this, Micheal chooses to involve himself with murder and slowly becomes a far more ruthless and evil that far surpasses the other Dons. Where Don Vito used courtesy and veiled threats, Don Micheal uses intimidation and bullets. Also, I think he treated Kate very rudely.
I like your emphasis on certain terms: trust, respect, family, business, personal. Wonder if all of these are just justifications for doing or not doing something?
I think that the villain is Barzini. Even though the Corleone family is involved in crime, the viewers are still on their side. Barzini is the antangonist trying to get rid of the Corleones, and is willing to use any means possible. He does not care if innocent people, like Michael's new wife, are killed in the process. He will use corrupt cops and the Titalias as his puppets instead of doing the dirty work himself. There would be no story if Barzini had not tried to get rid of the Corleones.
The obvious villain is Barzini, but I think that he is not the only one. In my opinion, the family business is evil as well. The source of all the problems that happen in the movie are obviously related to the business. Clearly the movie and the book would not exist without the business, but the family would be better off without it. Forcing each child to join the business causes every one of the sons' to have problems with their lives. The business causes deaths and anger, but worst of all, it causes people to change.
hey nice spelling
ReplyDeletereply to coaxch
ReplyDeleteThe villain in this movie is Barzini as he is the head of all the families. Though he pretends to be the peacemaker and the rational leader, he secretly plans to kill Michael and doom the Corleone family. The manifestation of evil is a multitude of different things. Evil is only present when there is good to counteract it. If the world is only filled with evil, then it can't be perceived as "bad." Evil is manifested in acts of malice or ill intentions. Even when a person thinks they're doing the right thing, for example, in the Godfather, when they are constantly murdering each other, they think it's for the good of their families. They might not perceive it as evil. Evil is very selfish. People only think of how they are effected by their decisions, not how it is affecting another person. People who are self aware and still commit heinous crimes should be considered the manifestations of evil.
ReplyDeleteBecause we see the Corleone family as the "good family", the villain in our mind is the man who poses the greatest threat to the Corleones. This man is Don Barzini. Because Vito refuses to be a part of Barzini's drug trade, Barzini conspires with the other heads of the families to bring down the Corleones. The manifestation of evil in the movie is the greediness of each family to control everything they want. The Corleones want to control the gambling business, and demand a high level of respect and fear to achieve this. The other families want to control things such as drugs, prostitution, and gambling as well, and each family demands fear from the others, as well as the respect of their clients and from the other families. This greediness leads to murder, as each family has no problem killing anyone who opposes their will. Throughout the movie, a great number of murders are committed, showing that evil exists in each person, especially when their own wants are opposed.
ReplyDeleteEveryone's a villain in The Godfather. None of the men who take part in the family business cannot call themselves the "good" guy because they are in the organized crime underworld. Even though we see the Corleone family as the good family, it's only because Don Vito has a higher standard for his business. He runs a gambling ring because it's legal; he stays away from offers about drugs and prostitution because those are illegal. He only provides one of the guilty pleasures many men seem to become addicted to. Now, the manifestation of evil is in the organized crime business. All of these men prove to be quite ruthless. For example, Don Vito orders Tom Hagen to offer Jack Woltz a deal he can't refuse and when Woltz denies Vito's request, his prized horse's head is severed. The same essentially happens when Sollozzo proposes a motive for Vito to enter the drug business (except no head is severed). Don Vito rejects the business offer and Sollozzo attempts to kill him. These men have a business agenda to abide by and when someone refuses, that someone makes a huge mistake.
ReplyDeleteOver the course of The Godfather, we see evil in action scene after scene. Neither the Corleone nor the Barzini family is the true evil in this movie even though they clearly support crimes such as gambling and murder; however, they can be seen as victims in the vicious cycle of their crimes. Don Corleone confesses in the garden scene of how he never wanted Michael to be a part of his business but believed his crimes would benefit and protect his family in the long run. Evil may look attractive to people with good intentions, yet traps others into continuing the cycle.
ReplyDeleteThe villain in the movie is clearly Barzini. He presents him self as a man who just wants peace for all of the 5 families, but he really is only interested in what he can do to benefit himself. This is made clear when the heads of all the 5 families come together to settle the war and declare a truce. Barzini insists that Don share his connections with everyone. Barzini's persistent insistence upon having Don share his political connections makes me wonder if Barzini has a hidden agenda. I personally believe that anyone who attempts to take down the lovely Corleone family is a villain.
ReplyDeleteThe way the movie is shown makes me feel almost as if I'm a family member. Being in the family means there is no way I can see anyone in the family as evil. Business is business in the Corteleone family; nothing is evil, in my opinion, until things get personal. And things get personal when Barzini plays the mediator and ends up trying to kill Don Corteleone and succeeds in killing Sonny. I would not go so far to say that Barzini is evil, (had the movie been shown from inside the Barzini family, I'm sure I would be calling the Corteleones evil) instead I think what he did was evil. Evil manifested itself in Barzini's double playing of the Godfather. A certain amount of trust and respect had been established between Don Corteleone and Barzini, but that trust and respect was broken when Barzini put his personal agenda ahead of the agenda of the "greater good" for the five families.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to define a certain villian for this story. From an objective perspective, one would assume that every head of the mob families would be the villian; however, we are told the story from the perpective of one of the mob families. We learn their good qualities and their motives for certain evil actions; therefore, we don't think they are evil. If I had to choose, the villian would be Barzini. From our perspective, he starts the war without much meaning, just to gain power, thus starting a string of events that spark much violence and acts of revenge. As the story progresses, I believe Michael ultimately becomes a villian. He transforms from the good boy of the family to someone who is responsible for the murders of all the heads of the family. He lacks guilt when he lies to Kay, showing that even her words no longer affect him. The manifestation of evil would have to be organized killings or acts of violence. In addition to these, the certain things of leverage (such as the horse's head in the movie director's bed) relate to the manifestation of evil.
ReplyDeleteI think that Micheal is the most evil character in the movie because he chose to become involved with the family business. Don Vito and Don Barzini became mob bosses in order to provide for their families and earn a name in America, but Don Vito hoped that his children, or at least Micheal, would not have to follow in his bloody footsteps. Despite this, Micheal chooses to involve himself with murder and slowly becomes a far more ruthless and evil that far surpasses the other Dons. Where Don Vito used courtesy and veiled threats, Don Micheal uses intimidation and bullets. Also, I think he treated Kate very rudely.
ReplyDeleteI like your emphasis on certain terms: trust, respect, family, business, personal. Wonder if all of these are just justifications for doing or not doing something?
ReplyDeleteA lack of guilt, remorse. Let's see if this factors in with our view of evil throughout the semester. Note how you spell "villian."
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think Michael "chose"? Did he have a choice? Was he trapped? Free will is crucial this semester.
ReplyDeleteI think that the villain is Barzini. Even though the Corleone family is involved in crime, the viewers are still on their side. Barzini is the antangonist trying to get rid of the Corleones, and is willing to use any means possible. He does not care if innocent people, like Michael's new wife, are killed in the process. He will use corrupt cops and the Titalias as his puppets instead of doing the dirty work himself. There would be no story if Barzini had not tried to get rid of the Corleones.
ReplyDeleteThe obvious villain is Barzini, but I think that he is not the only one. In my opinion, the family business is evil as well. The source of all the problems that happen in the movie are obviously related to the business. Clearly the movie and the book would not exist without the business, but the family would be better off without it. Forcing each child to join the business causes every one of the sons' to have problems with their lives. The business causes deaths and anger, but worst of all, it causes people to change.
ReplyDelete