I had a professor once explain that the ganster-story is the dominant trope in american literature and pop-culture for a simple reason: it's long been the quintessential way to portray the confrontation of tradition against modernity. Obviously this has a psychological dimension, which in turn is at least partly about sexuality and gender roles (especially given a dumbed-down Freudian representation of 'psychology'). So what? Don't give a bunch of HBO writers so much credit. Its been done, and done, and done.

The problem with the Sopranos is that it was a great gangster story back when you could still see the twin towers in the background of the show's opening song. But talk about anachronistic, Rebecca says she's attracted to the "melancholic anachronism pining for a simpler time"...that's putting it mildly. In a world where 'tradition vs modernity' issues are being mitigated a global, fundamentalist, Islamic insurgency, who wouldn't pine for memories of goofy gansters in New Jersey, let alone at the Tropicana or even back in Sicily...But it's 2007 people, who gives a fuck about Italian gansters anymore, even post-modern ones. That shit is so 2000. Where's the sitcom with the Taliban leaders arguing about cell-phone plans and whether they want their kids wearing burkas or not...?