brayzie

I agree, The Godfather has no real good guys, but the writer and director are clearly trying to portray the Corleone family as the good guys in the story. All the bad things Vito and his family do are in defense to some degree.

Yeah, Woltz is an asshole, but it seemed like either way Vito was going to force this producer to make his godson the star of the film. All that extra stuff is to romanticize these "men of honor" and have us identify with them.


But why do we still want him to prevail? Because we've developed an emotional attachment to the character based on how he's portrayed, superficially. That's why they cast leading men for these roles of low-life gangsters. You get an actor that actually resembles Henry Hill, it's not longer an anti-hero's story, it's a character study.
If they don't have the cool one-liners and romanticized situations, they lose that hero/anti-hero status in the eyes of the audience.


But is that intentional or the writers letting their personal feelings affect the story because I never thought that we were supposed to root for the slasher.


Possibly, but it can still be interpreted as our hero prevailing against the villains. Notice they give Tony a strong sense of honor and he's even brave, while his enemies are cowardly.

Mabuse

Within the films themselves the Wild Bunch and the Corleones are the "good guys" because they honor an unwritten code. The cops, the Mexican general, rival mafia families, and pretty much everyone else are depicted as not possessing any honor.

Why So Blu?

The Punisher is the very definition of an anti-hero.

brayzie

But do the Corleone's really adhere to an unwritten code? They pretty much do the same shit that the other families do, except deal drugs, and even then, Vito caved on that one.

Barzini had a spy (Carlo), Vito had a spy (Luca). The Tattaglia's had corrupt cops on the payroll, so did the Corleone's.

Vito doesn't even get involved when his daughter is being abused by her husband. Michael has innocent women killed.

Even Michael threatens Apollonia's father in order to get with her. He knew it was dangerous, and if he didn't strong arm the father she wouldn't have gotten blown up.

It's a movie about a bunch of snakes, and we the audience aren't judging these characters by their actions but instead we allow ourselves to be manipulated by the director's choice of music, actors, etc. The main characters are romanticized, while their enemies are vilified, and yet they're all the same.

I had him and The Crow in mind when thinking of that term. Wikipedia mentions Goodfellas as an example of "anti-heroes." I don't see that at all, since all those characters come off way worse than those in The Godfather, and much more realistic.

Why So Blu?

Judge Dredd, too. He's one of the few fictional characters that can make fascism look cool.

Hazel Motes

Han Solo is both an anti hero and a hero, depending on the mood George Lucas is in.