Does this story line indicate a new perspective on the complexity of homosexuals in media/entertainment? Gay cowboys, gay mobsters... I don't have HBO so didn't see the episode, but think it's intersting that this story line was in the news.
Your thoughts?
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'Sopranos' Fans Ponder Fate of Gay Mobster
Monday April 10 5:58 PM ET
Now the question for viewers of "The Sopranos" is: Will Vito eat the barrel of his gun? Or will he lack the guts, then get whacked by his appalled paisans? Fans could be overheard waging bets Monday outside Manhattan buildings.
"Five bucks, he doesn't have another line," said one.
"Not counting flashbacks?" wondered another.
Wearing appropriate leather-bar attire, Vito Spatafore the heretofore closeted gay mobster was sighted in Sunday night's episode (stop reading now if you want to watch it later) by a couple of wiseguys who came by the sweaty S&M joint to collect their protection money.
"It's a joke," Vito tries to explain to the duo. Finally he begs: "Don't say nothin'!"
By the end of the show, the crestfallen Vito played by Joseph R. Gannascoli has checked into a motel, looking suicidally at his gun on the nightstand.
Fans of the HBO series were stunned last season when Meadow's boyfriend, Finn, saw a security guard sitting in the driver's seat of a truck and then Vito's head popped up.
This season, Vito has hung around the hospital while Tony Soprano was recovering from a gunshot wound, trying to ingratiate himself with Tony's wife while plotting with Paulie Walnuts to grab her cut of a big score. And he's chomped on carrots while prattling on about all the weight he's losing. (In real life, he's down to 260 from a high of 400 pounds.)
Now that the gay story line is heating up, Gannascoli is immensely pleased, in part because it was his idea to make Vito homosexual.
"I saw him as, like, a cross between Mike Tyson and Liberace," the 47-year-old Brooklyn-born actor told The Associated Press in an interview at his home. "I wanted to make him sort of in self-denial, self-loathing, a real gay hater."
Gannascoli's suggestion was inspired by the book "Murder Machine," about the Gambino family, which had an openly gay member also named Vito.
"They didn't bother him about it, because I guess he was good at what he did, which was chopping up bodies," Gannascoli said.
Gannascoli concedes that he had a self-serving motivation for making the suggestion: Breaking out of the pack.
"I thought that was a way of separating myself from the other actors, because I would have been in the background most of the time. You know, line here, line there, and nothing really substantial," said Gannascoli, whose character previously was best known for whacking Jackie Aprile Jr. "To really make an impact is all I can ask for."
He also thought it would create an interesting acting challenge. But even in a year that has seen "Brokeback Mountain" become a cultural phenomenon and Philip Seymour Hoffman win an Oscar playing Truman Capote, Gannascoli knows the reaction to Vito won't be all positive.
"I'm a Brooklyn guy. I was just in Brooklyn last night. And, you know, I had some real wise guys that look at me and they give me dirty looks. I've had guys, like, come after me in clubs," he said.
He just hopes the "cerebral people" will appreciate his performance.
