The Godfather As Metatext

Nick Gillespie | November 21, 2002

If there's any lingering doubt that The Godfather--the novel and the movie--is the metatext of the past 35 years, this short Time interview with French philosopher Jacques Derrida should convince the last few holdouts. The "always already" absent father of deconstruction says that "I have watched The Godfather 10 times. I must watch whenever it's on."

This comes on the heels of a CNN report that Saddam Hussein's fave flick is The Godfather (which explains that freaking ridiculous brim-up fedora that he often wears in public--it's taken from Brando) and VH-1's recent airing of the GF series, in which various rock and rap stars (including Snoop Dogg, who released The Doggfather a few years back). And The Sopranos, of course, which has even explicitly referenced GF in recent episodes.

Not sure why the appeal is so strong, though in an American context I suspect it's a compelling mix of "authentic" identity, victimization, and power--the immigrant success story in a nutshell.