The odds on Vito Spatafore surviving are running 6 to 1 — against. That’s the buzz over at the Pinaccle Sports website, where bets are placed each week on which Sopranos character will be whacked next
Ever since the tubby Mafioso was discovered at a gay bar in leather regalia and ass-out chaps by two thugs, who happed to be there to pick up a kickback, the death clock has started ticking on the Sopranos hitman.
That was a month ago. Since then Vito has disappeared himself to New Hampshire and — straining belief as Vito is weighing in there at a waddling 260 pounds — snagged himself a humpy bi-curious volunteer fireman (below). And this fireman is a piece of work, in the Hells Angels Daddy-o mode, complete with Harley and zippery leather jacket. (UPDATE: But see the discussion of chubbies and chubby chasers in the comment area, below)
By day, Daddy-o works in a diner, flipping pancakes — or johnnycakes as the show coyly calls them.
And every time, he comes on screen, flexing all those tiny tendons in his forearm as he works the skittle, Vito goes wild. And not just Vito. A collective lavender sigh goes up across this Sopranos-viewing land and everywhere the cri de coeur is heard :
Where can I get me some of that!
Vito, naturally, has issues, lots of them, and last Sunday– for reasons unknown — he abruptly skipped town. Drunk, driving recklessly, even finding time to whack an innocent motorist, Vito headed back to Jersey and surely his own doom at the hands of former, homo-horrified paisans. The master touch: Sinatra’s I Did it My Way played endlessly on a car tape as the tear-streaked Vito drove on through the snow, wind and rain.
Will Vito somehow make it to the end of the season in one piece? Not if history is any guide. Back in 2003, a real-life mobster found himself dangerously outed. The Guardian carried the tale:
The boss of the Mafia family on which the TV series The Sopranos is believed to be based was executed by one of his own soldiers because he was gay and they feared that if news got out the family would be ridiculed by the rest of the underworld, a Manhattan court has been told.
“Nobody’s gonna respect us if we have a gay homosexual boss sitting down discussing La Cosa Nostra business,” an informer told the court.
John “Johnny Boy” D’Amato, head of the DeCavalcante family, the biggest Mafia family in New Jersey, was shot dead in 1992 after it was rumored that he was having relationships with other men.
When a DeCavalcante soldier, Anthony Capo, heard the tale from D’Amato’s girlfriend he was incredibly angry.
“She told me John D’Amato and her were going to sex clubs in the city, swapping partners and John was engaging in homosexual activity,” Capo told the court on Wednesday. “It shocked me . . . He couldn’t be acting that way — he was a leader of men.” …
In Mafia culture there is a strict taboo against homosexuality… So strong is the prejudice that even after the family’s leaders had approved D’Amato’s murder, they had to be careful how they went about it, lest word of his sexual orientation leaked out. Normally they would have had to confer with the heads of other crime families before executing someone as senior as D’Amato. But to share the news was considered so humiliating that they preferred to break Mafia law instead.
“We knew we’d have to sneak him — kill him without permission,” Capo said.
Joe Gannascoli, who plays Vito, is much more optimistic about his character’s future. He suggested the gay plotline to the writers after reading 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.
So, who knows, Vito may yet live to see his first White Party .
Man, did I just found a new reason to watch this show, or what? I’m so very very glad I got all episodes of this new season on my harddrive… Never had the time to actually watch them, but HOT DAMN, I’m sure going to FIND time to watch the show this time around….
hahaha! Wonderful! lol
Heh, this is really absurd, a gay maffiosi? Great, I like big guns…
interesting theme today. again i miss all these evolutions in the states. wonder what happened with elliott? saw sopranos when living in switzerland but it is not shown here in germany. wonder why???? that is another story.
well having grown up in nyc and having known some little and big mafiosi i can only say it is the same as in italy where i have also lived. has to do really more with the church/italian mentality than anything. you can do it but don’t let anyone know about it and DO NOT get caught. doesn’t matter who one is or what profession. Capo, soldier, cardinal, deacon or simply young husband and father of 4.
it is an eternal double standard. when i lived in rome at the age of 28 more than half the men i slept with were married with children. there would have been more men but i was/am not passive and only got the more eager ones. for most italian men as i know them and as they told me, sticking their dick in a man does not mean they are homosexual. it is a cultural point of view, handed down in part from the ancient romans.
hope the vito character doesn’t get bumped off. tv is not reality or so the studios say when they want to justify some stupidity. if they kill him off it simply means to me that in the media the queers still have to die or are psycho. tired of that scenario, celluloid closet re-visited. brokeback isn’t enough to counter the usual bill of fare.
Ps, while i am at it, I HATE Will and Grace. this rubbish we do get here. being a fair and objective person i have tried to view it on a number of different occassions. my feelings and reactions are always the same. i find it an insult to my intelligence and to homosexual men. MY OPINION! don’t get it. is its popularity that any visibility or mention is better than none? or is it to do with the usual self deprecating self loathing of the homosexual man and his internalised homophobia?
interested to see what this unleashes.
apropos elliott. someone wrote that it would be better for him, his career and future to lose. i agree. winning is more often than not a death sentence to a performer. 2 examples, Rita Moreno and George Chakiris. They both won oscars at the outset of their careers and there was nowhere to go from their. there are many, many such stories, they fall through the cracks once the shouting is over. Especially Rita, she was a brilliant talent, but never became a world star or even fulfilled her real potential. wasn’t given the chance and was misguided.
that’s fucking bull shit tony knows he has a good whacker and cum on guys you know what i mean.
“Since then Vito has disappeared himself to New Hampshire and — straining belief as Vito is weighing in there at a waddling 260 pounds — snagged himself a humpy bi-curious volunteer fireman”
Excuse me? Surely you’ve heard of chubs and chasers, even if it’s not your bag. You would be amazed at how conventionally attractive chasers can be.
This is from a 260 lb. mafioso-looking type who knows whereof he speaks.
Madonn’! Get a life.
I don’t think it’s the fact that he’s gay, in the mafia, or is a bit bearish that sticks in my craw. It’s the incredibly goofy and bad writing of this character that is so damned offensive. Do the writers know any gay men? I’ve been to New York, Amsterdam, San Fran, to themed sex clubs and bathhouses. The gay bar scene with all the guys in leather where Vito is “outed” - has anyone ever seen a leather bar like that? I certainly hadn’t, this side of Cruisin’. It’s laughable.
And the fight between Vito and JohnnyCakes? Totally out of character! All that lead up and character development for him to do that? And then they get together after that with that kind of appology? Unbelievable.
I haven’t seen this past episode, but I got it on my Dish DVR… I wonder what other writing horrors await me.
Thank you, Jerry Weiss. Yes I did slight chubbies and their chasers. And I have seen, via a close friend who tops 300 pounds, how maddeningly butch and cute his sex partners can be — though, typically, these butch guys want to be bottoms and worship his belly, which for my friend takes a lot of the kick out it. But humpy, in the mode of Daddy-o the fireman, absolutely.
My view of the world in this piece was too narrow. The world is big enough for us all, regardless of size, age or gender. And the Internet, which was my big friend’s salvation, brings together many like-minded people. No group or sexual preference (for adults, among adults) needs to be marginalized anymore. Size, age, disabilities — all human attributes have their fan clubs, thanks to the Internet.
Mea culpa.
Thanks for the heads-up. The Sopranos never really held my interest until now.
I’m pretty sure Jim’s either gay or bi, nothing curious about him.
Hey I think it was just as hot when Vito was giving head to the construction guard and the boyfriend of Tony’s daughter caught him. The guard was just a cute and just as horny. Its sex and we all have our ‘hot men’.
I have yet to see this season (don’t have HBO, have to wait for it on Netflix), but I am glad to see more gay roles in mainstream shows. However, do they always have to be promiscuous, into a fetish (leather, bear, drag, etc.), effeminate, or have AIDS? Really, the character I am most delighted to see on a non-gay themed show is Omar on The Wire.
Hey Neil,
I am totally with you about Will & Grace. I find that show irritating as hell. It’s every gay stereotype that I couldn’t stand from the first minute I realized that I was pointed toward guys and not girls.
In the show’s defense, I’d have to acknowledge that it’s probably as real as anything else. Let’s face it, those stereotypes exist for a reason. Yeah, they can be self-reinforcing but the fact is that a whole lot of Wills and Graces are out there.
Even though I find it irritating when gay men do their best to emulate the worst attributes of young teenage girls, it’s part of the passing parade I guess.
Snyder
dat bloke in da umber wear wid da mustache needs to show his cock
I agree with Chris. That guy is too hot to just be wearing those jock straps. I’d like to see an all nude of both of them making out. Damm they’re hot.