Was this supposed to be an insult or did it have a specific meaning?
Back in the day, a "pimp" was what we would call a prostitute's manager. So, I don't think it really fit into the scenes in which he used this word.
Also, I would assume "guinea" is an insulting term for an Italian person but Michael lets Moe Green call him this to his face. Was this term insulting back then or not?
***EDIT***
Yes, guinea was insulting even then. What was Michael supposed to do when Moe called him one? Lash out like a kid? He took the insult and stored it away.
Eventually Moe got whacked but I do think Michael could have said something like "don't call me that" or anything really. He didn't need to lash out but letting him know in a subtle way that calling him a guinea is out of line would have been appropriate.
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I think he was trying to show Moe that he was a cool customer who wouldn't be rankled by Moe's threat to buy out the Corleone family, much less respond to a generic slur. That's the way I see it anyway.
It's still a great scene because it definitely shows the difference between Michael Corleone and Tony Montana. Montana would have put a bullet between his eyes right then and there. Lol...
shareTrue, everyone responds differently. I was raised by the old "sticks and stones" theory, and I never took a generic insult personally, and boy did I get plenty when I was younger.
In GFII, we see Michael insulted again, only far more specifically when Senator Geary insults Michael *and* his family. Michael calmly (in one of the best lines in the whole movie) points out that Senator Geary is no better than Michael (same hypocrisy) in their business dealings and while he doesn't dispute Geary's insult personally, he does make it known that it does NOT apply to Michael's family.
And Michael does this with perfect control of himself. Makes him seem more formidable when he responds to these insults with a calm and sinister reply.
Same here, sticks and stones is something I still live by today. Sure, words can piss me off but not to the point that I would get violent over them. Unless it's a death threat, I pretty much ignore insults.
I need to watch GFII again. Haven't seen it in a long time but I do vaguely remember that scene.
It's a great scene. Here's a portion of it:
https://youtu.be/sG2-FI5_INA?t=88
Thanks for the link. That was a great scene. Reminds me of the opening scene of part 1 and the way Vito remains so calm even though he feels somewhat insulted by the man asking him for help.
He was the mob boss who ran the prostitution racket. Vito called him a pimp as an insult. In the Godfather universe, Vito's family would never stoop so low as to be a sex traffickers.
shareMaybe so, keywestmo. But why call him this? It didn't quite fit the scene. They never said they were upset about the use of hookers.
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After the peace conference Tom ask Don Corleone if he should tell Tattaglia to make sure the drug middle men have clean records. Don Corleone replies that Barzini will know without being told.
He knew Barzini was the real power behind the drug racket and that Tattaglia was to weak to wage war without Barzini behind him.
When Tom "corrects" him, the Don insults Tattaglia by aptly calling him a pimp and revealing that he knew it was Barzini all along.
For what it's worth, it was mentioned in the book more than once that the Don was very strait laced in matters of sex. He would never profit from prostitution and had no respect for those who did.
Ahhh, that makes sense. Thanks, Edward.
shareThat's what I said " In the Godfather universe, Vito's family would never stoop so low as to be a sex traffickers."
shareKwest, the book is mainly what explains this part of the movie. If I remember correctly, Vito never says they don't like prostitution in the movie. But the fact that it's mentioned in the book explains this. But still, calling the guy a pimp is not exactly an insult, it just seems like it never really made sense to use that word.
But it is kind of funny that some people want to take the moral high ground even though they're ruthless scumbags themselves. The Corleones are willing to slice off the head of a horse and put it in a man's bed, but they would never dive into prostitution. Nope, that's below them. hahaha
It is an insult, probably because of the "filth factor" and stigma associated with sextrade, and then as a supposed man of honor being a co-ordinator of that. Not so much out of empathy for prostitutes themselves. You wouldn't be accepted in that life if you or your daughter had been involved in porn either, or being gay - i think it's something along those lines. It tarnishes your reputation as a respectable man to either be or associated with unaccepted sexual lifestyles like that.
Murder is not part of that moral scale. One could argue that it should be, but it isn't, if anything that's a strongman trait and an innate necessity of that world so everyone would just be falling short of living up to the standard.
Remember it is a world of dominant masculinity so behavior that should be bad on a moral scale will be viewed favourably on the masculine one instead. You see this today too with rappers bragging about their kills and prison respect being earned through violence etc.
I just find it kind of funny that mobsters of all people, would be against prostitution.
I understand that in the Corleone family it's seen as kind of shady but other mobsters don't seem to have issues with it. I suppose it just goes to show that everyone has their own set of morals. Also, I think in Goodfellas, the mobster dons were against dealing drugs but some of the lower ranked members still did it.
Personally, I wouldn't care that much if prostitution was legalized and heavily regulated. That street walking stuff should remain illegal but I don't care that much about what people are doing inside brothels.
The whole point of the remark was to state that he finally knew that Barzini was behind it all.
So when Don Corleone says, "Tattaglia's a pimp," he's not so much insulting Tattaglia because of his, "profession." He is saying Tattaglia is only a pimp. He knew Tattaglia was not smart enough to orchestrate Sollozo's business proposition, the attempt on his (Don Corleone's) life or the hit on Sonny.
Tattaglia was just, "...a pimp."
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