so they have to make up total bullshit like him taking on the mob and giving a fictional daughter to a future mob boss in a interracial love story to appeal to the Kardashian audience. And of course the woke critics reward them. Pfft.
Pass.
It'd be great if these kinds of complaints came with a description of the actual real life events that were more interesting than the show's narrative.
That being said, this show is an entire departure from reality. Chin Gigante was in prison for 5 years starting in 1959, so basically not even in New York City to have a conflict with Bumpy Johnson or a war with Joe Bonanno until at least 1964. Bonanno was involved with a murder conspiracy against other Five Families in 1963, but it had nothing to do with Gigante who was in jail, and Bonanno was more or less a remote figure, disappearing on and off in the mid 1960s.
I can't find many easy details about Johnson's criminal career after his release from Alcatraz in 1963. I'd wager he remained a major figure in Harlem, but probably much less than is portrayed here. African American "parity" and power in the heroin trade really didn't seem to happen until the late 1960s or early 1970s with the rise of Frank Lucas and Nicky Barnes. It seems unlikely that Johnson could have so easily regained a top slot in Harlem crime after a long stint in Alcatraz.
The real problem with a show like this is that they weave in some reality along with the bullshit so unless you really know your history you have no clue what is real and what is bullshit. The proper way to have made this movie would have been to use completely fictitious names which would have made it less annoying to watch. With Gigante they do weave in some reality to him like his attempt to act crazy to avoid arrest... but then why in the world do they create the one fake daughter while erasing the other 8 actual kids he did have. I'm sure it was probably to avoid being sued, so if they were being stifled by the threat of litigation if they used the persona of Gigante why not just make up some random Italian godfather? The reality is most people that are going to watch this today are probably not familiar with who the original crime bosses were so you could have used any names you wanted and no one would have cared.. but for some of the viewers it would have help get past the made up bullshit that permeates the show. In a sense I feel like I'm watching a Harlem version of Mad Men as it really just become a soap opera by the end.
shareMy guess is the show *needs* to be more or less based on a real person for a bunch of reasons related to "legitimacy" -- otherwise its a bunch of black gangsters vs. white gangsters and people don't find it realistic given how little they generally know about Harlem and much they assume the NYC Mob was invincible from the various mob movies already out there.
They may also have had trouble attracting talent like Forest Whitaker and maybe other black actors if they felt like the production wasn't willing to acknowledge the actual history of Harlem.
I do think the show struggles a bit between its impulse to indulge in period styles and historical trends ala Mad Men, its character driven drama and the crime empire narratives.
As someone with a history degree, I just assume most of it's made up, and try to enjoy it for what it was. I'll do my own research.
shareI can understand this.
I did google everyone after the first episode, even though I knew the name, just to see how close to the real person this is portrayed.
It didn't change my mind, such a lot is fiction, but this show is great. I just really enjoy it.