"The Sopranos" as Shakespeare

Quote of the day:
“One life stamps and influences another, which in turn stamps and influences another, on and on, until the soul of human experience breathes on in generations we’ll never even meet.”
--Mary Kay Blakely

After the first couple of seasons of "The Sopranos" on HBO, a reviewer referred to the series as Shakespeare for our era. At the time I thought that was a bit hyperbolic, but as the show approaches its final episodes I have changed my mind.

"The Sopranos" has done what "Hill Street Blues" did in the 1980s. It has brought a new level of drama and a new level of quality to television.

It began a trend of telling more-challenging stories with much better writing and much higher production values. "Six Feet Under," "The Wire," "Deadwood," "Rome," "The L Word" and "The Tudors" all sprang from the success of "The Sopranos." Shows on broadcast TV and basic cable have also been developed in response, but have not reached this level because of subject-matter restrictions.

Some characters on "The Sopranos" can be very coarse and shockingly brutal. People have told me they can’t watch it because of the violence and the prodigious profanity. But let’s face it: whatever our patriotic songs and our national mythology tell us, we can be a very coarse and shockingly brutal people.

It is exactly because these shows are so challenging that they are both so entertaining and enlightening. Just like Shakespeare, they portray the poignancy of human goodness and the tragedy of human failings. They call us to examine ourselves and to respond to the best in us.