Holland Elana: What was the nature of the initial conversation that sparked the idea to embark on writing a book about The Godfather? Could you provide insights into the early discussions that laid the foundation for this project?
Joshua Heter + Richard Greene: We have both published a number of books on popular culture and philosophy. All told, there are dozens of these volumes (which have been published since around the year 2000), and we’ve been fortunate to work on a number of them in various capacities. Sometime about a year and a half ago, we began to wonder if there were any “big” pieces of intellectual property (i.e., television shows or movie franchises) that were overlooked; that never got the philosophy and pop culture treatment. And, as it turns out, inarguably, one of the most important pieces of popular storytelling in the twentieth century had been overlooked: The Godfather. With the anniversary of the first two films coming up, and with the release of The Offer (which recounts the making of The Godfather) on Paramount+, it seemed like now was a great time to correct that oversight. Thankfully, the good folks at Carus Books agreed, and we got to work.
HE: In the opening, you mention that The Godfather was influenced by the cliché “write what you know.” Can you elaborate on whether this same inspiration guided the creation of your book? How did your personal experiences or knowledge shape your approach to writing it?
JH+RG: One of the really rewarding aspects of putting together one of these books is working with such enthusiastic authors. All of our authors are accomplished philosophers in one way or another: holding professorships at major institutions or having published in highly respected peer-reviewed journals. But (like us), they are also fans. So, the chance to bring together two of our passions (i.e., philosophy and The Godfather) in the form of a book (or book chapter) is something that we all really cherish. We worked with a number of our authors at the early stages of the writing process to shape the overall direction of their chapter, not only so that it would be interesting for philosophers but so that it would be rewarding for anyone who is an intellectually curious Godfather fan. Also, our love of all things Godfather made us want to ensure that we covered as many in-universe topics as we could; so we made sure to include chapters not just centered around Vito, Michael, and organized crime in general, but also around characters like Connie, Fredo, and even Frank Pentangeli. Thankfully (because of our talented base of authors), we were able to accomplish this.
HE: The book is divided into six sections, each marked with a specific quote from The Godfather film. Can you explain the process behind structuring the book in this manner? How did you determine the thematic focus of each section, and what influenced your selection of the particular lines used to sequence the book?
JH+RG: For a project like this, you need a minimum of sixteen or seventeen essays to really do the source material justice. We were fortunate enough to receive around eighty submissions in total, and we had room to include twenty-nine chapters in the final work. With that much content, it would be all too easy for a reader to be overwhelmed. So, we divided the chapters into sections based on topics or themes (either philosophical or from the films themselves). The first section: “Yeah, let’s talk business.” is all about organized crime itself: the ethics of it and what that means for the story’s characters. “I don’t fear you, Michael, I dread you.” is constituted of essays that center around the films’ (anti)hero: Michael (e.g., his descent into criminality, his search for forgiveness). “Finance is a gun; politics is knowing when to pull the trigger.” is a section devoted to political philosophy as it relates to The Godfather. “… for old times’ sake.” is filled with chapters about how certain significant philosophers from history (e.g., Seneca, Plato, Hobbes) would judge the Corleones and the world of The Godfather in general. “Forgive. Forget. Life is full of misfortunes.” is all about questions that may arise in anyone’s life but that are specifically relevant to the Corleones. And “Don’t ever take sides with anyone against the family.” contains essays about issues that specifically arise for particular members of the family (e.g., Connie, Mary and Vincent). The use of quotes from the films as section headings is mostly just a fun way to connect the content of the books to the source material we all love so much.
HE: For Joshua Heter: As the author of “Frank Pentangeli’s Stoic Suicide”, what significance do you see in examining the themes of power, loyalty, and morality through the lens of both The Godfather and Stoic philosophy? How do these themes align with your personal interests or scholarly pursuits?
JH: A key notion in stoicism is that living well is living in accordance or harmony with nature. As Seneca put it: “Let us keep to the way which Nature has mapped out for us, and not let us swerve therefrom. If we combat Nature, our life differs not a whit from that of men who row against the current.” I think characters like Michael Corleone could learn a lot from the Stoics. A path to a truly happy life will involve not trying to bend the universe to match our will (as Michael tries to do so often) but to take what life gives us, adjusting our will accordingly. This is something I try to implement in my life (albeit, quite imperfectly). In authoring my chapter, I had to go back and read some of the Stoics (which I hadn’t done since I was an undergraduate). I came to appreciate that there was a lot of ancient wisdom my students could benefit from reflecting on, and I ended up adding a section on the Stoics in my ethics course. Students have taken to it really well.
HE: Were there any surprising or unexpected philosophical connections that emerged during your research and writing process? How did these connections challenge or reshape your previous understanding of both The Godfather and the philosophical concepts you were exploring?
JH+RG: Whenever we start one of these books, we sort of brainstorm a list of possible topics: ideas that seem like they could work out to be viable chapters. But one of the really enjoyable parts of the process is receiving submissions with chapter ideas that we hadn’t really thought of. One such example was Jennifer Kling’s chapter “The Government Is My Family” which (essentially) attempts to answer the question “Is the government really all that different than an organized crime family?” Another is Raymond Belliotti’s “Connie’s Nietzschean Transformations,” which astutely explains that Connie Corleone’s character arc over the three films closely mirrors the sort of personal transformation many take that Nietzsche spelled out in his writing. I think this shows that no matter how much one appreciates The Godfather, it’s a story that is so full and rich that there is always more one could get out of it.
HE: As educational professors of philosophy, how has working on this book and exploring the connections between The Godfather and philosophy impacted your research ethics and further ignited your passion for philosophical inquiry? How do you envision incorporating these experiences and insights gained from this project into your future work as an educator and philosopher, and how do you believe it will benefit your students and the field of philosophy?
JH+RG: One of the nice things about working on edited collections of this sort is that one is exposed to a pretty wide variety of philosophical insights and philosophical methodologies as applied to works of popular culture, such as The Godfather. This can be quite philosophically invigorating in that it leads to greater appreciation of other philosophical works of popular culture. Moreover, these insights and philosophical methodologies tend to inform future research and future editing projects. In a sense, they keep us growing and learning as professional philosophers, which, in turn, informs what we do in the classroom.
HE: Were there any particular challenges or obstacles that you encountered during the editing process for this book? How did you navigate those challenges and ensure the quality and coherence of the final product?
JH+RG: The process of putting this book together was very smooth and rewarding. That said, there are almost always topics that don’t get addressed, either because there isn’t room for them in the book, or because no one really figured out how to mold the idea into a full-fledged chapter topic. I imagine that if we had more room and enough time to “crack” the idea, we could’ve added a chapter on Tom Hagen and loyalty, or around the question of whether The Godfather reinforces problematic stereotypes for Italian Americans (chapter ideas that did not make it into the book). But we are very pleased with the wide range of (philosophical and in-universe) topics our authors were able to cover.
HE: You have previously worked together on projects such as Punk Rock and Philosophy: Research and Destroy (2022) and are set to release another book, Post-Punk and Philosophy (2024) next year. With the recent release of your book, The Godfather and Philosophy, how do you believe the incorporation of philosophical concepts in film and music elevates their overall impact and resonance with audiences? In what ways does the infusion of philosophy deepen the audience’s connection and understanding of these artistic mediums?
JH+RG: Philosophy is not for everyone, but it is for more people than one might think. Most consumers of popular culture want books, films, television programs, theater, etc. that inspire deeper and further thought. They want themes that bear on the complexities of life, and specifically on the complexities of their particular lives. Popular culture is the perfect vehicle for presenting philosophy to non-academics. In fact, philosophers have been using pop culture to make their points for well over two thousand years. Plato, for example, drew heavily on the pop culture of his day—Greek mythology—to illustrate philosophical concepts (e.g., the discussion of the Ring of Gyges in The Republic). So, the infusion of philosophy into works of pop culture provides points of intersection with audiences. These points of intersection are among the chief ways that works of art can seem meaningful to audiences.
HE: The Godfather has become a cultural phenomenon, resonating with audiences for decades. How do you believe philosophy contributes to our appreciation and analysis of its enduring impact on popular culture?
JH+RG: The Godfather endures because it is a rich story that touches a great number of important topics: family, good vs. evil, politics, vengeance, love, right vs. wrong, loyalty, honor, corruption, art, justice, food, religion, beauty, societal violence, redemption, traditional and nontraditional roles, patriarchy, etc. Each of these topics has one or more philosophical components. Understanding the philosophy behind the themes in The Godfather allows one to get closer to a fully realized appreciation of the story. Moreover, understanding the philosophical themes allows one to more clearly see the connections between The Godfather and works it has influenced. For example, Tony Soprano in The Sopranos grapples with a lot of the same issues relating to virtue that Michael Corleone struggles with in The Godfather. So much of pop culture has been influenced by the philosophical aspects of The Godfather.
HE: How do you envision readers engaging with this book? What do you hope they will gain or take away from it in terms of their understanding of both The Godfather and philosophical concepts?
JH+RG: The book is best suited to do two things: for the fan who is willing to think critically and wade through a bit of philosophy, the book can give them a deeper, more significant appreciation of The Godfather. And, for the Godfather fan who is looking for a fun, accessible way to learn a bit of philosophy, the book is well suited to help them do so. Beyond these, we hope and feel strongly that The Godfather and Philosophy will be a worthy addition to the long tradition of film criticism, scholarship, and appreciation that has been so meaningful for fans of the Godfather story for all these years.
The Godfather and Philosophy is available for purchase via Carus Books.
Author Biography
Holland Elana is a student at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, double majoring in Film Studies and International Studies. Holland wants to combine her degrees to work in film industries internationally and enjoys filmmaking and film research centered around the horror genre and camp aesthetic.
