By: Aaron Retter
In the movie Scarface, Tony Montana, a poor Cuban native, built a million dollar drug empire in South Florida. We like and hate Montana. We like him because, well, because he takes care of business. But we hate him because he is too impulsive.
In class we discussed that professionalization permits one to detach from one’s moral bearings. For instance, assassins sleep peacefully at night because they divest themselves from their depraved behavior. What one does from 9-5—their profession—is an isolated pursuit independent of one’s morality and conscious. This theme is important because it has helped to explain the way in which serial murderers, and even those who participate in genocide, live with themselves. As mentioned in numerous posts, Furtwangler’s music helped Nazis to escape to a beautiful place in order that they would not confront the reality of their actions. In a century that has seen five genocides, professionalization has certainly helped people live with themselves.
The Sopranos is a perfect example of the effects of professionalization. A mobster, Tony Soprano, has two “occupations.” He kills and robs during the day. And he tends to his family at night. It’s amazing that he can so easily murder others 9-5, but at night he is a family man; a guy from the suburbs, a guy who still must take out the garbage.
However, Tony Montana is a bit more complex. Although he is a savage killer, his profession had not entirely divorced him from his conscience. There is a scene in the movie where Montana is in hot pursuit of a car. The car has an explosive device attached to it, and in the car is an international dignitary who is about to speak in the UN. His speech will threaten Montana and his partner’s drug business. Montana is following the car in order to detonate the bomb at the right moment to kill the dignitary.
Yet inside the car Montana sees the dignitary’s two children in the backseat. Montana knows that all of his drug partners are counting on him to detonate the bomb, which will essentially save their drug business. But Montana cannot do it. He knows that not killing this person will ruin his career, but he just can’t do it. He says, something to the effect of, I kill many people, and do lots of crazy stuff, but I don’t kill children. That’s not what I do. (Interestingly, because he is disgusted that one of the partners riding next to him in the car is so excited to blow up the car with the children, Montana kills him.)
Certainly Tony Montana is a killer. But he, unlike others, still lives with his conscience during his day job—somewhat.
