Forget about the iconic Hollywood gangster figure that, coiffured and manicured to perfection, relies for his on-screen magic on sharply tailored bespoke suits as well as powerful images of masculinity. Embrace instead the Sopranos, the cult TV mafia series. Full of anti-fashion and overweight characters whose attire cannot entirely cover the misshapen underbelly of the American mafia, the Sopranos offer more character complexity, and moral questioning for the audience, than anything found in The Godfather trilogy. Lorraine Gamman’s talk will argue that unlike the forcefully persuasive figures of the gangster movie stereotypes, Sopranos’ characters have little image connection with gangster films, and more in common with the moral dilemmas found in Shakespearean plays.
Lorraine Gamman is Professor in Design Studies and Director of Design Against Crime Research Centre at Central Saint Martins College. She is also author and co-editor of several books spanning design, feminism and popular culture.