ABSTRACT
The Sopranos reveals the repressed centrist attraction to Right-wing ideology and subjectivity. Since Tony Soprano shares many important characteristics with Donald Trump, we can understand the “liberal” media's obsession with Trump and other authoritarian leaders through our analysis of how the audience relates to the depiction of this fictional mob boss. On one level, Tony presents the libertarian backlash against women, minorities, political correctness, and the Leftist super-ego, but on another level, his therapy and self-awareness place his anti-social libertarian pathology within a centrist, ironic discourse. Not only do his actions enable the audience to live through his transgressive behavior in a shared cultural fantasy, but Tony's capitalist compulsion reinforces the “liberal” audience's own disavowed commitment to capitalist survivalism.
