I'd like to talk a little bit about the trope Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, whose description on this page currently reads:
"Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: heavily implied with Sosa. When "bro"-saying Nuyoricans - who are NEVER white - criticize types for being fake Hispanic, it's usually types like him. He behaves very strangely around Tony, like he's ready to throw him under the bus, but never says it to his face. Compare this to the white Frank Lopez, who at least threatens him to his face, quite a couple of times, when he's upset with him. Same with Omar Suarez, also white, Germanic, Visigothic surname, as is Lopez, who was actually openly hostile to Tony the entire time."
I think there's a couple of reasons to prune this back. First, it's extremely difficult to parse; if one doesn't already know what a "bro-saying Nuyorican" is (I didn't), that second sentence is hard to follow. More importantly, most of this is not related to whether the film does, in fact, have a character with CBD: answering that question doesn't depend on whether Frank is white, or Omar has a Visigothic surname, or etc. For a main-page trope, it seems like it would be better to cut back to the things that bear on the trope definition.
None of that really touches whether there are weird racial connotations to the film; I'm neither affirming nor denying that. I just don't think CBD is the place to talk about them.
So all that said, my suggested edit is:
"Heavily implied with Sosa. He behaves very strangely around Tony, like he's ready to throw him under the bus, but never says so to his face."
I've invited the other editor here to discuss; WELCOME_BRIGADOR, thoughts?
Edited by Irked Hide / Show Replies
Apologies, I started a new job.
I’d honestly keep the race aspects - because Latinos looking down on other Latinos (especially lower-class migrants) is definitely a thing then and now - Sosa being a rich-from-the-start upper-crust man who talks like an American contrasting against hardscrabble Tony who is unabashedly Cuban definitely gives Sosa’s strange attitude another dimension.
Hey! Thanks for the reply. Again, I'm not trying to argue that what you describe is not a real phenomenon; I'm just arguing that "How are Latino politics presented by this film?" is a separate question from, "Does this guy have Chronic Backstabbing Disorder?" I don't see that there's benefit in talking about other characters' relationships with Tony (or their ethnicities) in establishing whether Sosa in fact has CBD.
Would, "This film portrays certain categories of Latinos unfairly," not almost by definition be a YMMV issue?
Also, I don't know whether all the backslashes in my posts show up for you as well as me, but I apologize - I have no idea how to get rid of them.
Edited by Irked
It's a discussion glitch - UR Ls also get broken because TV Tropes adds in its own url in front of them. It's kinda annoying.
I don't think it's really implying Latinos of a certain type are bad - there's a class element definitely at play that runs through the entire film (especially since Tony wants to be a top goon because he's tired of being the poor lower-class Cubano his entire life). Hmm... I wonder if there's a way we can get a third-party. Can you bring it up in Ask The Tropers?
Sure, I was going to suggest something similar. Discussion is... rrgh, there's that glitch again, but it's https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/query.php?parent_id=&type=att#comment-85004
Just one problem. Omar was never exposed as a police informant, and it was really just speculation on Sosa's part. Plus Omar was not into Sosa's deal, so that got Sosa upset.
On the main page we have—> Abusive Mom: Tony Montana's mother Georgina disapproves the criminal career of her son, even rejecting a generous offer of $1,000.
If Abusive Parents does apply to Mrs. Montana, we need a better description/more detail: not approving of your child's crimes and refusing to take drug money is not abuse. I know some fans speculate that she might be abusive because of the way she berates him in that scene, but I'll white it for now.
Edited by GirlofMassDeconstruction