FANTASTIC article and examinations of films considered iconic by US majority culture.

Myself ... I found The Godfather uninteresting and an example of petty criminals being jumped up as if they're anything more than that. It was like Capitalism for Dumb-Asses. Not at all compelling, to me. I made myself sit through it once and that felt like penance for a crime I didn't even commit. (I doubt I was the only Black person from Brooklyn who felt that way._ Especially living close to Mill Basin, Bay Ridge, and Bensonhurst. Mobbed up racists from the sole and the heel of The Boot (and their children) were a daily problem to avoid or weather, depending on what school you went to. While they were chasing one all the way home after school, it never felt glamorous or street noble--at least not to my family.

Never saw Wall Street or its sequel. Didn't seem like my kind of films. Plus, I don't care for the stars.

As for The Ten Commandments and Roots ... I've got childhood and adult memories/feelings on both. I fell you here, strongly. I see the problems, but see the virtues, too (cinematically opulent and dazzling, for TTC and groundbreaking/heart-breaking/more accurate than previous films in the genre, for Roots).

Death Wish ... I've seen once. I agree with your assessment here, as well--for all the films, actually ... I think we differ only on the levels of enjoyment for The Godfather, lol--and have also had that thought. "Bernie Goetz thinks he's Charles Bronson, or something." I never took it any farther than that and I'm SOOOO glad you had the creativity to follow that trail to its next level.

What an amazing article and you're a deft, informative, entertaining writer. Subbed and looking forward to reading more.

"Such a PRETTY enemy... ."

(Honestly, the the "Egyptian" princess MADE that film. That voice and cadence, and the smoldering looks? THAT'S one of the things that makes the price of admission worth paying!)