Updated

Updated · The New York Times · Jul 4

Readers Pick 'Idiocracy' and 'The Godfather' From 3,000 Comments on Definitive American Films

Updated

Updated · The New York Times · Jul 4

Readers Pick 'Idiocracy' and 'The Godfather' From 3,000 Comments on Definitive American Films

Q: If 'The Godfather' defines the American Dream, is it a story of triumph or corruption?

It is both, but the film’s lasting point is that triumph in America can be inseparable from corruption. That is why readers in the anniversary debate could plausibly see “The Godfather” in two ways. On one level, it is a classic immigrant saga. Vito Corleone arrives in the United States, builds wealth, protects his family and achieves power in a country that promises reinvention. The opening line — “I believe in America. America has made my fortune” — frames the story in the language of opportunity, success and self-making that sits at the heart of the American Dream. But Coppola’s film steadily turns that dream inside out. The Corleones do not rise through clean enterprise alone; they build influence through violence, patronage and fear. Michael’s arc is the clearest evidence. He begins as the son who seems capable of escaping the family business and ends by fully absorbing its logic. His ascent is a triumph of discipline and strategy, yet also a moral collapse. That tension is why the film resonates so strongly as a portrait of America. Readers cited it not just as a family epic, but as a story about how ambition, capitalism and power can blur into criminality. Paired with “The Godfather Part II,” that reading becomes even sharper, showing how success can harden into institutional corruption. So if “The Godfather” defines the American Dream, it defines it as a success story with a stain on it: achievement won at the cost of the soul.

1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 4

More than 3,000 reader comments naming hundreds of movies made “Idiocracy” the most-cited film about America, with “The Godfather” finishing second.
The responses split between nostalgic visions of the country and darker judgments of its present, a divide sharpened by commenters who called “Idiocracy” practically a documentary.
“The Godfather” drew support both as an immigrant-family pursuit of the American dream and as a parable of power and corruption; combined with Part II, the saga would have led the list.
The poll followed a 10-writer feature tied to the nation’s 250th birthday, and readers broadly praised picks like “There Will Be Blood” and “The Florida Project” while sharply rejecting “Disclosure Day.”

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The New York Times3h ago

Readers Select "Idiocracy" and "The Godfather" as Top Definitive American Films

Why did a 2006 sci-fi comedy become the top film defining America's 250th birthday?

As America turns 250, do our chosen films now reflect more anxiety than aspiration?

If 'The Godfather' defines the American Dream, is it a story of triumph or corruption?

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The New York Times3h ago

Readers Select "Idiocracy" and "The Godfather" as Top Definitive American Films

Readers Pick 'Idiocracy' and 'The Godfather' From 3,000 Comments on Definitive American Films

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