A Bronx Tale Essay

A Bronx Tale is a movie about Calogero, a young man who lives in the Bronx in the 1960s under the influence of two father figures. One father figure is his real father and the other figure is the leader of a very infamous gang. This film shows how Calogero turns his back on his biological father and chooses to live under the rules of his new “father”. After being noticed by Sonny, the leader of the gang, Calogero changes everything about him, starting from his personality all the way to his name.
When Calogero was a little boy, he would listen to everything his father said and was obedient. He was always interested in a bar that was right next to his home and he admired Sonny very much, just because he was a god in his town and everyone respected him. Calogero became close to Sonny after telling cops that he did not see him shooting anyone. From then on, Sonny would take Calogero under his wing and teach him about the life of a gangster. Sonny even changed Calogero’s name to C. As C grows up and becomes a teenager, resocialization occurs. Resocialization is radically changing a persons personality by carefully controlling the environment around them. Their identity is broken down and a new self is re-built. In this case, Sonny controls the environment around C and thus, changes C into a bad-boy. The total institution, which is a setting in which people are isolated from the rest of society and manipulated by an administrative staff, is Sonny’s group. As C becomes closer to Sonny, his relationship with his real father strays and he beings to rebel and not listen to him. Soon, Sonny “replaces” his father.
As time passes, Sonny grows in power while the neighborhood stays the same. Everyone grows up and they finally get their own social club. The socializing agents are C’s friends and family. When C was young, he was always dependant on his parents when making decisions. Now, he is dependant on himself and Sonny. C has become close friends with Sonny and even goes...