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Doctor Feelgood ''The Sopranos''' Dr.
Melfi speaks out. (01/08/02) MED STUDENT From the nasty side effects of Prozac to a troublesome slice of cappicola, Tony Soprano's unlikely struggles with psychotherapy have spawned some of the most darkly comic moments of ''The Sopranos''' three seasons. But Lorraine Bracco is as serious as a Mob hit when it comes to her portrayal of therapist Dr. Jennifer Melfi, which just garnered her a third Golden Globe nomination. For Bracco, the role is a sacred trust of sorts: a chance to pay tribute to the real-life therapists who helped her through her own personal crises. ''I knew what a good psychiatrist was before I ever heard of 'The Sopranos,''' Bracco recently told an audience of psychotherapists at a New York City discussion held by the American Psychoanalytic Association. ''When I got the script, I said, 'Oh my God, I can do this. And I can do this well, if [they] allow me.''' With Bracco's Oscar-nominated role as Mob wife Karen Hill in 1990's ''Goodfellas'' in mind, ''Sopranos'' creator David Chase originally wanted her to play Tony's wife, Carmela. But Bracco insisted on playing Dr. Melfi -- with one caveat. ''You have to promise you won't make a mockery of therapy,'' Bracco said she told Chase. ''If you want to make her the psycho-killer sex addict at the end, I don't want to do that.'' Fortunately, the show's creators shared Bracco's interest in creating a realistic shrink. For starters, writer/executive producer Robin Green's brother Ronald is a psychiatrist who gives advice on such issues as Tony's Prozac dosage. In fact, Bracco's Dr. Melfi is so far from a ''psycho-killer sex addict'' that some critics have suggested the character is a little too stiff -- that she delivers advice like she's reading from a textbook. ''I love that [anyone would] think Dr. Melfi is a little wooden,'' said Bracco, who wore an un-Melfi-like pair of fishnet stockings to the seminar. ''To me, my psychiatrists WERE a little wooden. I'm very freewheeling and free-speaking -- and they, I felt, were a little more serious. It was a fantastic acting challenge.''
Even more challenging for the actress was last season's attention-grabbing twist: Melfi was brutally raped in a scene that horrified even the series' most fervent fans. But Bracco and the show's writers said that the real point of the episode was its ending, where Melfi refused to inflict vigilante justice on her rapist by revealing her plight to Tony. ''I think that whole rape episode was really fabulous for [establishing] Dr. Melfi and who she is as a human being,'' Bracco said. ''The fact was that she did not compromise. At the end of the day, it was her moral issue about whether she would cross that line.'' Originally, the episode was going to have a more predictable ending, with Tony discovering the rape and avenging it. ''It just wasn't as interesting a story that way,'' said exec producer Green. As it was, just shooting the scene proved painful -- Bracco injured her shoulder in the process, and many on the set wept between takes. ''It was a lot more violent than what we [ultimately] showed -- it was truly horrible,'' Green said. In one of the seminar's lighter moments, sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer had a burning question for Bracco: ''When are you going to sleep with Tony?'' the diminutive doctor asked from her front-row seat. Replied Bracco: ''Oh, Dr. Ruth, I'll have to come to you first! I really hope that doesn't happen... but in real life, I'll call you.''
Criminal Intent? A critic responds to the
''Sopranos'' brutal rape scene.
DOCTOR, HEAL THYSELF To be honest, part of me found last Sunday's episode of ''The Sopranos'' disappointing. It was a wrenching and intense hour featuring an unexpected, jarring plot development: the rape of Tony's therapist, Dr. Jennifer Melfi, by a thug in a parking garage. The rape scene is brutal in its directness, focusing mainly on Melfi's face as she screams and sobs. There's no ominous music or stylized camera work to remind the viewers that it's just a TV show and to take them out of what's being shown on screen. While I was riveted, I was disappointed in ''Sopranos'' creator David Chase: Having a central female character be the victim of a rape is a standard -- and tired -- soap opera convention that writers often use to knock a strong heroine down a peg. What did Melfi do to deserve that? By the end of the hour, though, Chase's plan made sense: The story line repercussions of the assault could completely transform Tony's relationship with Melfi. Before the rape, Jennifer realized that she'd been ''charmed by a sociopath,'' and that's why she'd kept Tony as one of her clients instead of sending him to a behaviorist. She even goes so far as to tell Tony he should see another doctor -- but then comes the all important dream, where a Rottweiler, which Melfi interprets as a symbol for the Mob boss, attacks her rapist. ''I felt safe for the first time since it happened,'' Jennifer tells her therapist. For a physically and emotionally terrorized Melfi, Tony now represents protection -- and, possibly, revenge. Chase didn't brutalize Jennifer to make her a victim; he did it to push her to the brink of a moral and ethical crisis. Will Melfi sic Tony on her attacker, have him, in her words, ''squashed like a bug''? That's no doubt that's what the viewers want to see happen. (Who wasn't screaming ''Tell him! Tell him!'' at the TV screen during the final scene in Melfi's office?) If you ask me, the good doctor is entitled to a little vengeance, no matter how out of character it might seem.
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