“The fundamental faith of the metaphysicians is the faith in opposite values.”
—F. Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, §2 (excerpt).
—F. Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, §2 (excerpt).
“I’m ready to shoot people who claim an enemy is a person whose inner story we don’t know. The idea is clear: We hate someone, but if we were to know his universe from within we would see that he also has his side of the story, his experience to tell. Maybe! Maybe! But the truth of this is extremely limited. Because, if you take even the greatest criminals–Hitler, Stalin, whatever, murderers–I’m quite sure that each of them will be able to tell you a very authentic inner story, and so on. You have this deep inner story, to avoid confronting the horror of what you are doing. Our inner truth is the lie we construct to be able to live with the misery of our actual lives. I never believed in the emancipatory potential of this gesture, “Let’s peel off the masks.” When you really open up yourself, you know, this really pathetic moment: “This is what I am, these are my dreams, my deepest fears, desires.” Then, you really lie. I never believed in, you know, getting deep into a person. If I go into anyone I discover shit. We are all filthy egoists, whatever. It doesn’t interest me. The truth is out there. [W]e have to avoid our true inner self. Our true inner self is full of shit, it’s misery, whatever. There can be more truth in the mask if you adopt one then in your real inner self. I always believe in masks.”
— Slavoj Zizek
— Slavoj Zizek
John Gotti elevated the public’s notion of a mob boss to near mythic status. As head of the Gambino crime family in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he cut a colorful and extremely public figure not just in New York City but across the nation.
Tabloid newspapers called him the Teflon Don for his seeming ability to avoid prosecution. He was also known as the Dapper Don, due to his immaculate style, which consisted of double-breasted Italian suits from Brioni, hand-painted silk ties and his halo of perfectly coiffed hair.
It was even rumored he kept a spare suit available to change into during lunch recesses at his trials.
In death as in life, Gotti’s funeral was big and bold. Twenty-two black limousines, 19 flower cars and hundreds of private vehicles crawled the streets of Ozone Park, Howard Beach and sections of Queens.
Tabloid newspapers called him the Teflon Don for his seeming ability to avoid prosecution. He was also known as the Dapper Don, due to his immaculate style, which consisted of double-breasted Italian suits from Brioni, hand-painted silk ties and his halo of perfectly coiffed hair.
It was even rumored he kept a spare suit available to change into during lunch recesses at his trials.
In death as in life, Gotti’s funeral was big and bold. Twenty-two black limousines, 19 flower cars and hundreds of private vehicles crawled the streets of Ozone Park, Howard Beach and sections of Queens.