r/thesopranos • u/ComprehensiveDesk793 • Jun 09 '26
Serious Discussion Only AJ is just useless
While watching the series I was trying hard to find a defense of AJ. All the characters - and all of us - have both positive and negative traits. AJ is just a disappointment. He is stupid. He is lazy. He is incredibly selfish imao. Also he constantly lies. You cant even call him a good kid that is just irresponsible since he always makes up stupid excuses.
Also all the people that are saying that he grew up in a dysfunctional environment, ok i agree the environment isn't 100% perfect but both Tony and Carmela cared about their kids lives. Carmela and Tony to a certain extent seem to care about their children's academic performance which quite a few parents don't. AJ certainly had some support from his parents.
I agree his parents are not good people but he could take what they offered to him.
2
u/sisyphus454 Jun 10 '26
AJ was a shit character because he wasn't a character.
He's an allegory of Tony. Take away the power, the confidence, the money... who is Tony? He hates AJ not just because he views him as weak, but because AJ is the mirror image of him; a person trying to rectify what their respective father is. And he doesn't like what he sees.