By: Maya Carretta
Edited by: Jessica Enns
Perhaps The Sopranos really is one of the greatest television shows of all time, agree to disagree. If you do disagree… well, you either A) did not give it a fair enough shot or B) you are just wrong, sorry.
In my first watch-through of the show, something that stuck out to me was the running theme of existentialism worked throughout the series and expressed through different characters. More specifically, how it was represented and strung along through generations: Livia, Tony, and AJ. These characters in particular often go on tangents at various moments about life being a “big nothing” or questioning “is this all there is?” In these moments, the show repeatedly exposes its underlying existential themes. Dr. Melfi, Tony’s therapist, explains the concept of existentialism quite simply to him during one of their sessions as a philosophical school of thought that emerged post World War II, when society was forced to confront the sheer horror that war had brought upon them.
But to give a more formal introduction, existentialism is a philosophical movement that stemmed out of the 19th century as society shifted from a religious centered belief system to one more rooted in science. It became increasingly popular after World War II, when society was forced to assess the human condition and acknowledge the weight and serious concerns that were causing distress, like death. It finds some of its roots in “Nihilism: the belief in the ultimate meaninglessness of life,” and was later built upon by philosophers like Jean-Paul Sartre, who raised the question of existence over essence. Sartre rejected the idea that humans are born with an innate purpose. Instead, he argued that meaning is something we must create for ourselves. This is what is most commonly known in relation to modern existentialism: “Existence proceeds essence.”
What does this have to do with us? When I picked up the theme of existentialism, I became specifically interested in how this philosophy is demonstrated in AJ. It consumes him to the point of his suicide attempt and his later attempt to join the army to help fight the War on Terror. He argues something along the lines of discovering that the so-called “American Dream” that many people come to America to find is nothing but a sham. This representation, and the outcome that follows it, looked oh so familiar. And then it hit me: there is a clear existentialist mindset among many young adults today.
The rate at which young adults have access to and consume media is both amazing and terrifying. Amazing because it can expose us to so many new pieces of information and experiences from around the world (i.e. a benefit of globalization). However, access to information often acts as a double-edged sword. As mentioned above, youth have an overwhelming amount of access to the internet and to what is going on in the world, so much so that many of us cannot compartmentalize what we are seeing and consuming. But it begs the question: what are we supposed to do with all this information?
As young adults gain more knowledge of political events across the globe, the world can, on most days, appear meaningless or purposeless, to the point that it infiltrates our lives and our ways of thinking. Could it really be that the “nonchalance” we all seem to be searching for is just another way of saying that we don’t want to be bothered with having to deal with, acknowledge, or work through our complex emotions about what our purpose might be? Or that we are avoiding the search for some higher or hidden meaning of the destructive conflicts that we see taking place across the world.
The effect of this seemingly existentialist mindset, and how young adults are attempting to cope with it, is still a relatively new field of study, but the effects of this philosophical thought are increasingly prevalent. In my opinion, these feelings of anxiety, alienation, boredom, and meaninglessness manifest in many of the attitudes that we see in young people today. The seeming lack of interest in political events; the “I don’t care,” or “It doesn’t really mean anything to me,” or “It’s not impacting me so…” While these attitudes are minor and can be taken at face value, I think it is important to ask ourselves why we do not care about the things happening in the world around us. Can it be chalked up simply to proximity or is it something deeper?
And who can really blame young adults for wanting to find some semblance of comfort among such horror. A common aspect of the concept of liberty in political philosophy argues that the only place that is truly secure from any influence is within oneself. (Carretta, Maya, personal communication, September, 9, 2025) Thus, the argument that young adults are becoming increasingly existential starts to become a much more feasible explanation to the attitudes that we see today, as young people strive for this ideal of being someone that is unopinionated, calculated, and even unconcerned. They end up retreating into themselves becoming “numb” and seemingly “nonchalant” about everything. These attitudes have come to be praised on social media among young people, establishing it as something to be desired in oneself.
However, we have to ask, are young adults avoiding political events because of the sheer distress that it forces us to confront; the uncomfortable feeling of dread that settles in your stomach when you see just how awful the world can be? Is it because I.C.E. raids, wars in Russia and Ukraine, or Israel and Palestine, government decisions, or what’s happening in the Congo all become too much at once because of the amount of access that we have to all this information? Is it because the information has become too much, too fast? So much so that we do not know what to make of it all, or do with it? That the only thing we can do is lay in bed and scroll, and scroll, and scroll, and scroll… until we feel nothing? Or is it the crushing realization that sometimes the only way we can really make a difference is by being in a position of power and wealth? Or am I just reading too much into things, and it really is just proximity?
As many young adults transition into becoming full-fledged adults with lives of their own, careers, and happy endings, does the access to political information and events just prove to us that there is seemingly no point in pursuing those things, like having a family, or going after that promotion because the world feels so hopeless?
Like AJ Soprano says, “No I’m serious, why were we born?” Because I mean, he has a point and I mean, who would want to live in a world like ours anyway, right? Maybe life is all a big nothing.
Image Citation
Foundry. (2016). Woman Upset Sad [Photograph]. Pixabay.
https://pixabay.com/photos/woman-upset-sad-depressed-hipster-863686/
References
Aho, K. (2023, January 6). Existentialism Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/existentialism/
CapoTube. (2016, November 7) The Sopranos 6.17 – “Is this all there is?” [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeYaRKPpa0o
(Carretta, Maya, personal communication, September, 9, 2025)
Clip Catcher. (2016, June 5). The Sopranos – AJ’s Words of Wisdom [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhIz6V8tvNk&t=96s
Green, H. (2016, June 6). Existentialism: Crash Course #16 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaDvRdLMkHs
idSuperego. (2010, December 28). The Sopranos and existentialism [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDEIuvxhvKI&t=102s
Lundvall et al. (2022) Finding an existential place to rest: enabling well-being in young adults. National Library of Medicine, PubMed Central. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9361758/
washingtonparkchess. (2012, March 5) Livia Soprano – “It’s all a big nothing” [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHfhbk-oPFw