1. INTRODUCTION 

I know this may seem strange to you, but society used to not be so just and egalitarian as it is today. Before the modern invention of “equality,” there used to exist castes that you were born into, and couldn’t break out of, no matter how hard you try. There were the plebs and there were the aristocrats: and one born a pleb stays a pleb. 

Tony Montana, in the movie Scarface, proves this hypothesis — FALSE! Tony Montana proves that not all people who appear plebeian are, in fact, plebs. He proves that noble souls, even born in poverty, find ways of expressing their nobility. Self-actualization is possible for anyone. All you gotta do is put the work in. 

2. TONY IS AN ARISTOCRAT BECAUSE HE TREATS HIS FRIENDS LIKE PLEBS.

First things first: aristocrats use plebs as a means to an end in order to maintain the most noble caste. While we can’t even imagine objectifying our fellow man nowadays, having evolved from those primitive civilizations of the past, you’d be surprised to hear that plebs actually enjoy being used as a tool. They want to be objectified because self-sacrifice confers meaning to their otherwise meaningless, paltry existence. Self-sacrifice gives plebs a reason to live. It makes their lives special.   

Tony and his friend Angel get held-up by Hector the Toad while trying to buy cocaine out of a motel. Hector draws a chainsaw out of his knapsack, hoping to do a little interior decorating. Hector threatens to dismember Angel if Tony doesn’t relinquish the coke money. Not only does Tony deny Hector’s demand, but he also escalates the situation further, telling him to stick his head up his ass. In exchange for Tony’s insolence, Angel dies a gruesome death. 

Tony’s obstinance in relinquishing the money, him allowing Angel to die an undignified death, offends our modern sensibilities. Tony seems to lack empathy and regard for human life altogether. He could have saved his friend if he just gave up the coke money, we think to ourselves. But that’s only because we’ve lost our sense of nobility nowadays. To be noble is to allow others to supplicate or sacrifice themselves for your sake. Tony doesn’t exchange Angel’s life for money because Tony is noble enough to allow Angel to sacrifice himself. It is pride that prevents us from accepting the charity of others. Tony humbles himself to Angel’s self-sacrifice. Angel’s life, though cut short, obtains meaning as part of Tony’s legacy. Tony even honors Angel when he first meets Frank Lopez. Tony allowed Angel to die a noble death. Everything he touches turns to gold. 

Manny, similarly, is treated as a means to an end. As Tony attempts to woo Elvira by buying a new Porsche, Tony commandeers Manny’s Cadillac, and drives off with her, leaving Manny to buy his Porsche for him. Manny is visibly distressed in the scene, but that’s only because he doesn’t appreciate the opportunity for service Tony presents him with. Tony can take advantage of Manny without scruple because Tony knows service confers meaning to those that serve. Tony invites Manny to live a meaningful life. He should feel indebted to him for that. Not many are given such a privilege !

Tony, by contrast, refuses to be used like a dog. His first job in America is a dishwasher at a burger joint with Manny. Whereas Manny seems to be at home flipping burgers, Tony seems distressed the entire time. Washing dishes disrupts the natural order of society. Tony is supposed to allow others to wash his dishes for him; he should not hoard that opportunity all to himself. Working as a dishwasher limits the amount of charitable opportunities Tony proffers to the public. He doesn’t feel right being so selfish. If only he could be forgiven. 

3. TONY IS AN ARISTOCRAT BECAUSE HE TREATS HIS BOSSES AS IF THEY WERE EQUALS.  

Equals within an aristocracy identify with each other, such that an aristocrat’s treatment of her fellow equal reflects the opinion the former has of herself. An aristocrat, for example, who praises her fellow aristocrat, is really just praising herself. One who voluntarily treats her equal with delicate reverence, by that very act, reveres herself. Aristocrats project their exceptional character by judging their equals as exceptional. They have nothing but pleasant things to say. Take my word for it!  

Tony meets Frank at his luxurious estate to deliver the cocaine and return the money that was supposed to be used for the transaction. If Tony is the degenerate-criminal-sociopath everyone makes him out to be, he should have taken the coke money for himself. He could have justified it by calling it a bonus for his pain and suffering. Frank knows Tony could have taken the money, too, since its return is appreciated as a gesture. 

Tony returning the coke money to Frank is a gesture of Tony’s noble soul. Stealing from Frank would be no different than Tony stealing from himself because he posits himself as Frank’s equal. What Tony lacks in material wealth he compensates for in superfluity of spirit. Whereas Tony can steal from plebs without scruple, he cannot steal from Frank because he empathizes with him. He’d feel bad robbing his own kind. They’re oppressed enough as it is! 

Tony dissociates himself from Frank, however, the moment Frank lies to Tony. Tony kills Frank not because Frank attempted to assassinate him, but rather because Frank lied about the attempted assassination. 

 Everyone knows that it is characteristic of the plebeian caste to lie. They need to lie amongst themselves in order to endure the paltry existence for which they have created for themselves. I can’t help it that poor people make bad decisions!

Tony almost gets assassinated by two hitmen at Club Babylon. He suspects Frank hired the assassins, but is unwilling to retaliate without proof. In order to test Frank’s intentions, he instructs one of his plebs to call Frank once he arrives at Frank’s hideaway. The pleb will call Frank, pretending to be the hitmen, and inform him that the hit was unsuccessful. If the call surprises Frank, as in he has no idea what this guy is talking about, Tony will know he’s innocent.  

When Frank picks up the telephone, however, Frank doesn’t seem surprised at all. He doesn’t flinch, thrash, or question the guy on the other line. Instead, he responds calmly as if he’s talking to Elvira, his wife. His behavior intends to deceive Tony about the assassination plot, pretending to speak to his wife. He dissimulates in front of Tony that he intended to kill him. Tony, on the other hand, would never lie about wanting to kill someone. He does not lie, for example, to Alejandro Sosa about the failed assassination attempt, and the necessity of killing Alberto. Tony cannot lie because his actions and his judgment are an extension of himself, and lying about those is akin to being ashamed of oneself. By lying, however, Frank betrays remorse for having attempted to kill Tony, which ends up creating a gulf between Tony and Frank. Frank’s remorse towards his own deeds, coupled with the dissimulation, condemns Frank to death. It is this deception, not the act of hiring hitmen, that condemns Frank to death. Tony, thus, dissociates with Frank, not because he wanted to kill Tony, but because he is ashamed to have wanted to kill Tony. Tony punishes Frank’s remorse, not his actions. Tony would have made a cool dad. 

Frank’s actions moments before his death further justify Tony’s condemnation. Frank begs for his life, attempting to bribe Tony for $10 million dollars. He is even willing to exchange his wife, Elvira, to Tony, completely ignoring the dignitary harm that such an act would cause her. What sort of life is worth living haunted by a moment of severe cowardice, as displayed by Frank here? Listen to how Robert O’Neill, the Navy Seal who shot Bin Laden, psyches himself into what was understood at the time as a suicide mission to kill Bin Laden:

We’re not going after Bin Laden for fame, we’re not going after Bin Laden for money, we’re going for that single mom who dropped her kids off at elementary school on a brilliant Tuesday morning, and 45 minutes later she jumped to her death out of a skyscraper because that was a better alternative than 2500 degrees Fahrenheit — her last gesture of human decency was to hold her skirt to her knees so that no one could see her underwear as she killed herself. We told ourselves ‘she’s not supposed to do that, she’s not supposed to be in the fight. We’re supposed to be in the fight, and that’s why we’re going.’

And if you think about it too, it’s like the Braveheart speech. If I could give every day from being 34 to 90, if I lived to 90 and I looked back on that one day and didn’t go, I would give all of those days to go on this mission. This is why we’re here, this is what we’re doing, this is why we joined!

Frank is willing to exchange his wife for a second chance at life (probably working as a dishwasher), whereas someone like O’Neill would rather die than haunted by a moment of severe cowardice. The fact that Frank lies prostrates and says “I never did nothing to nobody!” does not persuade the audience. Even still, Tony cannot kill Frank himself. He has to ask Manny to kill him. He still has a soft spot for Frank. He was a good role model. 

4. TONY TREATS WOMEN AND CHILDREN WITH THE UTMOST RESPECT. 

Now, you may be saying to yourself at this point: “Mr. Apologist, there’s no way that Tony could have been an aristocrat! He’s way too obsessed with money in the second half of the movie to be considered noble. He cringes, for example, at paying Tri-City American Bank an extra 10% to launder his money. In the same breath, he admits that he makes $10-15 million dollars a month. An aristocrat, on the other hand, is so wealthy, that she doesn’t have to worry about losing a few grand here or there, especially when it comes to something as important as laundering her money. Also consider that Tony’s purse-clenching ultimately causes him to get caught by the FBI. Tony’s greed, in other words, is a plebeian, not an aristocratic virtue. 

Thank you for that lucubration, Mr. Commenter. While I do not blame you for your facile analysis of the film, a more piercing analysis betrays the subtle, delicate motivation behind Tony’s parsimony. You see, Tony accumulates wealth so that his children can live an aristocratic lifestyle. So while, Mr. Commenter, you are correct that Tony appears to be greedy, what’s manifesting itself is not greed, but rather a fierce desire to protect the family unit. 

This desire manifests itself explicitly in the scene with the failed car bombing. Alejandro Sosa, a fellow aristocrat and equal of Tony, seems to treat Tony as a means to an end by sending Tony to assist Alberto in the assassination of the UN speaker, Matos Gutierrez. Tony’s indignation regarding the ordeal is justified, given that it seems as though Alejandro Sosa uses Tony as a means to an end (and aristocrats don’t exploit other aristocrats, they exploit plebs, remember?) Nevertheless, Tony complies with the assassination — that is, until Mr. Gutierrez’s wife and children become collateral damage! Complying with the plan now requires, by a twist of fate, the death of Mr. Gutierrez’s wife and children. Tony refuses to comply with the assassination, and murders Alberto, the triggerman, before he detonates the explosion. 

 It is probably in this scene, where Tony kills Alberto in cold blood, where Tony shows the most empathy towards his fellow man. Perhaps due to him feeling indignant about being used by Sosa, Tony identifies with Mr. Gutierrez — his enemy –, and associates the death of Mr. Gutierrez’s wife and children with the killing of his own family. Just as aristocrats project nobility using other aristocrats, Tony killing Mr. Gutierrez’s wife and children would be no different than Tony killing Elvira and his unborn children. Tony lacks empathy for his best friend and furtive brother-in-law, Manny, but empathizes with a stranger to such an extent that he’s willing to kill Alberto, and at the very least undermine his own interests in evading imprisonment. This is because Tony identifies with Mr. Gutierrez’s duty as a man to protect his wife and children.  It may be the case that Tony’s unscrupulous exploitation of Manny, and his [talking to F. Murray Abraham in the car] unnerving bravado throughout the film, do not derive from a feeling of genetic or class superiority, but rather because Tony values something greater than himself. Tony’s imperative to protect the nuclear family — even at the cost of his own self-preservation — may be the source of his power and arrogance. Tony does not accumulate wealth as an end in itself, but rather because he values protecting the family unit. He’s protecting his family jewels. 

Tony’s duty to protect his family extends to the protection of his kid-sister, Gina. Right after murdering Alberto in cold-blood, Tony inquires about Manny’s whereabouts to prepare for a war against Sosa. Manny, as head of security on Tony’s estate, is nowhere to be found. Tony soon learns that during the failed assassination attempt, Manny was eloping with his kid-sister, Gina. Tony, understandably irate, kills Manny right then and there. Manny abandoned his role as head of Tony’s security to immerse himself in hedonic pleasures, foreshadowing what kind of husband or father he would have been. Whereas Tony values protection of the family unit over his own self-preservation, Manny abandons his duties for the earthly delights.  Tony condemns Manny not because he slept with Gina, but rather because Manny prioritizes “good vibes” over filial duties. Manny isn’t good enough for Gina. There’s someone better out there. 

5. CONCLUSION 

Scarface is a movie about a man born in the wrong generation. Tony should have been born some odd years ago, when his unnerving courage would have been condoned (let alone praised!). Today, we call them “specific intent crimes,” or “conspiracy.” Rather than born an heir to a kingdom, Tony produced his own throne; he purchased his own serfs. Tony’s legacy would have cemented his children’s social status for generations. They probably wouldn’t even be able to contemplate their father arriving to America as a political refugee. His humble beginnings would have been completely erased for them. It goes to show that the past means nothing for self-made men. They’re too busy re-writing history. They offer for others an alternative explanation.