I LOVED this movie!!! I thought is was so smart as well as entertaining. It was a real movie, not like some of the crap we have now-a-days. It had a true message and portrait what life is really like in some cases. Almost everyone should be able to relate to this movie in one way or another. C was a good kid but he wanted to be accepted. That's why he hung out with those idiot friends of his. But can you really qualify them as idiots? See, those boys were just kids. They really didn't know what they where doing. They saw that was how Sonny acted and he was considered the Boss of the town. Who doesn't want to be "The Boss" and be considered "Great." The only difference is how you become "Great" and how you become "The Boss." What they didn't realize was that it wasn't cool, it wasn't the kind of life they should of lead. But things like that happen even today. Kids get into trouble b/c they hang out with the wrong crowds. And those crowds think they're cool because that's how media portrays cool. Being a "BADASS" is counted as being cool. The only thing that kept C alive and stopped him from becoming like his friends was his Father....and Sonny. Lorenzo was a good working man and he kept C on his feet with his head on his shoulders. Lorenzo symbolized reality as well as hope. If Lorenzo let C do whatever he wanted and didn't keep drilling him about being a good and honest man, he would of ended up like his friends...or Sonny. Sonny was also a paradox like Lorenzo. Sonny wanted the best for C and because he gave him 2 educations he was smarter than the other kids. He was able to see that the life that Sonny lead was completely gilded and didn't want to end up like him. If the other kids truly saw what Sonny's life was like they might of thought twice. But either way C isn't considered to be in the Gangster crowd or in the Working Man's crowd. Sociologically he's in his own crowd. He was the most unique character in whole of The Bronx.
P.S. I loved that quote...it kinda inspirational.