Say hello to these clueless little friends

I was just reading a story by Steven Rea of The Philadelphia Inquirer about Ken Tucker ’s new book, “Scarface Nation: The Ultimate Gangster Movie and How It Changed America.” Tucker, for anyone who isn’t familiar with him, is editor-at-large at Entertainment Weekly and a TV and pop music critic who regularly contributes to NPR’s “Fresh Air with Terry Gross.”

His book, which was a two-year project that saw him interviewing dozens of people involved in the making of the 1983 gangster film “Scarface,” includes some surprising items. Most surprising to me was that the three people most responsible for the film – director Brian De Palma , screenwriter Oliver Stone and star Al Pacino – can’t understand the film’s enduring popularity .

As Rea wrote, “They just don’t get it.”

“When I talked to Martin Bregman, ‘Scarface’s producer, he, too, was like: ‘I don’t know why these college kids watch it over and over again – but I’m glad they do!”’ Rea quotes Tucker as saying.

That’s particularly true for Stone . “I would tell him that ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ and ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘The Family Guy’ were all referencing ‘Scarface,’ and that was news to him,” Tucker told Rea. “So, they’re kind of clueless to their own phenomenon.”

That and, clearly, pop culture in general.

Below: As proof of the popularity of the film “Scarface,” the photo below comes from Vivendi Games’ videogame “Scarface: The World Is Yours.”

Associated Press photo