Sofia Falcone’s incredible origin in The Penguin was inspired by this tragic real life figure

New York Comic Con is happening this weekend, where interviews with the cast and crew of the DC Universe series The penguin have revealed a surprising and disturbing inspiration behind Sofia Falcone’s character. The DC series has been a compelling crime drama with viewers that have grown with every week, And much of the series’ praise was directed at Cristin Milioti’s performance as Sofia Falcone. After Sophia’s disturbing acts, the last episode gave some valuable insight into her tragic backstory.

at NYCC, The penguin Creator Lauren LeFranc reveals some of the inspiration behind the Sofia Falcone character. LeFranc said the story of Rosemary Kennedy, the sister of President John F. Kennedy, inspired Sophia. Tragically, Rosemary was lobotomized when she was in her early twenties because her family found her to be irritable and difficult. At her father’s behest, she underwent the controversial surgery, which ended up being a massive failure. It significantly ruined her life, and took away most of her ability to walk and talk.

LeFranc saw this injustice as a perfect mirror on which to base the experiences of the Sophia character. She talked about how audiences would react to Sophia, saying, “She thought she was crazy just like all the other people did. But now, what do you think now that you know the truth? The disturbing revelation clearly shows how abused Sophia herself was, and how the resulting villainy was created by the actions that others administered on her.

The penguin is built around building and then subverting audience expectations. Cristin Milioti’s Sofia was the most effective version of this, especially after the last episode. Although she can reach some very dark and violent places in her work as the remaining daughter of the recast Carmine Falcone, it is clear that much of the person she has become was not by her own actions or designs. The younger Sophia shown in the series is more hopeful and believes in much of the world.

Unfortunately, all of this was taken away from her by her father and the institutions around her. She is unfairly locked away in Arkham to face incredible destruction and abuse simply because Some words and actions she took were not seen as acceptable by her father and his empire. These small actions led to a complete breakdown of her life and character. Seeing Rosemary Kennedy as an inspiration here helps to better explain how much preconceptions have been used to create such an effective and troubled character.

The penguin clearly has a lot of incredible inspirations

It is clear that The penguin is a brilliantly written show, and seeing the complex inspirations behind it is fascinating. I believe that characters like Oz and Sophia are some of the most compelling on TV right now, and it seems like there’s still a lot to uncover from each of their stories. Sophia inspired by Rosemary Kennedy makes sense as a privileged young woman who has her father’s power used against her to destroy herAnd hearing about the inspirations only helps to explain the excellent characters in The penguin.

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