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I would dispute the idea that Hollywood glamorizes the Mafia.
Posted on 8/1/21 at 5:50 pm
Posted on 8/1/21 at 5:50 pm
I told my 24 year old son, who’s never seen “Goodfellas”, that it’s a “must see” movie. Then I went to IMDB for some good ole bias confirmation, where it has an 8.7 rating. But then, to get a fair perspective, I took a peek at the low ratings some users gave it. These people mostly complained that movies like this glamorize gangster life and that we shouldn’t be doing that. But I don’t think that’s true; I’ve never watched ANY gangster movie and left feeling like I would enjoy such a lifestyle. Every such movie I can recall eventually reveals the grim and sordid side of being a part of that world. I just don’t think people watch those movies and seriously feel like it’s a redeemable lifestyle that one should pursue.
It’s quite the opposite, these gangsters would wake up each day wondering whether that was the day where they could either get whacked or pinched by the law. I just don’t feel like it glamorizes the mob anymore than Jaws glamorizes killer sharks. I feel like most people are intrigued by the Mafia, that this totallly unique lifestyle and industry existed just below the radar for the most part, with its own set of rules and code. I think people are amazed that it flourished for decades and so many were successful at it and had affluent careers , all the while being mired in a lifestyle rife with such brutality and depravity. I just think to say it’s being glamorized Is the “dime-store version” of what’s really being depicted. In most mafia movies, there’s rarely a HERO and almost everyone involved gets their comeuppance in one way or another. What do you think?
It’s quite the opposite, these gangsters would wake up each day wondering whether that was the day where they could either get whacked or pinched by the law. I just don’t feel like it glamorizes the mob anymore than Jaws glamorizes killer sharks. I feel like most people are intrigued by the Mafia, that this totallly unique lifestyle and industry existed just below the radar for the most part, with its own set of rules and code. I think people are amazed that it flourished for decades and so many were successful at it and had affluent careers , all the while being mired in a lifestyle rife with such brutality and depravity. I just think to say it’s being glamorized Is the “dime-store version” of what’s really being depicted. In most mafia movies, there’s rarely a HERO and almost everyone involved gets their comeuppance in one way or another. What do you think?
This post was edited on 8/1/21 at 6:50 pm
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Posted on 8/1/21 at 5:58 pm to selfgen
I agree with you.
If you watch the Godfather trilogy or Goodfellas (the two best known mob movies), you will definitely not want to be in the Mafia.
If you watch the Godfather trilogy or Goodfellas (the two best known mob movies), you will definitely not want to be in the Mafia.
Posted on 8/1/21 at 6:25 pm to selfgen
If you watch a couple of episodes of the Sopranos you would see the non-glamorous side pretty quickly.
This post was edited on 8/1/21 at 6:26 pm
Posted on 8/1/21 at 8:06 pm to selfgen
Watching Mafia movies when I was young, it made me want to be one, but watching them as an adult, as cool as it seems, I 100% wouldn't want to be a Mafia member.
I agree with you. As glamorous as it may seem, I would be way way too stressed about the day I would either get arrested or killed. Not t all worth it. Watching The Sopranos opened my eyes completely about this.
I agree with you. As glamorous as it may seem, I would be way way too stressed about the day I would either get arrested or killed. Not t all worth it. Watching The Sopranos opened my eyes completely about this.
Posted on 8/1/21 at 8:26 pm to selfgen
quote:
These people mostly complained that movies like this glamorize gangster life
quote:
“Goodfellas”,
They must have quit about 75% into the movie
Posted on 8/1/21 at 8:28 pm to selfgen
One of the main points of Goodfellas is the seemingly glamorous mob compared to the reality.
Posted on 8/1/21 at 8:36 pm to Righteous Dude
quote:
If you watch a couple of episodes of the Sopranos you would see the non-glamorous side pretty quickly.
Like when Paulie suffocated that old lady just to steal her mattress money and kick it up to Tony. Really puts into perspective how low these scumbags really are.
Posted on 8/1/21 at 9:24 pm to Master of Sinanju
quote:
One of the main points of Goodfellas is the seemingly glamorous mob compared to the reality.
Yeh Goodfella's (the movie adaptation, and book for that matter regardless of Henry Hill's embelishments) was specifically framed to show the dark side of the mafia for low level people and how it ends in death or prison.
shite you can watch any news cast or read any book on the subject from the 70s forward and see that it wasn't much better for the high level members.
Posted on 8/1/21 at 10:04 pm to selfgen
There are certainly key parts of some of the movies that glamorize it, like goodfellas, but I agree that most of them taken as a whole from start to finish do not.
Posted on 8/2/21 at 7:39 am to Havoc
I think goodfellas is a perfect example.
Being in the mafia means easy money from criminal activity. No monotonous 9-5 job. Live a life of excess, surrounded by shady characters.
There will be highs (lots of parties, women, drugs, alcohol) and lows (getting whacked in a basement by your colleagues).
For as much as Hollywood glamorizes the lifestyle, they also depict the consequences.
Being in the mafia means easy money from criminal activity. No monotonous 9-5 job. Live a life of excess, surrounded by shady characters.
There will be highs (lots of parties, women, drugs, alcohol) and lows (getting whacked in a basement by your colleagues).
For as much as Hollywood glamorizes the lifestyle, they also depict the consequences.
Posted on 8/2/21 at 8:17 am to Righteous Dude
quote:
If you watch a couple of episodes of the Sopranos you would see the non-glamorous side pretty quickly.
True, but if you listen to former mob members who are either in Witness Protection after turning state's evidence at mob trials, those that walked away like Michael Franzese or those who spent years in prison for their crimes and most will say they were caught up in the glamor of "The Life" long before becoming members of the Mafia.
Some of them grew up with family members already in the mob while others got caught up in it because they lived in areas where mobsters lived and they admired their lifestyle of nice clothes, fancy cars, money in their pockets, etc.
Posted on 8/2/21 at 8:22 am to 632627
quote:
I think goodfellas is a perfect example. Being in the mafia means easy money from criminal activity. No monotonous 9-5 job. Live a life of excess, surrounded by shady characters. There will be highs (lots of parties, women, drugs, alcohol) and lows (getting whacked in a basement by your colleagues). For as much as Hollywood glamorizes the lifestyle, they also depict the consequences.
I agree, and at the end Henry Hill is still glamorizing it and wishing he was back in the business.
quote:
See, the hardest thing for me was leaving the life. I still love the life. And we were treated like movie stars with muscle. We had it all, just for the asking. Our wives, mothers, kids, everybody rode along. I had paper bags filled with jewelry stashed in the kitchen. I had a sugar bowl full of coke next to the bed. Anything I wanted was a phone call away. Free cars. The keys to a dozen hideout flats all over the city. I’d bet twenty, thirty grand over a weekend and then I’d either blow the winnings in a week or go to the sharks to pay back the bookies. Didn’t matter. It didn’t mean anything. When I was broke I would go out and rob some more. We ran everything. We paid off cops. We paid off lawyers. We paid off judges. Everybody had their hands out. Everything was for the taking. And now it’s all over. And that’s the hardest part. Today, everything is different. There’s no action. I have to wait around like everyone else. Can’t even get decent food. Right after I got here I ordered some spaghetti with marinara sauce and I got egg noodles and ketchup. I’m an average nobody. I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook.
Posted on 8/2/21 at 8:25 am to gumbo2176
quote:
Michael Franzese
Has a great YouTube channel
Posted on 8/2/21 at 8:27 am to selfgen
Posted on 8/2/21 at 8:29 am to CaptainsWafer
quote:
Has a great YouTube channel
I've seen quite a few of his videos and he's absolutely the real deal as far as being a former member of the mafia----and damn lucky he's not suffered any consequences for his videos.
Even though he doesn't go into great detail about who committed felonies that could result in prosecution, he gives enough information that he's definitely spent a lot of his life doing mob business.
Posted on 8/2/21 at 8:30 am to selfgen
quote:
These people mostly complained that movies like this glamorize gangster life and that we shouldn’t be doing that.
This is the camp I'm in. Nothing worse than a thief and I hate the whole organized crime genre of movies and series.
Posted on 8/2/21 at 8:56 am to selfgen
My father was very conservative and kept us from seeing anything glorifying violence or crime. But when I was 11 and The Godfather was in theaters, he wanted me to see it. He said he took me because he wanted me to see that the Mafia was real and evil people did exist.
To put it in perspective, a year and a half earlier he'd dragged us out of the Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart movie The Cheyenne Social Club, because it turned out to be a comedy about a whore house. And that movie was rated GP.
To put it in perspective, a year and a half earlier he'd dragged us out of the Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart movie The Cheyenne Social Club, because it turned out to be a comedy about a whore house. And that movie was rated GP.
Posted on 8/2/21 at 9:15 am to gumbo2176
quote:
and damn lucky he's not suffered any consequences for his videos.
He hasn't been active as a mobster since the early-mid 80s
The mob is a nothingburger today and anyone who may have had power above him is likely dead over that 40-year period.
Posted on 8/2/21 at 9:45 am to 632627
Yeah but some people focus on the first part of the movie where everything is fun.
Posted on 8/2/21 at 9:50 am to selfgen
After The Godfather came out, gangsters started acting and talking like the movie.
Many men, especially young ones, admire such power and many emulated it in various ways. The same people admire men like Pablo Escobar, despite his eventual fate.
They absolutely do glorify the mob. They also make it look like Italians are the only gangsters, and have for almost a century, despite Italians being just a fraction of the total organized crime syndicates.
Many men, especially young ones, admire such power and many emulated it in various ways. The same people admire men like Pablo Escobar, despite his eventual fate.
They absolutely do glorify the mob. They also make it look like Italians are the only gangsters, and have for almost a century, despite Italians being just a fraction of the total organized crime syndicates.
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