Hola, mis amigos! I would like to start off by saying that the film Goodfellas (1990) really did not appeal to me at all. I say this because usually movies with a lot of gruesome violence and heinous deeds, like Goodfellas, do not attract my attention much. I am more inclined toward adventurous and comedic films. Nevertheless, I definitely think that this film accurately displayed the brutal tactics of the Italian Mafia (you really do not want to mess with them… believe me). Moreover, I felt that the neighborhood Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) grew up in was without a doubt more white than he actually was. Henry attempts to achieve a prominent status as a formidable Mafioso, but simultaneously his ‘whiteness’ is detracted from him when he joins the Witness Protection Program in the near end of the film. When Henry is presented in the court and does not “rat out” his friends, we notice that he gains much respect. However, since Henry Hill is an Irish-Italian he can never genuinely “be made.”
In Whiteness, Richard Dyer expounds on the “invisible racial position.” Dyer feels that whites are not of a particular race when racially represented. “Whites are just the human race,” Dyer asserts and that “whites are a color against which people of other ethnicities are scrutinized.” I find this argument rather interesting because it can be compared to the notion that the color white reflects off all colors of light, while black absorbs all the colors. Richard Dyer feels that whiteness is not just one particular race but many and this can be juxtaposed in a sense of how the color white is actually all the colors at once because it refracts all wavelengths of light (quite scientific, I know…). But how does Richard Dyer’s concept of whiteness relate to the film Goodfellas? Well, we see that Henry Hill endeavors to become respected in certain occasions, especially when he’s part of the Mafia. However, when Henry Hill is compelled to leave his gangster life in the end of the film and says that “I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook,” his white characteristics are revealed. In other words, when Henry affiliates himself with the Mafia he seems to be representing more than one race, but when he is living with his wife, Karen (Lorraine Bracco) and children, he lives an ordinary white life (seen also when he tries to support his family selling drugs while in prison).
I feel that Henry really is not white at all because he is so entrenched into the Mafia business of committing murders and illegally obtaining money that he represents many races at one given time. Only when he is forced to abandon his livelihood as a gangster is Henry actually white. But if Henry never left the gangster business he would always be considered part of a Mafia (his own social group) and not a white individual. The environment Henry lives in is definitely white because all the people around him, including Karen, his parents and brother, and some others live a normal life and work hard to earn a decent living (rather than through deceit and brutal force, as Henry and his companions do). Also, in one scene Karen observes all the other Italian women using excessive make-up to try to look pretty (but trust me they’re are not). Karen feels that the use of so much make-up gives a grotesque impression of these women and ruins their facial features. Basically, these stylish Italian women think that they can become someone they are not by just adorning their faces with make-up. This is important because we can relate this to Henry himself. Henry tries to become a “made-man” in the Italian Mafia but can never do so because he is part Irish. No matter what Henry does, he cannot change the fact that he is Irish. He cannot be someone he’s not.
I also thought that the voice overs of Henry and Karen in the film played a crucial role. Without the voice overs, I do not personally think that the film would be as effective as it was. I say this because the voice overs enable the viewer to read into the thoughts of the very characters of Henry and Karen in the film. The voice overs give the viewer a better sense of the personalities of Henry and Karen and helps to develop their characters to a larger extent. Sometimes the way an individual thinks can say a lot about them, too. Hence, the voice overs provided a chance for us to see how these characters felt about certain situations in the film. For instance, we learn that Karen has her doubts about the Mafia business, but through her thoughts we see that Henry’s luxurious and glamorous lifestyle ‘arouse’ her and make her even more magnetized toward Henry. This is also a reason why Karen is unable to pull the trigger of the gun when she attempts to shoot Henry.
All in all, I feel that the notion of the Mafia was portrayed well throughout the movie, as seen via the violent murders, profanity, and nonsensical bantering. The fact that Henry was part Irish prevented him from being made. Even though Henry earned a reputable position in the Mafia, he was not a pure Italian. Also, Henry does not completely fit Dyer’s concept of being white because he’s part of the Mafia. He lacks rigidity of character and has that ruthless quality of a gangster that prevent him from meeting the requirements of Dyer’s idea of whiteness. Only in the end is he seen the ‘most white,’ but only out of compulsion. I also appreciated that Henry was the least violent of the Mafia members, especially when compared to the merciless and impetuous Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci). I’m not saying that Henry was still a good guy because he’s still a schnook to me.
