The concept of whiteness as seen in Goodfellas (1990) is complicated because Henry and his neighborhood are both White and non-White, just at different times in the movie. I say this for a variety of reasons. Henry, at the beginning of the movie, is the child of immigrant parents, works hard, doesn’t live a luxurious life in any way, and is essentially being non-White. Henry is classified as being non-White because he is associated with the immigrant culture, has to fulfill the Mafia’s every demand, and is not able to use “whiteness” to his advantage. However this changes as the movie progresses.
The more integrated (in the Mafia) Henry becomes, the more the concept of “whiteness” applies to him. In the beginning of the movie, Henry gives us a foreshadowing of what advantages he’ll get to experience by telling us about the Mafia’s ease. He tells us that the Mafia gets away with many things simply because of whom they are and what they do, such as double parking in front of a hydrant and not having to deal with cops. After busting his a** for the Mafia, he himself gets to experience this feeling of “doing whatever I want”. Along with this feeling, Henry also gets other luxuries such as suits, cars and an abundant amount of money. All seems to be great… but complications arise and once again we see the contrast of whiteness.
Henry enlists in the Army but continues to scheme and as a result spends time in the military stockade. When he returns to New York, he begins the worst of his crimes. He hijacks trucks, sells stolen goods, imports and sells untaxed cigarettes, engages in loan sharking, plans airport robberies, and commits numerous mob-related murders. Is this the typical description of being White? Not at all. We see him stray even further away from the White that we are familiar with and in fact fall under the negative stereotypes of Black, when he becomes a drug dealer, spends a great deal of time in prison, and is involved in helping with the arrests of the members of the Mafia (when he finds out about their plans to kill him). So to sum up… does the concept of White apply to Henry and his neighborhood? Yes and No. It all depends on what you define as White and at what part of the movie you’re examining.
