Radio Days’ is a film of unusual consequences from the very start, all of which are effects of the radio. The radio, aside from being an escape for every member in Joe’s house, also serves as a medium that contrasts life between how the family lives it, and how the stars live in it. More importantly, the radio becomes a subtle anti-Semitic object at various points in the film. While on the surface the radio is nothing more than a realm of fantasies, it soon becomes an over-powering character that functions to desecrate the Jewish community.
In order to consider the importance of radio, we can see the immediate consequences if there was no presence of the radio in the film. In this case, Aunt Bea (Dianne Wiest) might have married Sidney Manulis (Andrew Clark) and she would no longer be the unfortunate victim of love. The WWII propaganda, which had deeply interested Joe and his friends, would go unnoticed by the children and Sally White (Mia Farrow) may have died. There would also be no distinguished relationship between how the family lives and how the world functions. For example, we see the family’s breakfast is nowhere as classy as “Breakfast with Irene and Roger” and that they can only dream of being in such places.
Though these events can arguably be considered not tremendous in its magnitude, we see that this is not true for the following events. The radio inspires Joe to obtain a Masked Avenger secret compartment ring regardless of the means necessary. Thus, he steals money from the fund for Palestine, which is noted to be an act that is ‘sacrilegious’ as said by David Desser and Lester D. Friedman. In the following scene, his parents and the rabbi smack the boy after Joe calls the rabbi his “faithful Indian companion.” This rabbi, Rabbi Baumel is also the name of the rabbi in “What’s my Perversion” which signals the degradation of Judaism.
The radio can also be seen as an anti-Semitic object because it causes Uncle Abe to completely switch his weak Jewish views and preach for communism within an hour. He eats nonkosher food on the Day of Atonement, which shows another sacrilegious event in the movie.
Regardless of the anti-Semitism expressed, the radio still plays a role in giving the characters an identity. Ruthie for example, enjoyed the musical stylings of a young man who she romanced over. Joe’s parents constantly tuned in to Mr. Abercrombie’s program where he counseled married couples that fought, much like themselves and Joe always wanted to fight against crime like the Mask Avenger. Thus, the radio provides a sense of want for our characters where we learn who they are.
It is evident that the family in Radio Days is by far closer than the family in Goodfellas. There are multiple instances of Joe’s family being together, either dancing or cooking dinner together and at the end, all of them are hugging and kissing to welcome the New Year. Meanwhile, the Italian mafia ‘family’ has a strange dynamic. At any second, anyone could be hit, as seen with Tommy. What is sure is that no one is ever safe and this is shown when Henry informs the FBI of Paulie and Jimmy’s activities. However, both families are similar in that they have adapted to the New York life. Though Henry Hill has turned to a life of crime and Joe’s family continues to be a good-hearted family with a low income, both families have found a way to make New York a successful home.
