In Goodfellas, the “family” cares for and support each other. They act as a tight-knit family but in reality, they are not. The gangsters are willing to betray and kill each other. The members of the family kill their “loved ones” for the sake of the mafia and their safety. Their ethnicity plays an important role in their mafia as they can not be “made” if they’re not fully Italian. Ethnically, they identify with each other and their culture plays a big role in their life as can be seen by the food. The communal family of Goodfellas is different from that of Radio Days. In Goodfellas, there are two families: the mafia family and then everybody else. Radio Days’ communal family incorporates everybody and everybody is involved. The whole neighborhood is embraced.
Whereas the goodfellas pretend to have each other’s backs, the Radio Days family truly cares for each other. As a family, they argue a lot and fight over the littlest things as do most ordinary families. However, at the end of the day, they can be considered an actual family. The voiceovers reveal that Joe’s parents fight over the littlest things such as which ocean is better. Despite the arguing, the fathers still loves his wife even though he calls her an old douche bag. They have problems with each other but they still care for each other. As Jewish-Americans, the family attempts to hold on to their Jewish customs when they fast and pray, but it does not play an important part in their everyday life.
The radio plays a very important role throughout Radio Days. The film doesn’t have a narrative plot but rather connects various stories and people through the radio, which played a huge role in American life at the time. It tends to bring people together and unite them. In terms of a community, the radio brings people together as they stay connected to the world they live in. This is obvious when Polly Phelps falls in the well and everybody is listening to the radio to stay updated. Everybody is hoping and praying that she’s alive as the attempt at a rescue continues. However, everyone is devastated when she is announced dead. The death of Polly brings Joe’s family closer than they usually seem to be. The father was beating the Joe for ruining his mother’s anniversary gift but after hearing the story of the little girl dying, he was holding on to him and didn’t want to let go. At the same time, on New Year’s Eve, the family was together and cherishing each other. Aunt Bea doesn’t have a date and Joe’s father makes her feel better by saying how they are all together. Aunt Bea also wakes up Joe so he can remember the year of 1944, which brings them together and allows them to spend some time together.
Though the radio brings the community and Joe’s family together, it is also used as a way to escape reality. Each member of the family has their own favorite station. The mother imagines the glamorous life of Irene and Roger and Joe is inspired by Masked Avenger and wants to buy the ring. The uncle listens to sport and the aunt listens to a ventriloquist. They act as a family but are still individuals and the radio is their method of escaping their life and escaping the other family members. They want to be left alone and dream about a life they could have. The radio separates them but at the same time, brings them together.
