In both Radio Days and Goodfellas, I felt that the family members were not very kind or loving toward one another. There was a lot of yelling and complaining, and even violence among the family in both films. However, I believe that the difference between the two ethnic families was that in Radio Days, the family members actually cared about each other and couldn’t live without one another, whereas in Goodfellas, the family members betrayed and killed one another. Furthermore, Radio Days’ family was relatively happy with very little money, while the Goodfellas’ ethnic family seemed to be kept in tact largely by their common passion for money. The relationships between the family members in Radio Days and each person’s obsession with something was very interesting and entertaining.
I believe that each member of the family has a favorite radio station because of their own particular view on the American lifestyle and American dream. For example, the mom listens to Irene and Roger, who eat “their elegant breakfast over the air from their chic Manhattan townhouse,” while she stands over “dirty plates in Rockaway.” The radio hosts talk as they are having breakfast, giving the mother a chance to fantasize about the fancy, luxurious lifestyle that wealthy New Yorkers hold. The narrator listens to “The Masked Avenger” in order to fit in with the rest of American children, for it was a time period when comic books were popular. I believe Uncle Abe listens to sports because that’s his interpretation of the American lifestyle, and Aunt B listens to romantic music on the radio, fantasizing about her American dream of having the perfect husband, who would be her soulmate. I believe the radio is a means of each of the family members to feel American and have their own fantasies about being American, although they are limited in many ways. All of them are very far from what they fantasize about–the dish cleaning mother from elegant Irene and Roger, the narrator from the amazing Masked Avenger, the overweight Uncle from sports players, and picky Aunt B from romance and a husband–but they do not stop listening to the radio. Perhaps they still see a possibility, which is the beauty of New York, where anything can happen. Or perhaps they know that their dreams are too far, and all they can do is fantasize about them. I thought that a funny aspect of the film was that scenes of the family members sitting around and fantasizing about their dreams were juxtaposed by the story of Sally, who actually worked to fulfill the American dream, and went from a cigarette girl to one of the New York elites who bought cigarettes from the girls.
