For some reason, Goodfellas (1990) wasn’t the kind of movie that I’d look back at in racial and ethnic terms. This was probably due to the film’s heavy emphasis on crime, mafia and violence. I found myself clenching my teeth and squinting my eyes at the bloody scenes rather than focusing on Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) in terms of Richard Dyer’s “Whiteness”. I mean of course Henry was white because his complexion said so, but after analyzing his race through Dyer’s lens, I realized that the protagonist was much more than what his skin color dictated him to be.

Before even relating Whiteness to Goodfellas, I’d like to touch on some of the most interesting points made by Dyer. I just feel like Dyer captures the human mind’s vision and perception towards race and color so accurately. I found myself agreeing to most of what Dyer had to say, and thus, found his thoughts fairly easy to relate to Henry Hill and his neighborhood. Dyer states that its difficult to see whiteness as an ethnic category. Films depict white characters in a way that simply represents the social norm, where an average white guy goes about his life. The audience doesn’t care to especially notice that a character is white and thus, privileged or even exceptional. In contrast however, if a black person is placed in a movie, the film is automatically associated with oppression, struggle and the concept of race. The nothingness of whiteness itself, yet the everything-ness of whiteness and the weight placed on “white” in contrast to color, is an extremely fascinating point brought up by Dyer. He even goes off to explain existential psychology where one becomes aware of oneself by perceiving his/her difference from others.

As I try to relate Dyer ideas to Henry, I fail to see the nothingness in Henry’s whiteness. Henry’s ethnicity is everything but nothing. In other words, the man isn’t your average white guy walking through the norms of life. He isn’t simply thrown into the white category with the complete absence of actual ethnicity. In fact, this man’s ethnicity is emphasized throughout the entire movie as he is an Irish-American who falls short of a 100% Italian ancestry to be “made” into a Mafia leader. Had the film been about Ray Liotta committing up and down streets without any Irish or Italian identity, perhaps then I’d call him a white gangster. However, his identification with the Italian mafia and his own ethnicity of Irish makes him something. He can no longer be nothing to be called white. Interestingly enough, although my brain didn’t consciously think of white as the first adjective for Henry, as soon as a black gangster was introduced in the film, my brain automatically highlighted the contrast and informed itself of the racial differences that existed.. It is only here, in contrast to something, that Henry Hill’s “whiteness” is brought to light. And although this whiteness isn’t truly deserved, as we see that Henry is Irish, he is temporarily considered white because the other gangster is black. Existential psychology after all, plays a great role in the brain as it makes the audience aware of the white mafia only when it’s juxtaposed with black people.

Another apparent characteristic of white people as depicted in movies, is the civilization, repression and moral codes by which these people live, explains Dyer. White people are rational and calm in their approach to life whereas non-whites are shown as the barbaric and impulsive ones. Taking this into consideration, I must then argue that Dyer would not consider Henry Hill to be white at all. Not only is this man’s identity highlighted by the something-ness in his ethnicity, he seems to be untouched by civilization as well. Murder, violence, crime, drugs, and betrayal are all uncontrolled and irrational behaviors characteristic of non-white barbaric races. Henry’s un-white behavior is evident when he steals with the Mafia, gives in to his desires when he starts having an affair with Janice Rossi (Gina Mastrogiacomo), and starts taking cocaine.

As of Henry’s neighborhood, I’d like to argue that it was pretty white in comparison to the mafia that thrives within it. This in specifically evident when we see little school children outside the garage fence, as they stare at Henry parking cars for the gangsters. Without being given any specific ethnicity, unlike Henry’s parents or his gangster friends, we are forced to simply call the kids white.

By the end of the film, Henry becomes a “schnook”. He needs to wait in line to get food and his order isn’t as fancy as spaghetti and marinara sauce. He no longer gets the special treatment and respect that he adored all his life. He becomes your average guy picking up newspaper in his bathrobe in the morning. But does he fully become your average white guy? Is he no longer Irish-American and suddenly forced into nothingness? Is he no longer irrational at heart? Or is it just that his life forced him to take a different route. He had to conform to the societal norms to save his life from ruins. I’d say it’s the latter. Thus, although Henry begins to embody your average white guy at the end of the film, he isn’t truly white, and never will be.

Dyer, Roediger and Massood all raise the problems of defining “whiteness” in their articles. They argued that white people often identified themselves with their nationality instead of “white” in general. In my opinion, white is an adjective that describes people’s skin color. White is parallel to black, as well as yellow, brown or any other adjective for skin colors. White doesn’t represent cultural backgrounds or nationalities and so does black; they are colors not cultures. If we want to define “white” in terms of race in an objective sense, Henry Hill is white. His father was Irish and his mother was Sicilian, both Europeans. If Henry isn’t a typical white man, what else can he be? Since white usually represents Europeans, black for Africans, yellow for East Asians, brown for South Americans/Latinos. Henry is purely white because he was purely a European descendent. He is born to be white.

I don’t believe the problem of “whiteness” exists in terms of ethnicity in a cultural and nationalistic sense, because people are identified with their culture and nationality, not with their skin color. In this sense, Henry is not a hundred percent “white” or pure, because he is half Irish and half Sicilians. In the gang members’ mind, he is not a hundred percent Italian, so he is not a hundred percent “white.” No matter how we interpret white, in terms of race and ethnicity, Henry cannot become white because he is already white, or at least half white.

Nevertheless, if we interpret white as being an ordinary citizen, and black as being a gangster, then Henry indeed become white at the end of the film. In the Chinese language, gangs are literally translated into “black societies,” and the Italian Mafia is translated into the “Black Hand Party.” Therefore, no matter how one argues, gangsters are black. (Of course, not in terms of ethnicity) To me, they can never be justified to be “white” as long as they are gangsters. Therefore, Henry was black since the beginning of the film because he had worked for and eventually became part of the gang. He was never white until he was released from prison and became an ordinary citizen.

In terms of ethnicity, Henry’s neighborhoods were tended to be white. After all, the film didn’t show any African Americans living in any of Henry’s neighborhoods. Most of its residents were European descendants, so they should be considered white in terms of race and ethnicity. In terms of nationality and culture, the neighborhoods weren’t purely white. In East New York, Brooklyn, Henry and his father made the neighborhood not “purely white” because they were not Italians like the other residents in the neighborhood. In Queens and Long Island, the same situation applied, Henry an Irish and Italian, Karen, a Jewish, as well as their children, the mix of different ethnicities, made the Italian neighborhood not “purely white” in the nationalistic and cultural sense. In terms of the whiteness as being a good citizen, Henry’s neighborhoods were grey. In his neighborhoods, there were lots of gang members that represent the black parts, and several good citizens that made up the white parts. Together, they made the neighborhood grey.

According to Hayden’s articles, architectures can preserve a piece of history, and people should preserve the memory of the architectures as a mean to preserve the history in the urban areas. Henry’s neighborhoods preserved his history as being a gangster. Many of the vernacular buildings in East New York, Brooklyn, witnessed Henry’s process of becoming a gangster. These buildings also were also symbols and representation of the gang. Henry’s mansion in Long Island symbolized Henry’s growing affluence. Finally, the small white house he lived in after he was released symbolized the beginning of his ordinary and simple life. The vernacular buildings changed as the film proceed and in accord to the plot and Henry’s situation. Therefore, these architectures witnessed and preserved a group of gang members’ lives and their history.

Whether Henry was trying to be white or not, he had left a large piece of inerasable black mark in his personal history. I wondered whether he had regretted his choice as a youth though he said he missed his wealth and power. He served as a negative example to me on how to make choices about life, which I truly appreciated.

The movie Goodfellas, in my opinion, is a movie about someone trying to fit in. Henry is trying to get himself situated into his neighborhood’s norm. (On the micro scale, being a gangster is the social norm, whereas in the macro scale, it is not.) Thus Henry is never white till the complete end of the movie. The meaning of “white” is very difficult to explain. However, Richard Dyer tries to give some sort of definition in “White. Dyer states that one aspect of being white is that one have to conform to social norms. Henry however was unable to completely conform to the Italian- American gang, which was the norm of the neighborhood. From the beginning to the middle of the movie (after the opening scene of a man being brutally killed in the back of a car), the audience is placed in a little bubble. They are looking at one neighborhood full of gangsters. Thus it should come to no surprise that Henry wanted to be part of them. But the difference between the members of the gang and Henry is blood. In order to be completely “made”, one needs to be completely 100% Italian so that they can trace down his/her ancestry to the native land. Henry’s father was Irish and his mother was Sicilian. This automatically disqualifies Henry to become an official member. This fact becomes more apparent as the movie proceeds. In the beginning, there are subtle differences in Henry’s personality and the personalities of other gangsters (such as Tommy). These differences were clearly shown in the beginning of the movie when young Henry uses 8 aprons to help a man who was shot. When he grows up, he is the one who rushes to help Spider when Tommy shot him on the foot, and he is the first one who goes to see if Spider is dead while the others just continue playing. In addition, Henry was unable withstand the stench of a dead man like his partners could. As they were digging up a body that they hid before, Henry could not continue and ended up throwing up. Also throughout the whole movie, he acted as a mediator preventing as many killings/arguments as possible. However, the ethnic differences is what opens the audience’s eyes so that they can realize Henry will always be alone no matter how much the people who are Italian- American are like a family. (The movie even makes it obvious that they always stayed together. They spend birthdays, anniversaries and all vacations together.) This fact that Henry will never be a part of the “white” of this movie is when Paulie gives Henry $3,200 for a lifetime of work and then tells Henry that he has to turn his back on him. Throughout the whole movie, I viewed Henry as an adopted child that no matter how hard he tried was never fully accepted.

In addition to Henry not being white in the micro scale, he is also not white in the macro scale…not till the complete last minute of the movie anyway. Henry does not follow the laws society has placed. He robs trucks worth of hundreds of thousands in cargo, burns down homes and joints, sells drugs, and works his way around the legal system (without getting caught…most of the time.) In addition, he takes part in the hiding of the bodies his friend’s murdered. Henry was someone who lived the life of a king. All he had to do was rob a couple of trucks and cash from the airport and BAM he had more money than most people who worked 9 to 5 jobs. He would always have a large stack of dollars with him. There would always be a table of him in the most crowded restaurants. He had the respect of many. Even in jail, he and his gangster friends were able to have very nice dinners in a comfortable (what seems to be) apartment. The time that Henry becomes “white” and not the white of his neighborhood but the “white” of society was when he was wearing a robe getting the newspaper. When his thoughts tell the audience he lives a normal life, one without the fear of being murdered by someone “who comes with a smile”, without the adrenaline of getting caught during a bust, one where he does not get what he ordered, that is when it is safe to say that he fits the definition that Dyer gives.

At the surface, Goodfellas (1990) is a tale of the mob activities in the latter part of 20^th century New York. Though the movie does not seem to express much about the notion of whiteness, it in fact immensely deals with this subtle concept. As Richard Dyer puts it, “white power secures its dominance…in mainstream film… by seeming not to be anything in particular.” This is particularly true for Goodfellas where a majority of characters are seen as white. However this idea, as equally subtle as it may seem, is false. “Brief Encounter is not about white people, it is about English middle-class people; The Godfather is not about white people, it is about Italian-American people; but The Color Purple is about black people, before it is about poor, southern US people.” Likewise, Goodfellas is not about white people, but about the Italian-Americans and Irish-Americans.

So why is there such an emphasized distinction as shown by Dyer? Of course the classification of Irish-Americans and whites is almost non-existent in the movie until the non-diegetic narration of Henry at 1:45:44. At first, it doesn’t matter if you’re Italian, Irish, or light skinned because the common distinction is that this certain group of people can be labeled white. However, the second the movie is introduced with the inability of Henry and Jimmy to be made due to their Irish blood, the classification is there. Thus, Henry is not white according to Dyer’s work for two main reasons. The first is that anything non-white can be thought of “departures from the norm.” The norm in Goodfellas is being a full on Italian-American, not Irish-American.  Secondly, according to Dyer, “in the realm of categories, black is always marked as a colour…whereas white is not anything really, not an identity, not a particularizing quality.” Thus if one was able to distinguish himself, or categorize himself from the label of being white, it provides a different identity for that person and that is exactly what Henry does at 1:45:44. He says, “Jimmy and me could never be made because we had Irish blood. It didn’t matter my mother was Sicilian. To become a member of a crew you must be 100% Italian so they can trace your relatives to the old country.” Up until this point, we identified Henry as white, but with his own distinction we can see that he definitely does not become white in the course of the film.

However, because a majority of the characters are Italian-Americans, we take this to be the social norm. This is what becomes accepted throughout the movie because of the typical Italian lifestyle – the kissing on cheeks, the mafia, the spaghetti, and the common names Paul, Pete and Marie. Therefore, I consider the Italian-American neighborhood white, not only because of the social norm as defined by the movie, but because no Italian-American makes the effort to distinguish himself as an Italian-American. At no point in the movie does a clear-cut Italian say he’s Italian and not something else. Due to this, Dyer’s definition of white is certainly applicable and the neighborhood can be defined as white with the exception of Jimmy and Henry.

Regardless of the composition of the neighborhood, we do see that Hill grows up in an environment much like Delores Hayden’s project of helping to preserve the memory of vernacular space. Hayden argues that “place memory encapsulates the human ability to connect with both the built and natural environments that are entwined in the cultural landscape.” This claim is more than evident in Goodfellas. When Hayden refers to the ‘built and natural environments,’ the placement of Henry immediately comes to mind. Ever since Henry was little he wanted to be in the ‘gang’ environment; it was almost a natural calling for him. It just wasn’t some part time job as he puts it, but a full time one; something that he was a part of. Once the film progresses, we see that the environment around him is built to his liking; he has fulfilled his childhood dream of being a gangster. His sense of belonging at the cab stand with the local gangsters is achieved by his position as running errands for the gangsters. Though a low-ranking job, Henry worked his way up, developing connections and ultimately earning his title as a Goodfella.

In the film Goodfellas, Henry Hill tries very hard NOT to be white. His family is just trying to fit in and find where they fit in but he doesn’t want to be a regular American “schnook”. He wants to be a gangster, the ultimate definition of which is an ITALIAN in this film. For example, Tommy is going to be “made” because he is an Italian, only he can fully belong to the gang. Henry and Jimmy are part Irish. As Roediger said, Irish immigrants quickly become thought of as white. While he notion of whiteness usually involves a sense of white supremacy, I believe that in this film, white’s are considered the regular guys while the Italian mafia men are “wise guys”, willing to do what white men can’t to get ahead. Henry laments the fact that he is Irish, thus indirectly lamenting his white status. His neighborhood, despite being populated mainly by average Joe’s, AKA “white ” people, is controlled by the Italian minority. They have the power, which is why Henry wants to go from being a part of the powerless white majority to the powerful Italian minority.

This neighborhood is connected to Hayden’s vision of the preservation of vernacular space. In the beginning of the film, Henry explains that many places in the neighborhood have a specific collective memory associated with them. For example, Pauli’s restaurant seems like just that, a restaurant. However, it is a symbol of the power the Mafia had garnered as well as a symbol of how a formerly powerless minority could overcome all obstacles to grow. This is an important theme that connects many different immigrant groups.  One can clearly see that this symbol connected different Urban groups because it is what made Henry, a part Irish American, to join the mafia.

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.

First off, I was not expecting that brutal scene in the opening of Goodfellas (1990). I looked away for one second during the early credits and all of a sudden I hear and see a man being pummeled and stabbed brutally in a the trunk of car with blood saturating his swollen face! I immediately was afraid of watching this movie, but Emily, who has seen this movie several times, assured me that the movie was great. Of course, Emily is biased; her favorite movies consist of someone getting beaten to the brink of their death and then being shot in the head several times, dramatically. But, that’s beside the point.

This film was very interesting in the way racial and ethnic identity was portrayed. It was definitely helpful to know the historical background of “whiteness” in America as countless immigrants made their journeys to a place of “supposed” endless possibilities by reading Roediger. However, these immigrants such as the Irish, and Italians, were faced with racial oppression just like Blacks did at the time. All “ethnicities” were to be considered separate from “white” therefore, making immigrants like the Irish and Italians, who are considered “white” today, be considered as lesser beings like the colored in America. This made these immigrants very conscious of their identities and how they were perceived as individuals in America. In the 1950s, the “American” movement that we typically characterize with the image of the perfect American, “white”, nuclear family with a nice home and white picket fence, was constantly implanted in the minds of many immigrants. This made them want to fully assimilate. By doing so, many began to identify themselves as this “white ethnicity” rather than connecting with their mother cultures.

This film is a perfect example of how these immigrants and their children came to do that. Henry, a man who is half Irish and half Italian, is someone who grows up in a New York neighborhood that is identified with mobster Italian-Americans whom represent this “mutt” race; they are not exactly white, but they are definitely not black (they make it very clear that their prejudiced/racist). It seems that in order to establish themselves and gain respect, which is the point of a lot of what they do, they must create their own laws and disregard the federal laws. Of course, Henry is sort of stuck because he is a mix of both of these “unaccepted” ethnicities, which is sort of like being doubly Black or “nonwhite.” Throughout the film, Henry establishes himself as one of “them,” but in reality, like “them,” he’s creating a deeper gap between his cultural identity and the American one.

I want to start by pointing out something that struck my attention in the Roediger piece on whiteness. The minute I read about the 50s as a significant decade in terms of whiteness being defined, it reminded me of the beginning of Goodfellas (1990). The minute I heard the music, I realized that it was the fifties. However, that’s not what struck my interest. In the reading, it says that, “this ‘white ethnicity’… gained force in major cities from the 1950s onwards in opposition to racial integration of neighborhoods.” And once I thought about it, I realized that it also says that “second or third generation immigrants… both see themselves and are seen as racially white and as belonging to definable ethnic groups.” The United States is a major factor in this form of whiteness. The 50s was a boom of the average white housewife, the standard white life, and it was full of commercials and the media showing that white is the “norm.”

Of course, in Goodfellas, the fact that Henry is Irish and Italian creates a whole crisis of white identity. It’s clear at the beginning of the film how Henry’s parents expect him to live. Once they realize he has been cutting class, his dad whips him with his belt for reasons they believed to be valid. Henry says in the movie that his parents know what he is doing as he cuts school. The first question that I want to raise is one that I couldn’t decipher for myself: do his parents want him to change, because they’re worried for his life as a potential gangster or because he’s not living the life of whiteness that is expected of them?

The second question that I want to raise has to do with the lifestyle of a gangster. After gathering what the life of one is like and what they’re after, I can’t decide if they’re after money or respect. I figured they’re after both, but there has to be a main goal. At the beginning, I didn’t understand why they didn’t just stop… “gangstering” after they would rob a plane full of merchandise worth millions. Wouldn’t they just stop after they have enough money to live comfortably? It’s more like the “badass” lifestyle and amount of respect earned is more important than the money. Yet, their purpose in quotidian business is all about getting the dough. I just want to raise the question again: What’s more important to a gangster: earning the money or earning the respect and fame? And if so, why is the risk of getting killed worth it?

“See the hardest thing for me was leaving the life. I still loved the life. And we were treated like movie stars with muscle. We had it all, just for the asking.”

What is “whiteness”? What qualifies as whiteness? Is it measured by the color of one’s skin? (African albinos-are they white?) Or maybe whiteness measured by monetary gain – the more successful you are the whiter you are. In society today, there are different ideas of what whiteness is, and different degrees of it. “Blackness” is at times synonymous with rap, gangs, and the ghetto, while “whiteness” is synonymous with class, structure, and wealth. White=good, black=bad. And Richard Dyer’s idea of race and whiteness isn’t far off from this one.

According to Richard Dyer, what qualifies as whiteness can be summed up in a few words: “order, rationality, rigidity.” Whiteness is normality; whiteness is abiding by the rules of society. Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) started his life as a good Catholic Irishman. But this lifestyle wasn’t enough for him. “All my life I wanted to be a gangster.” As a member of the mafia, Hill’s life was anything but orderly. Hill murdered, stole, bribed, philandered, bullied, gambled, and drank and he loved it. He loved all of it. Hill’s life was anything but the norm, Hill’s life was full of “irrationality and looseness” the epitome of black disorder.

But Hill is then arrested and practically pushed into the witness protection program. All the money, women, and glory are taken away. “Today everything is different. Now there’s no action. I have to wait around like everyone else.” As Hill’s money and gangster bravado are stripped from him, Hill becomes more of what Dyer’s interpretation of white is. His life of irrationality and looseness are taken away.

Is Hill’s neighborhood Dyer’s interpretation of white? Not at all, just like the lives of the mafia gangsters have filled the neighborhood with so much corruption. The residents have no choice but to simply watch as they over. There is order in Hill’s neighborhood and the residents do not follow the moral code that is associated with whiteness.

Goodfellas. I watched it for the first time this week (surprisingly,) and it was brutal. All the blood, cursing, and general meanness was a drastic change from the mostly dramatic, non-violent films we have watched during this semester. Using several different film styles, Martin Scorsese brought the life of a mafioso on screen. I felt that the film went way beyond the typical, cliche mafia portrayals that the media presents.

Richard Dyer’s article “White” defined a new identity for whiteness. He calls whiteness “not an identity, not a particularising quality, because it is everything – white is no colour because it is all colours.” It is the status quo, the way things are, an order. If this was chemistry, there would be no entropy with whiteness. Dyer referenced several films that showed whiteness as “order, rationality, qualities brought out by the contract with black disorder, irrationality and looseness.”

Strictly from Dyer’s definition, Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), is not white. The life he aspires to, and the life he eventually lives, goes directly against Dyer’s definition of white. The life of a mafia member is chaotic, violent, and rough. There is a strong racial identity as Italian-Americans as well. In my opinion, this way of living identifies better with Dyer’s definition of blackness. Although the mafia structure is heavily ordered, their activities go against societal standards, thus creating blackness. The pointless killing and violence further adds to the stray from whiteness that Dyer defined.

However, toward the end of the film, I feel that Henry Hill is forced to become white. Being moved into the Witness Protection Program, working an actual job, and moving away from the gangster life forced him to become ordered. He was average. Hill went from living a life of a gangster and drug junkie in New York, to the secluded, clean life in Seattle as the end titles showed.

The neighborhood that Hill lives in is not white either. The New York City neighborhood, predominantly Italian-American lacks the order and “lack of identity.” The people identify as a certain race, they do not identify as “nothing.” The members of the mafia and neighborhood made the issue of Henry being Irish-American into an important aspect of his identity and place. After watching this movie, I feel that the city itself does not identify as white either, because of the melting pot of cultures and the inevitable questioning of cultures. “Whiteness” in Dyer’s definition, is more suited toward the suburbs.

When comparing Goodfellas to other films from this semester, the premises are similar. Just the methods of how each main character achieved their goals were different. Like Geromio in Christ in Concrete, Henry works his way up to the forefront and top of the mafia. But both of their lives came crashing down. The film noir aspects used by Scorsese created an eeriness in the film, and the frequent cutting to different scenes further enhanced the crazy, chaotic, wild life of a mafia man.