Organized Crime In The Film 'Good Fellas'

The movie “Good Fellas” is the ideal definition of what the Italian mob use to look like and the operations of organized crime. The movie is based upon a true story and portrayed the daily lifestyles of what we perceive real gangsters to have lived. There are various myths and stories of what actually went on during the early Mafia days with organized crime, but this movie does an excellent job at exemplifying what we believe to have happened. The mafia family portrayed in the movie was filled with both Sicilians and Irish men; the Sicilians were the only members who could be “made”.

There are many myths that surround the idea of how the mafia’s function and what exactly was entailed with organized crime with the Italian gangsters. One myth

about Italian mafias or mafias in general states that in order for the gangsters to be successful in organized crime they must have public officials on their payroll. The myth about the mafia is that in order for the gangster to make any money or be in business long enough to see any sort of exponential growth they must have people of high-ranking power in the legal society that is on their side and getting some form of kickbacks. The movie also perpetuates a myth about the Italian mafia that can be very well exemplified throughout the film when a large number of members some even family is killed by their own. It is believed that in reality the mafia does not kill their own, especially family in the ways and amount that was portrayed in the movie. The example from the movie “Good Fellas” would be best seen after the big robbery of almost half a million dollars, when Jimmy Conway had everyone killed that was involved in the crime simply to cover loose ends.
I think one of the biggest myths would be that mafias make the most of their profits off from the sale of illegal narcotics. In the movie it is clearly depicted by Paul Cicero, who is one of the main leaders for the group, that he has absolutely zero tolerance for there to be drug dealing by any of his guys. This was one of the major turning points for Henry Hill in the film when Paul found out that Henry was dealing Cocaine and cut him off from the mafia protection. The movie also did not show any type of diversity in mafias of different ethnicities other than Irish and Italian. The fact that there was no diversity in the ethnical standpoint of the mafias at that time just perpetuates the on-going myth.
The movie was very accurate in the fact that they made most of their money and power by providing security and protection to those that in some way paid for it. The best example of the mafia providing protection in the movie is seen through Morris’s wig shop, when Jimmy and Henry are seen throughout the movie always trying to collect money from him. The movie was accurate in the sense that no one talked to authorities about anything if they were ever in a pinch for something. That is what they believe to be the basic foundation of the Italian mafias is loyalty and the ability to keep your mouth shut when it comes down to taking one for the family, such as going to prison. Based upon the facts and myths about the Italian mafia from the text it is seen through the movie that there are aspects of the movie that exemplify both truths about the mafia as well as only perpetuates what we believe to be myths.