Romanticized Life of an Organized Crime in the Movie Goodfellas

This classic movie is based on the novel wise guy by Nicolas Pileggi. Nonetheless, organized crime is a societal problem that must be dealt with. This is evident in the society considering what followed the release of the film, Goodfellas. This paper seeks to analyze the concept of organized crime in Goodfellas and the influence that resulted from this movie. One of the most exceptional achievements of the filmmaker, Martin Scorsese, is the movie Goodfellas. Moreover, the characters in the previous mobster films such as the Godfather seem to be romanticized to the only kill for reasons that are seen to be of ‘honor. ' However, Goodfellas depicts its actors as murderers and irredeemably violent. This is because they seem to kill for very shallow reasons and inflict pain for the sake of their ‘happiness.

' This is seen when they openly shoot people in the legs for no other big reasons but to see them dance. Goodfellas also portrayed organized crime in a different way that pleased the audience as well as the film industry. However, not all the movies that portray the concept of organized crime are feted. The society in the film seems to be telling the young people that mobster life is not bad because such negative norms of behavior are condoned. This means that there are no external restraints because there is no disapproval of such negative behavior by the society. Hence, the risk is lower than the reward and therefore the fear of being caught does not deter the anyone who feels being tempted to venture into criminal life.

The real creativity that could help the public outwardly display the happenings and the real problems that exist is embraced. Goodfellas did not only help in redefining the genre of mob films, but it also aided in spawning many successors who are worth. The concept of nobility and honor was upended without having to undermine the appeal of the movie. The way Goodfellas goes, viewers get to see how lousy crime life is through the merciless and extremely violent crooks (Abadinsky 2012, p. This may keep off the idea of becoming a criminal. The viewers are made to understand this through the life of the thieves that kill and steal in a cruel manner that leaves their victims heavily devastated. Besides, it also landed the chance to score some significant nominations for awards.

Today, it is rated as a critical classic. Even though the year 2000 was a decade after it was shot, it still managed to be ranked in the top five of the best-selling movies of all time2. Pesci, one of the main characters who acted Tommy, got to win an Oscar award for his role in Goodfellas. This is because of the position he plays in depicting the situation in the society. The people enjoy watching the real truth being acted in movies, and this seems like something that has just unearthed what the society has been waiting for. Everybody received the film with happiness that the things that were happening in the social-cultural world have been set and brought in the open for the public to accept that there is a problem.