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Saw Goodfellas in the cinema last night, first time I've watched it in 6 years. I was worried I'd view it through 2019 eyes and go "oh shit, this film is cancelled" but OHMYGOD OPPOSITE, it's one of the best takedowns of toxic masculinity you could possibly see!
I've often heard criticism of Goodfellas along the lines of "it glamourises the gangster lifestyle" but pretty much from the opening frames every single character is checking over their shoulder to make sure they're not about to be shot in the face by one of their mates.
And talk about rad female characters. We see Karen go from this sparky 60s firecracker with "great eyes, like Liz Taylor" to a coke-addled paranoid accomplice, all because she got involved with someone from the mafia who himself had been groomed for the lifestyle from childhood.
Scorsese GETS it, guys. There's a bit where Joe Pesci's wife says "he's so jealous, if I even looked at another guy he'd kill me" and she's positively rosey with happiness at this. Her friend replies "that's great!" like it's the cutest thing ever. THE MAFIA WAS BERSERKA, GUYS!
It's weird coz I never see The Godfather criticised for it's glamourisation of the mafia even though Godfather gives organised crime an air of nobility and treats the violence as operatic. Goodfellas is visceral and ugly and stark, as it should be.
Anyway, I saw Goodfellas for the first time when I was 15, instantly made it my favourite movie ever, it's never budged from that top spot and now in the age of wokeness and cancellations I love it EVEN more.
I haven't seen Casino in probably....10 years or more and I'm excited to see that now.
