Organized Crime: glamor or horror

“As far back as I can remember,I always wanted to be a gangster,“

-RayLiotta as Henry Hill in the 1990 film GoodFellas.

Ray Liotta as Henry Hill in Goodfellas.

The sensational lifestyle of early twentieth century mobsters combined with their ever present charisma allowed many people to idolize their charm, in spite of their evident acts of crime. The ‘take care of your own’ gangster philosophy of the 1920s plays on the human value of loyalty. The attraction maintains its strength even today as President-elect Barack Obama diplayed in an interview with Katie Couric. He proclaimed The Godfather to be one of his favorite movies because, “there’s that combination of old world gentility and, you know, ritual, with this savagery underneath it. And it’s all about family.” The media and the film industry continue to thrive off of the enticement of the Chicago mafia.

While public opinion continues to glamorize the organized crime of the 1930s Chicago, it proceeds to degrade contemporary organized crime as the public conception of an opponent has shifted from unreliable banks to corrupted politicians.