So I was watching Casino aka Goodfellas 2.0 and I was wondering...

[The Fake Shemp]

... why would anyone want to join the mob?  You seem to get ten to fifteen "glory" years tops before someone murders you.  And not just a straight up hit, it's usually some sadistic, fucked up "message" hit.  The lifestyle kind of blows.

[ch1nchilla]

Because the glory years are totally sweet.

[The Fake Shemp]

Not really.  It's usually them marrying some broad that turns out to be a total dud or whore, self-destructing on drugs or power and making a ton of money only to see it gone before their inevitable murder.

How is that sweet?

[TVC15]

Isn't it probably because most of the mobsters depicted in Goodfellas and Casino were basically born into that life, and that sort of life made success (on their terms) really easy?  Not having to worry about boring shit like education or building successful legit businesses.  I'd bet if you are born into that life, it really does seem so much easier.

I'm sure they write off the short term success and violent ends they see via some sort of mix of denial and confirmation bias--"I'd never be dumb enough to end up like that," "I do things more carefully," "I'm more like this Successful Career Mobster than the losers."

[Flannel Boy]

... why would anyone want to join the mob?  You seem to get ten to fifteen "glory" years tops before someone murders you.  And not just a straight up hit, it's usually some sadistic, fucked up "message" hit.  The lifestyle kind of blows.

I'm sure most of them have a high time preference, meaning they're focused on the immediate future, not the distant future that takes place once the glory years are gone. Plus, they have to be pretty cocksure to get in that line of work, so they probably have some extreme self-serving bias, leading them to believe that bad things--like imprisonment or death--won't happen to them.

[TVC15]

Also, if I could get a job where I got to frequently beat people about the face with a rotary telephone, I would be saying yes before I could adequately consider the risks of the job.

[Flannel Boy]

Also, if I could get a job where I got to frequently beat people about the face with a rotary telephone, I would be saying yes before I could adequately consider the risks of the job.

My immediate worry would be that, in this particular line of work, I'd eventually end up being on the wrong end of a rotary telephone.

[huckleberry]

Most interesting class I took in college was "The History of the Mob".  Dr. Nelli was an old prick from the south side of Chicago but knew more about the Mafia than anyone I have ever heard of.


- side note  My great uncle was murdered by the mob in Cincinnati.  He was a driver for them and apparently pissed him off so they shotgunned him in the back.  He was trying to come back home to escape whatever he did but they caught up to him, shot him, and threw him over a cliff.  I actually have the corduroy coat that he was wearing (my grandfather saved it).  It has holes and bloodstains all up and down it.

[drohne]

i'm pretty sure they get into it for the immaculate photography and expertly curated pop music soundtracks

[Mandark]

I dunno if the death rate is really that high, or if Scorcese just really likes the good times/hard fall narrative arc.  I bet he could direct the hell out of a Behind The Music episode.

[TVC15]

I dunno if the death rate is really that high, or if Scorcese just really likes the good times/hard fall narrative arc.  I bet he could direct the hell out of a Behind The Music episode.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I know, not really, but still.

[close]

Oh wait, I had never heard of this one, and it appears to actually fit the bill:



Of course, he's not in the same league as the Stones (he probably ranks with other BTM stars like Journey and Motley Crue), but the flick will do.

[Phoenix Dark]

TVC makes good points. Very few gangster retire; especially street soldiers and thieves, two groups Scorsese usually focuses on. But given the option of a boring labor job like Henry Hill's father in Goodfellas...and the fast life of women/clubbing/beating people up/etc, it's not hard to see why people would take the more exciting option. They think they're immortal anyway, caught up in the mythology of the lifestyle instead of wondering what they'll be doing in 20 years

btw, anyone else totally annoyed by the wooden narration throughout Casino, especially Pesci's?

[ch1nchilla]

The death rate in the mob world of higher-level people really can't be all that high. They usually get arrested and go to jail for a while if they can't beat the charges. Drivers, hitmen, people like that are more expendable. If the bosses were killed all the time, it'd be all over the news and the party would be over.

[The Fake Shemp]

It's not just Marty's films, but The Sopranos, The Godfather, etc.

[The Fake Shemp]

The death rate in the mob world of higher-level people really can't be all that high. They usually get arrested and go to jail for a while if they can't beat the charges. Drivers, hitmen, people like that are more expendable. If the bosses were killed all the time, it'd be all over the news and the party would be over.

Bosses WERE killed all the time!  It WAS all over the news!  And for the most part, the party is over.  The glory years of organized crime are over.

[Tauntaun]

To do mob right you gotta kill EVERYBODY!  That'd be brutal.