Mean Streets (1973)
Urban Alienation permeates the gritty masterpiece Mean Streets like a recurring grace
note. The previous sentence was not meant to be paradoxical but it is this
theme of urban alienation that reinforces the value systems of the closed mob
economy featured in this film. The recurring grace note of urban alienation
here is the admirable, yet naïve, humanitarian efforts of Charlie (Harvey
Keitel) to garner or maintain some semblance of unity within his group of
friends that are being torn apart as a result of money or, to be more exact,
cash money. This film is wonderful from a realistic perspective however there
is subtlety in its artistic and thematic direction that serve to reinforce the
view that the cinematography is exceptional. The streets come to life with a
subtle force especially as the romantic pretensions are cast aside in favour of
straightforward and terse, uncomplicated motifs. The mean streets are portrayed
as a underground system that has allowed the mob economy to thrive away from
the bubbling industrial and commercial centres of the city where the dominant
bourgeoisie/capitalists of the city thrive as they exploit the working classes/
proletarians that sell their labour power to procure their means of subsistence
thereby generating surplus value/unpaid labour time which is translated into
profit on the basis of the capital advanced. This creates a cycle of exploitation which further
impoverishes the proletariat as the increased productivity of their labour is
absorbed into machinery/technology which becomes a dominant feature of the
capital advanced in the form of the means of production. When
machinery/technology is introduced several members f the proletariat are cast
out of their employment and form the relative surplus population or the labour
reserves in service of capital which keep competition amongst the workers
intense thereby keeping wages at a low level or by forcing those that make high
wages, when capital is accumulating rapidly, in service of capital, to work even
harder because they know that someone is waiting in the unemployment booth to
take their place. They are disposable once they slip up at their jobs. The creation
of the relative surplus population eventually becomes a systemic recurrence
within the capitalist society with many ramifications one of which is the mob
economy that prides itself on the so called illegal behavior as it exploits the
lumpenproletariat or the underclass that inherited the system of poverty that
is a primary feature of those born within this group of outcasts from the
capitalist system and who reside on the fringes of society as the generations
before were cast into the shadows of the industrial reserve army and where only
a few would be able to rise through the ranks as a result of physical posturing
or education. I discussed in Midnight
Cowboy (see my review) the
many features of the relative surplus
population and will not dwell extensively here apart from a discussion of the
mob economy which is the only element of this degrading system that requires
any elaboration.
There is no mistaking that the mob is not a glorious and
triumphant element in such an instance for it does prey on the underclass or
the lumpenproletariat in order to make a profit. There have been attempts to
glamourize the mob and make them seem respectable. The means to make them seem
respectable is through the themes and romantic elements that emphasize the
grand formation of the mob enterprise in the harsh lands that characterize the
shadows and fringes of industrial society or in some cases agricultural
society. The mob as it will be seen in this review did form as a result of good
intentions however eventually the movement becomes a farce as the leaders
profit from the exploitation of the underclass particularly with the trade of
illicit drugs and various contraband such as so called illegal firearms so as to perpetuate
the gang warfare within the fringes of society and with the encouragement of
vice in the form of gambling, the growth of prostitution, swindling, high rates
of extortion/taxation and loans bearing high interest rates. These elements all
reinforce the destitution within the mob economy because money is such a
scarcity within the community headed by the mob. The activities themselves are
also a means to encourage the naked transactions associated with the cash
economy for production is limited to petty commodity production or to small
establishments such as, shops/stalls, diners or small insignificant restaurants
and petty drug dealers which can only cater to the meager incomes being earned
by those within the mob economy or the worst paid members of the proletariat.
These naked cash transactions such as gambling also reinforce the money trade
or how money changes hands without recourse to the production of commodities.
In poor countries the government runs the country as if it were a mob economy.
Vito Corleone in The Godfather 1 & 2 (1972 &1974) seems to be
a pious mob figure when contrasted with the cut throat nature of the mob economy
which represents another failure of the capitalist organization to correct the
gross inequalities within its system.
This is the system we encounter in Mean
Streets and the individuals featured
all seem to have inherited the concept of urban alienation where money is the
sole determinant for existence or survival. If you do not have money in the
great urban centres you are alienated particularly when money becomes the
primary feature of relationships or
social interaction as it is in the cities of the world. People are prepared to
kill you for money in such instances. In the mob economy of the great cities of
the world we find not only the descendants of the relative surplus population
but also descendants from the poor nations of the world, which are largely
agrarian, that emigrated to great industrial centres of the world and found
themselves as members of the mob economy as a result of being cast into the
relative surplus population. In this film we have first generation members of
New York’s Little Italy however the mob economy is a feature of most ethnic
minorities such as the Hispanics, blacks descended or born in Africa,
Arabs, Asians and so on which were either
born in America and descended from immigrants or were members of the emigrating groups to
America from which their descendants will spring such as we see with Vito
Corleone in The Godfather. Mean Streets
therefore documents this hazardous experience in America and can be applied
analogously to the experience of other ethnic minorities. It so happens, however,
that the Italians were able to establish a foothold in the gangland world which
is why a lot of attention is placed on their enterprise as representative of
the mob.
The story of Mean
Streets is fairly straightforward and highlights in its own way how the way
of living in the great urban centres is hazardous and impervious to social
unity particularly as the capitalist society knows only the class system based
on the division of labour which is most advanced under this mode of economic
production. Charlie is a small timer associated with the mob that hopes to one
day climb up the ranks of the
organization headed by his uncle Giovanni. His attempts to climb up through the
ranks are hampered by his compassionate nature for his two friends that are
considered less than respectable in the eyes of mob family. Firstly there is
his lover Theresa who is prone to epileptic seizures and according to Charlie’s
uncle is ‘sick in the head’. Secondly, his best friend is Johnny Boy (Robert De
Niro) who can only be described as a hot head in deep with the loan sharks
particularly with one who is also a friend of Charlie, Michael. Johnny Boy’s
antics are oftentimes considered too wild even for a regular hot head as he
knows no bounds. Robert De Niro as Johnny Boy gives one of his best
performances and it is no wonder that it was a star turning role for him. These
two individuals, Theresa and Johnny Boy, throughout the film threaten to derail
Charlie’s efforts to rise through the ranks because it is not deemed honorable
to associate with these two because they are both considered crazy in some way
or form by various observers. Charlie as a Roman Catholic believes in exhibiting
compassion for individuals despite lamenting the fact that it is almost futile
as a result of the cutthroat nature of the society. You get a sense early on
that this film is semi autobiographical on Scorsese’s part; one of the opening
shots has a lively song playing as the roaming camera, after making us aware
that it is a home video of sorts being projected, thrusts itself into the light of a projector
playing some home videos of the good old days featuring Charlie and his crew
which include Johnny boy, Tony and Michael. This brings forth a feeling of the
good old days or some romantic gesture on the part of the master filmmaker
however when we become acquainted with the gritty atmosphere we realize that it
is anything but in some instances. The character played by Charlie is also
reminiscent of Scorsese who says himself, in a feature on The Departed (2006)
special DVD edition, that he was never physically on par with most of the other
neighbourhood kids simply because he was asthmatic and frail. He however used
his smarts to his advantage and was able to interact on good terms with some of
the social climbers within the mob economy. We see in Charlie a similar
character who is more interested in climbing through his smarts because he is
not physically capable as the enforcers that normally do the dirty deeds for
the mob or those that run the rackets. Charlie tends to complain a lot about
his right hand which is weak or impaired by some form of injury and this can be
seen as a reference to Scorsese himself. When Charlie and co. go to the movies it is no
surprise to see them watching The
Searchers (1956) which is one of Scorsese’s favourite films.
The gritty style of the film is not
novel apart from the clever use of the camera to highlight a state of mind and
the lighting which emphasizes the perspective of the underworld as if it is
located in some dimly lit cave or the concept of hell from a metaphysical
perspective. The French Connection
(1971) also offered a similar gritty style and also featured some of the
lighting featured in Mean Streets particularly when it came to the club scene where
a lot of the action in this Scorsese picture takes place. American Graffiti (1973) released in the same year of the Scorsese
picture also had similar nostalgic themes. Mean
Streets does feature a festival, the feast, that is taking place alongside
the action of the protagonists and seems to highlight the duality of Italian
culture in America for on one side you have a mass celebration of the culture
however interactions on the mean streets offer a different perspective on how
that culture is being diluted in some respects by the naked cash economy of the
mob economy and capitalist society at large.
The film did not run away with the awards as so many classic
films seem to do in some cases however it was acknowledged by the critics to be
a seminal film particularly with its portrayal of street life from the perspective
of those individuals on the fringes of bourgeois society. Robert De Niro won
best supporting actor awards from the ‘New York and national society of Film
critics.’ Robert De Niro would go on to win the best supporting actor Oscar for
his role as a young Vito Corleone in The
Godfather pt 2 (1974). This film under review film offered a suitable
contrast with the romantic and dramatic portrayal of the mob in The Godfather
films. It offered a more distinct visual perspective of the mob economy than
the Coppola versions. This was to be refined in Scorsese’s other masterpiece Goodfellas (1990). Films such as Mean Streets offer a more complete
perspective of the mob that focuses not only on the chiefs but on their
subordinates or enforcers. Coppola never spent much time on these lower tier
individuals.
In this review I will continue my premise associated with
the concept of urban alienation however it is strictly from the perspective of
the mob economy which is created as a result of the industrial reserve army
associated with capital. The mob economy is a testament to the destitution
generated by capital as only a few are enriched while the mass of proletarians
flounder on the fringes of society and thus have to resort to antagonistic
behavior in order to survive. This antagonistic behavior is prevented in
several quarters from being truly revolutionary. I chose to evaluate this film
as opposed to Goodfellas for
instance because in Mean Streets it
is acknowledged that within society the moral virtue associated with unity
based on clan association is slowly evaporating as a result of the naked cash
economy of the capital dominated urban centres, such as New York, which is
strong enough to isolate individuals once thought to be friends.
The Mob Economy
The Mob economy is in reference to organized crime but also
in reference to the relative surplus population created by capitalist
production. The relative surplus population here is bound up with the
increasing levels of productivity generated by the proletariat under the
bourgeoisie/ capitalist class. The growth of the technological apparatus
absorbs the high levels of productivity and cast out a large number of the
working class. In this case therefore the constant element represented by
machinery grows in proportion to that attributed to variable capital or wage
labour. The only recourse for the workers cast out of employment is to either
upgrade their skill levels through education and become highly paid wage
earners relative to the average wage earner or in the establishment of small
businesses which may or may not grow based on the dominance of the established
capitalist order. There are also service providers such as doctors and lawyers
that are either in service to the Government of the bourgeoisie, the high income
earners of the petty bourgeois class and organized crime; the so called lower
orders of society cannot afford the services of such professional classes and
are forced to weather the storm either by themselves or with the aid of welfare.
Others may rely on their physical talent or eccentric personalities in order to
become noticeable and fall within the purview of the circulation of commodities
within the market place. Those in the arts, religion and sports fall under this
category. They are primarily advertizers
regardless of their superb talents. The groups just mentioned fall within the
realm of the petty bourgeois class which rises and fall according to the spirit
of the times. This class is hardly dominant and is bound up with the dominance
exhibited by the advanced bourgeoisie. The final category of the surplus
population is represented by the so called criminal element that preys on the
incomes of those employed under capital. These individuals are the ones that
are exposed to the naked cash element that is essential to survival. This group
is more than likely exposed to the elements considered illegal by the
bourgeoisie class such as drugs, stealing, prostitution and bootlegging. The
mob under the umbrella of organized crime is attributed to this class of
individuals in this category whereas the mob is representative of the larger
society and the relative surplus population produced by capital. The government
of the bourgeoisie, for instance, is
supposed to represent the mob in its bid to retain power regardless of its various classifications. The
members of the petty bourgeois class for instance, as it rises and falls, either
climbs closer towards the top as it
fraternizes in typical sycophant fashion with the dominant bourgeoisie or it
falls within the ranks of those depraved or made utterly destitute through the
exploitation by capital. If it does not fall then it is forced to negotiate
with these depraved elements. The vapid intellectuals like to refer to these
people as the middle class or even to differentiate between lower and upper
middle class as they claim that capital must pay heed to the fortunes of its
middle class. It is by pandering to the middle class that there is a gold rush
as they are treated as if they are members of the typical mob. They are given
handouts like anybody else that is a member of the working class. These
handouts caused the global recession of 2008 where the members of the middle
class like others were targeted for
their incomes during the boom leading up to 2008. The declining fortunes of the
middle class is due to their fortunes under capital where technology has made
them redundant i.e. more work can be
done with less of the variable element which generates surplus value for
capital. The members of the middle class are nothing but highly paid wage
earners that exist higher up on the food chain as they represent the more
skilled variable element but their fortunes can fail them just as it does the
those lower down on the ladder once capital grows to overwhelming proportions.
This is all dependent on the industry in which one resides of course. The mob
in this case includes the petty bourgeois class and is not solely attributable
to organized crime or those members of the lumpenproletariat or those depraved
elements of the relative surplus population.
The mob in this case can simply refer to those individuals not
in power and this element is made apparent from early on within the advanced
civilizations of each epoch. We hear a
lot of references to the mob in tales about to the Roman Empire. It is the decadent
Roman Empire that has had such a profound influence on western civilization in
terms of administration and so why not make reference to this fallen empire.
The Roman Empire was hardly wealthy in comparison to today’s standards but it
did embrace the concept of mob politics and pandering to those individuals not
in power. In Mean Streets it is only
ironic that the members of the surplus population are from Italy once home to
one of the greatest empires that ever existed in western civilization corresponding
to their mode of production. The mob would be under the auspices of the roman
senators that administered the maintenance of the realm through the law, the
development of infrastructure such as roads and elaborate houses of worship and
most importantly the use of the armed forces which were the only way that Rome
could control the outlying provinces or nations under its rule. Every move of
the senators and the emperor were supposedly done in accordance to the whims of
the people. This is how it supposedly
was but one cannot account for the fact that Rome was a highly exploitative
empire particularly with its slave labour force that generated its wealth. The idea
that the mob is an element that must be pandered to is erroneous because when
individuals share a social bond then how individuals interact is based on the
mode of economic production or how goods are exchanged. The quantity of goods
exchanged relate to the social necessary labour required for their production.
Rome was primarily agricultural with slaves to work the fields, with its
reliance on merchants in order to procure goods from other countries or the army
that would plunder other nations for their goods as they would offer tribute.
This was the might of the Roman Empire. The fickle mob could only refer to the
pompous ceremony associated with the physical posturing of the rulers and their
slaves that would perform extraordinary feats in the name of Rome thereby
keeping the people satisfied from the perspective of their material security.
If the rulers were unable to provide material security for their citizens then
they would face the wrath of the so called mob. This is not about being fickle
for a social group is determined based on its methods of procurement of goods
and the exchange of goods which is regulated by labour time. It is no wonder
there were many slave revolts with the most famous led by Spartacus (1960).
The idea of slaves was reinforced by the fact
that Rome was relatively poor when compared with these times. Slaves were never
compensated apart from the meagre food rations and scanty clothing. In Rome we find the elements of the mob today.
Firstly, the slaves of Rome, apart from those engaged in productive labour, were mere domestic servants
and entertainers: sportsmen and women, poets, musicians, warriors (gladiators,
foot soldiers and the generals), dancers, prostitutes and the dramatists. In these days
under capital this same group of entertainers are still in service of the ruling
class as these groups attract investment which involves the production of
commodities related to the brand of the entertainer (such as shoes, shirts etc)
and become industries in their own right with some aspect of slave labour still
retained which occurs in the Olympics for instance or with those eccentric
personalities that do not get rewarded for their physical posturing simply
because they are not the best in the field such as in the arts. They become
regulated according to hierarchical rule like any other organization although
they will never be able to compete with the dominant industries of the world
because that is reserved for the large scale producers of capital who use these
individuals to encourage the commodity fetish among the populace by applying
some measure of mysticism to the product. Apart from those that can gain
endorsement deals from capital the majority engage in slave labour in order to
survive and are mostly located on the fringes of society where organized crime
thrives. Many of them remain beggars so as to procure the means subsistence. In
Rome their professions were regulated by slave labour and it is the same here but through nominal wage labour.
Another feature of the mob is the concept of the state
reinforced by the law and the law corresponds to the mode of production of the
day which in this case is the bourgeois mode of production. Within the sphere
of Mean Streets, which is dominated
by the mob economy, we understand that these elements are more obvious as
opposed to regulation by standards of the bourgeois which is merely reinforced
by a bloated bureaucracy that delights in being obscure. The state is here an
objective element and according to idealists it is an ideal to be adhered to
and this was inherited from classical empires such as Rome and Greece. What is
the state however if it does not correspond to the material production of
society however for this would explain the revolts against the idealist state
conception. The state only functions as a mandate of those who control the
means of production however the state is meant to be a system of order for
those who control the means of production and so keep the so called mob in line
especially as it is the mob that provides capital with its relative surplus
population with regards to cheap labour. The mob state we see in Mean Streets for instance revolves
around a group of individuals that form a collective known as organized crime
which is supposed to regulate those members of the relative surplus population
on the fringes of society. On the fringes of society production is hardly on
the scale to rival the industrial districts and so apart from petty commodity
production or sales, the members of organized crime orchestrate so called illegal
activities such as drugs, high interest rates in the form of loan sharks, high
rates of taxation in the form of extortion, gambling, stealing/plunder,
prostitution and entertainment within these spheres of illegal activity in
order to get money circulating within the poorer communities. They are all run
as a slave organization and this is the great inheritance of Rome in today’s
society hence why the mob economy is referred alongside that of organized
crime. What once made Rome great has also made it small and inferior to the
advanced bourgeois mode of economic production. This mob economy however is
reflective of society as a whole particularly as the mob evolves from the large
population numbers within the great world cities. In Mean Streets we do hear references of patriotism towards the
homeland of Italy and so it was with the glorious abstract that was represented
by the Roman Empire where at one point the emperor was said to be divine when
in fact he had to exploit the slaves in order to advance his position and that
of his followers and overtime the so called mob would buy into the mysticism of
the emperor’s divine right to rule regardless of his plundering and voracious
nature.
The mob represented by organized crime is essential to the
bourgeois economy and hence why it cannot be separated from it. The primary
reason is that the mob economy represented by organized crime is a significant
accumulator of money which may or may not be invested in the bourgeois economy
as capital. It may be illegitimate but significant sums of money are
accumulated through the means of exchange within this sphere on the fringes of
society. The mob represented by so called organized crime then appears no
different from the bourgeois class as exploiters of the destitute. It Is this accumulation of money which may or
may not be utilized as productive capital which commands the respect or fear of
the dominant bourgeois economy. What you render unto Caesar becomes a means for Caesar to rule hence the
collective rule under the umbrella of so called organized crime becomes a force
in society. A relationship between the mob and the politicians that also govern
for the dominant bourgeois economy is inevitable as a result and, similar to
the means by which the dominant bourgeoisie will contribute financially to the
politicians, the mob begins to court favours by contributing financially as
well. This is seen as corruption by the moralists on the side of the petty
bourgeois who embrace the ideal of the state however they have conveniently
forgotten that it is similar in practice to the dominant bourgeoisie classes
around the world especially when they come into prominence. The dominant
bourgeoisie holds the government captive as it swallows the latter in debt and
inevitably the populace as It holds them to ransom. When a crisis hits the
government is forced to liquidate its holdings in order to prop up a depressed
economy and if need be to rescue the dominant bourgeoisie from collapse; they
are simply repaying the capital loaned to them in the first place. It was sad
to see Americans wondering anxiously as to why these large corrupt corporations
received bailouts. Initially it is their loans to government that keeps the
government machinery going. Keynesian economics is no marvel here. The corruption is inherent in the system. Money
generated through productive capital is power or the ability to accumulate
money is power. The dominant bourgeois class also finds means to confiscate the
earnings of the mob through the police force that is on its payroll or the
military when it is related to the plunder of poorer states governed by the
principles of the mob economy or those that represent the international
relative surplus population. When the idealists speak of corruption they refer
to the petty bourgeois politicians that are supposedly in power.
The petty
bourgeois politicians are only a face for the dominant bourgeoisie class that
preferably stays hidden from the public eye. When capital reaches a stage of
crisis it is the petty bourgeois politicians that the blame is heaped on
however like I said this class is powerless unless, as is done in the poorer
countries mob rule by physical force is enforced within the tradition of the
Roman Empire and other classical empires under the sun and slave labour becomes
evident. In poorer countries the petty bourgeois class can only impoverish the
small petty commodity producers and even those wealthy individuals within the
mob state rely on the dominant bourgeois economies in the advanced nations as
they are more in line with commercial capital that absorbs the products from
the dominant bourgeois industrialists in the advanced nations to sell to the
poor individuals within the mob economy. In poorer states even so called high
wage earners would be considered poor in the advanced economies of the world.
In the poorer states they are referred to as the middle class for that
territory. The petty bourgeois therefore has more leeway to rule unless Uncle
Sam comes knocking on his door. The state is more prominent in these countries
and naturally so is the mob economy and so the state becomes a force of
oppression as they foolishly try to act in line with bourgeois principles
although they fail to realize that the mode of production does not correspond
with their oppressive taxation policies. The oppressive taxation policies of
the state make us realize that the government is the dominant accumulator
within this sphere of poverty and degradation.
The levels of productivity within these states are incredibly low and so
it becomes a haven for idealism to be triumphant. Idealism thrives when poverty
is entrenched. These poorer states are run as if it is the typical mob economy.
The relative surplus populations of these territories are forced to migrate to
the dominant bourgeois economies so as to earn wages and so drive down the wage
bill.
As an accumulator the mob serves it purpose however because
in some cases these accumulated funds can be used to fund new enterprises
within the bourgeois society by becoming so called legitimate enterprises. By
legitimizing their enterprises the mob escapes the clutches of the police force
and the military in service of the dominant bourgeoisie. The mob represented by
organized crime becomes a target for the dominant bourgeois class because it
generates wealth through plunder and so
takes advantage of the money circulating through the bourgeois production sphere. This is why they
are targeted because the funds that they accumulate are circulated throughout
the market place of the bourgeois economy. The more the mob encourages people
to spend on illicit goods such as drugs (at one point liquor was prohibited in
America) or services such as sex and the rest the less that will be spent on
bourgeois produced goods and so the less that the bourgeois can accumulate.
Admittedly the mob represented by organized crime does not accumulate as
extensively as the dominant bourgeoisie but it is significant nonetheless. Drugs deserve special mention, if only
briefly, because they represent the primary products of poverty which are
called raw materials. Materials such as cocaine and marijuana for instance are simply
raw materials and only potentially represent new industrial products unless
capital can encourage its scientists to discover the means by which these drugs
can be utilized either medicinally and so packaged or in the production of
industrial products i.e. in being refined then for the dominant bourgeois the
production of drugs within the mob economy is wasteful because it is not being
utilized effectively from an industrial perspective although the consumers see
drugs as an elevating experience and this ties into the warped idealism
normally associated with religion. Drugs are used extensively in religious
rituals or when one wants to be enraptured by false idealism. So as the mob
squanders the use of these raw materials a lot of money goes out of the hands
of the dominant bourgeois. If the mob economy becomes more assertive and pushes
the production of these goods to overwhelming proportions then it will have to
be ratified by law inevitably. Once ratified by law it becomes absorbed by the
dominant bourgeoisie. When the bourgeoisie encroaches on the mob economy
through investment which implies the development of infrastructure then people
are once again displaced until the point will come when they will have no
choice but to fight back when their backs are against the wall as the urban area
reaches the limit of expansion within a particular space. When the revolution
is led by the proletariat the mob economy and the bourgeois economy will be
smashed.
It is this situation
where we find the mob economy in Mean
Streets and I will elaborate further on the mob economy in a commentary
later on in the year.
The Mob Economy in
Mean Streets
Mean Streets
captures most of the elements of the mob economy and we are presented with the
dilemma facing the members of industrial reserve army that are placed on the
fringes of bourgeois society as they scramble for survival. The naked cash
economy is ever prevalent as well as the overwhelming destitution and depraved
social behavior. In steps a character like Charlie (Harvey Keitel) who embraces
an idealistic outlook despite the materialist trappings. He is sympathetic to
the sufferings of Jesus Christ on the cross in accordance with the teachings of
the corrupt Roman catholic church which is the last remaining bastion of the
decadent Roman Empire. The story of Jesus Christ inspires him in some form to
aspire for some salvation from the destitution and rigid hierarchy of the mob
represented by organized crime; in this case organized crime with an Italian
face. In such a case myopic racial and national sentiments come to the fore and
this is essential to a poverty ridden environment so as to inspire confidence
in the decadence of the environment. Charlie tries to shatter these superficial
barriers with his compassionate nature although the material trappings
associated with his advancement through the ranks of the mob, headed by his
Uncle Giovanni (Cesare Danova), make it difficult. The film opens with a
poignant opening statement from Charlie himself which goes like this: ‘You
don’t make up for your sins in the church. You do it in the streets. You do it
at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it.’ After this statement Charlie awakes tremulously to discover his
material surroundings again in living colour as the sirens of the cop cars are
blaring at midnight as the police are constantly on the hunt for the victims of
exploitation that are on the fringes of society engaged in so called criminal
behavior.. When Charlie says you make up
for it in the streets or at home he means you try and apply your compassionate
nature to your depraved surroundings and hope that it can make a difference.
This is idealistic and corresponds to the poverty of the milieu in question
when recourse to one’s faith is the only source of remedial therapy. The film
does offer a romantic and nostalgic perspective with the next shot as it cuts
to highlight a projector that showcases footage of various home videos that
recalls the good old days when the crew would mingle and enjoy each other’s
company. After this shot there is a feature of a Italian festival, the feast,
that is taking place in the neighbourhood and highlights the duality of city life
where parochial cultural expressions seeks to restore faded glory within the
context of a depraved mob economy in the
city where the cash economy is king. Johnny Boy says in one scene that he hates
the feast with a passion. The camera shot that comes shortly after the
highlight of the festival reinforces this duality as we see someone dope addict
shooting up in the bathroom of Tony’s bar. Tony’s bar is the centre for most of
the action within this film as it is dimly lit by a red light. Tony (David Proval)
throws out the dope pusher and it Is clear that he seeks to keep his bar clean
in some respect and dirty in others for where he will throw out a dope pusher
he invites them in droves nonetheless for this these people are your customers.
Like most bars it encourages prostitution, violence, gambling, heavy
consumption of alcohol, swindling etc.
and in this case drug pushing. He berates his bouncer for not keeping out the
drug dealers that deal in his place but he must know that it is right outside
his door. Removing one drug pusher will not encourage respectability. We are
introduced to Michael (Richard Romanus) in the next scene where he deals in the
emporium trade for we see goods being loaded onto a truck. It seems that he is
stealing from a dominant bourgeois company because as he hears the sirens he
tells the men to hurry it up. This illegality is one means of accumulation
within the mob economy. He speaks to one of his customers telling him that he
has top of the line German lenses ‘the telescopic ones’ however he is informed
that it is Jap adaptors and not German lenses. This is to highlight his ineptitude
in trade or in making profitable deals through swindling. It is clear that it
was stolen in some shape or form because if you place an order for German
lenses how does it come to be Jap adaptors. The person who he contracted to
steal the proceeds must have made a mistake or he was duped; it seems that he
has a habit of being duped. We next see Johnny Boy played famously by Robert De
Niro. He embodies the consumer within the mob economy as opposed to Michael,
Tony and Charlie who wish to make some form of profit out of it. When we are
introduced to Johnny Boy for the first time he throws a bomb into a US mailbox
which attracts the siren of the police and it is not sure whether he did it on
behalf of someone for the purpose of intimidation or simply as some childish
antic. Later shots seem to suggest the latter. He is wild and kinetic or simply
childish. He knows the allure of money and what it can bring but he does not
know how to work for it apart from plunder and gambling and accumulating debt.
Lastly we see Charlie in church who opened the film with his famous statement
who holds his hands above a candle lit flame seeking to test its heat
especially as he has absorbed the superstition that hell is eternal fire. He
removes his hand right away of course. He transforms it to suit his own
material concept.
‘Lord I am not worthy to eat your flesh,’ he prays ‘Not
worthy to drink your blood (why would you want to drink his blood?)’ he stops
and then continues as if now speaking to his peers ‘Okay, I just came out of
confession, right? Right. And the priest
gives me the usual penance: Ten “Hail Marys” , ten “Our fathers”, ten
whatever. You know that next I’m going
to come back and he’ll give me another ten “Hail Marys” and another ten “Our
Fathers” and I mean, you know how I feel about that shit. Those things don’t
mean anything to me. They’re just words. Now that may be okay for the others
but it just doesn’t work for me. I mean,
if I do something wrong, I just want to pay for it my way. So I do my own
penance for my own sins. What’d ya say uh? It’s all bullshit except the pain
right? The pain of hell. The burn from a lighted match increased a million
times. Infinite. Ya don’t fuck around with the infinite. There’s no way you do
that. The pain in hell has two sides: the kind you can touch with your hands
(material circumstances). The kind you can feel in your heart (metaphysical
which is attributable to a damaged conscience generated from a hazardous
material circumstance.). Your soul, the spiritual side (the context changes
here from the church where he is doing his penance to the dimly lit bar that
belongs to Tony so as to reinforce the underground element and how it fits the
tone of his words). And ya know the worst of the two is the spiritual.’
He is mistaken here from a materialist perspective for to be
tormented from the spiritual side the dastardly deed would have to be done in
actuality so as to be manifest in the conscience. It would normally be a
shocking event for it to make a significant impression on ones conscience. When
it is clear that the “Ten hail Marys”
does not hold much significance it is because he wishes to experience
salvation in its actuality. The movie cuts from the meditative Charlie which
implies silence to the bustling environment of the bar where we see the friends
collide amidst the hustle and bustle of bar activity. It is here that things
come to a head particularly with Johnny Boy and Michael and we start to see the
rifts in the friendship begin to grow. They start to get alienated. Another
interesting element presented by the introduction is Charlie’s application of
Christ like virtue to a decadent way of living. The death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ has still failed to release billions from entrenched poverty and
has still failed to prevent mass exploitation by the ruling classes. Jesus
Christ has only encouraged welfare as opposed to divine salvation and Charlie
will come to realize that welfare is not sufficient to assuage the guilt of the
exploiters. This early scene of Charlie also treats us to a classic Scorsese
technique of using songs already released in order to enhance the feeling of
nostalgia. He does it well so that whenever a song is being played on a jukebox
or being transmitted through a radio then it is amplified in our ears in order
to capture the mood of the period or the moment and to make clear to the viewer
what were the hits current for that
time. This technique was also used in American
Graffiti. It is a great compilation of classic hits from Scorsese for the
soundtrack where he even includes some elements of the Italian opera.
Much of the tension in Mean
Streets surrounds Johnny Boy and we understand that he is a rabid consumer
within the context of the mob economy and it is his salvation that Charlie seeks.
Johnny boy becomes his pity project. It is established early on that he owes
Michael $3,000. The interest is nearly 50% because Johnny Boy initially
borrowed $1,800. This is reflective of the poverty of the environment
particularly when interest rates are so high. These types of interest rates
were more acceptable in the middle ages before the advent of industrial capital
but it is clear that but it is now more reflective of destitution or a
massively inflated dollar where extreme amounts of money are pumped into the
economy without the security of commodity capital and money has little or no
value in such case. In Johnny Boy’s case it is more reflective of the former
where not much money is circulating within the impoverished district and so it
is scarce. In this case if not much money is circulating how is Johnny Boy
going to pay back such a hefty sum as Charlie rightly says for those types of
interest rates only impoverish people or force them to do drastic things.
Charlie talks sense into Michael and convinces him to take $2, 000. When we see Johnny boy again he has
two girls accompanying him side by side into Tony. It is clear that he is a
high roller and mob glamour has bedazzled him sufficiently mainly because it
promises easy money through gambling and loans. If you can’t pay a loan you
borrow from someone to pay back your original loan or you gamble to pay it off.
Charlie is not amused that Johnny Boy is parading these girls around
particularly as he is buying drinks on his credit at the bar. This man is an
excessive consumer. When Charlie takes him in the back and upbraids him for
missing his payments Johnny Boy tries to give the impression that he makes
regular payments but when Michael offers to straighten it out with Michael the
Johnny Boy, caught in a lie, says he did not make payments. Listen to the story he tells when he claims that he
intended to pay but while gambling, another loan shark to whom he owed money
was hounding him to make payments. The loan shark was paying attention to his
winnings at the table. It shows that these loan sharks are lost as well when
they expect a man to win at gambling in order pay back his debt simply because
it promises a big pay out which does not necessarily come to pass. The loan sharks do not necessarily make loans
for productive reasons because they realize that payment because there is not
much people that are looking to invest. There is not much to invest in and so
most of the loans goes towards encouraging consumption on the part of
characters like Johnny Boy or those simply looking to make ends meet. They only impoverish the consumers in such a
manner particularly as some will never be able to pay back the loan and will be
forced to either pawn their possessions, stealing, hiding out or simply giving
up and have their lives taken. This is
so because most of the loans encourage consumption and not necessarily
productive labour. When it does encourage productive labour it is just as
devastating for the borrower as we see in the case of Charlie and the restaurant
where he is ordered to collect payments from Oscar. It is amazing that loan
sharks expect people to pay such exorbitant interest rates. His attitude suggests that he believes in easy
money as he does not feel he has to make payments and this is reflective of the
low levels of productivity where growth is not measured by productive labour
but by the exchange of money for money. Johnny boy’s situation gets so bad that
Charlie has to arrange a job for Johnny loading crates which he accepts but does not show up for work
especially as that life is not for him because he is not prepared to do
productive work to generate value. Johnny believes in the easy life of gambling
and loans where money is frequently exchanged for winning at a game or on good
faith. We will return to Johnny Boy and how he becomes increasingly alienated
soon enough but let us focus on Charlie and his experience when the mob
encourages productive labour in the form of providing financing for a
restaurant owned by Oscar and his friend Groppi.
Charlie goes to collect payments from a restaurant owned
by Oscar and Groppi on behalf of his Uncle Giovanni . The first
thing he is told by Oscar is: ‘Charlie you’re a good boy. Will you tell your
uncle I have nothing? I can’t make this week’s payment.’ It is no surprise that
he has nothing for one survey of the area will show that business is slow
because the restaurant looks practically empty with only one or two customers.
Things are made worse because knowing the tradition of the mob represented by
organized crime they demand payments of their loans at the exorbitant interest
rates whether or not business is bad.
Charlie says to Oscar ‘Listen you tell that to Giovanni, not me.’ Oscar
responds, ‘I should hand this place over to him, you know that? I don’t need
this aggravation.’ ‘He’d rather have the loan paid. You know that Oscar.’ ‘Your
uncle’s a good man. I’m not gonna stick him. He either gets the money or he
gets the place. Right now it looks like he’s getting the place. You tell me why
I should care. I got a partner is a bum. He disappears !’ The partner referred
to is Groppi. This is the extent of productive business within the mob economy
where either a bar or a restaurant is set up because those are the easiest to
establish. These institutions depend on the whims of customers who have such a
variety of options. It is made worse that this restaurant exists in an
impoverished neighbourhood where not many people will have the incomes to drive
business. The restaurant is so poorly equipped that Oscar prior to talking to
Charlie just came from fixing the freezer. One can imagine how much other
things he has to maintain or which other appliances are crumbling as we speak.
While the two are talking the poorly trained waitress Natalie sent some dishes
crashing to the ground. It is reflective of the destitution of the environment.
Charlie reports to his uncle that he
believes it is all an act that is being put on so as to defer payments but a
brief survey could tell anyone that the business is floundering and his uncle
advises him to be patient and at the same time asking him if he likes
restaurants suggesting that the restaurant might collapse and the voracious
creditors with their usury type loans will swoop in for the feast.
Another feature of the mob economy in this film is the trade
in contraband which in this case is firecrackers. Two petty bourgeois white
individuals come downtown and approach Tony ad Michael on the corner asking for
firecrackers. The fact they are down in such a destitute neighbourhood suggests
that it is accepted that contraband is traded under the purview of organized
crime that represents the mob economy on the fringes of society. The petty
bourgeois individuals also state that they went to Chinatown but were unsuccessful.
This is important for the point made earlier on about the factions of
immigrants that represent the international reserve labour force for capital
that have gathered in various districts in the dominant industrial centres of
the world. The Italian faction is only one representative of the industrial
reserve army on the fringes of society. When they enter the car Michael makes
the important point that they don’t take checks but only cash which is a clear
reference to the naked cash economy on the fringes of society where everything
has to be immediate because survival is essential and requires a marked and
necessary element to keep lives functioning. In this case it is money. They get
stiffed by the kids that only give them $20 instead of the $40 that they
intended to spend. It is not sure if they received the firecrackers because
Michael let them off t a rendezvous point where he would meet them again in
half an hour with the ‘stuff’. He lets them off because he can’t let them see
where they got the stuff because it would be bad for business. Now even though
the middle class punks give Micheal $20 they don’t receive anything return.
Michael, Tony and Charlie go to the movies with the money. This is strange
business and can only go down as a swindle on both parts. Money is exchanged
without recourse to a commodity and it is not interest on a particular
enterprise and this only serves to reinforce the basis of the mob economy where
money switches hands without any recourse to production but only as a result of
speculation.
Another aspect of the mob economy is one trying to rise
through the ranks of organized crime and so perpetuate the mass exploitation of
the impoverished and destitute residents on the fringes of society or who have
been alienated by bourgeois society. This is not only attributable to Charlie
because we know his story with his uncle Giovanni and his efforts to please him
so that he can climb through the ranks. The relationship with the restaurant
and how he handles it is central to how he advances because he has to demonstrate how he can
ensure that someone makes payments for loans advanced. There are others however
that seek to rise through the ranks of the mob represented by organized crime
and there is one particular scene where ho tyoung blood (Robert Carradine) decides to gun down a
noted figure of the underworld in Tony’s bar. The scene is famous for a drunk
(David Carradine) who plays the noted mob figure hurling himself at the shooter
despite being riddled with bullets. This violence is the alternative to
Charlie’s sycophant style approach although it is more risky. We see his uncle
try to resolve the issue by having the boy sent to Florida to lay low for 6
months to a year. This violence represents honour and a more obvious way to remove
your competitor. In the advanced bourgeois economy competing companies normally
resort to theft and murder in some cases but competition is normally
represented by price cutting once the two companies sell the same products. In
the mob economy violence is a more direct approach where a competitor is
normally removed by being killed. It is much easier to control the mob in this way
because there are no competing industries on the fringes of society only petty
commodity producers and so plunder is the last resort for aggrandizement. This
is a testament to the poverty of the region where plunder is the last resort in
order to control whatever meager business interests there are. In the mob
economy it becomes more naked simply because of the illegal means used to
attain the wealth. In order for it to be regulated then violence must be
resorted to in order to bring the others in line and so establish a hierarchy.
The advanced international bourgeois class has already done it which is why
they have been able to consolidate their power. The mob economy on the fringes
of society is a constant reminder of what it takes to consolidate power in this
world. War and peace. When Charlie meets with his uncle to discuss the
restaurant he mentions a shooting that he witnessed and his uncle reminds him
to keep in mind that he, Charlie, was not there which implies that the uncle
had something to do with it.
Gambling and how it leads to violence is made very clear in
a important scene where Charlie and his gang of friends go to collect some
outstanding debt owed by a numbers runner on behalf on one of their own, Jimmy.
He has a large pool hall which is typical of the underground gambling
environment. On their way to collect they encounter a street wiper for the
front glass of the car. This is reflective of the destitution in the
environment. The members in the car insult him and chase him away so on but
this does not remove the fact that the environment they are living is on the
fringes of the affluent centres of commerce. They exist in destitution while at
the same time they aspire towards the noble ideals of dignity and honour by not
associating with scum such as this depraved car glass street wiper. These
ideals of nobility are merely associated with the fact that there are those
with an income that allows them to brave the squalor and those that do not have
an income are forced into beggarly positions within the context of depravity on
the fringes of society. They go to collect from Joey Gattuci who runs the pool
hall. They encounter Jimmy and when we first meet him he says he bet on the
number 235 because he had a dream of his grandfather. This is the kind of
warped idealism that gambling encourages where people do not make any recourse
to labour which is an actual manifestation of wealth but to dreams and
fantasies associated, in this case, with number combinations which are always
wrong in what they represent. With joking aside the important thing is that
when Jimmy with the aid of Charlie and co. goes to collect the money he is owed
by Joey we see the fractiousness that is created by the need for cash. Firstly
jimmy says he made a bet with Sally, who supposed to work in Joey’s
establishment, but what does Joey do- he denies the bet was placed merely
because it was a successful bet. The pleading Charlie reminds him that they are
friends and he should not deny the bet was placed on those grounds and pay up
what is owed when honour is at stake here. Joey seemingly concedes then decides
he wont pay because Jimmy is mook and then a fight ensues in the pool room. It
is broken up by the corrupt police, agents of the bourgeois state, that are
paid off by Joey. The important point is that Joey’s reluctance to pay leads to
a scuffle, which is humorous at times, but underscores the fact on how people
can be alienated through selfishness even among groups where individuals are
thought to be friends. Violence is the only recourse here particularly where
there is no court of law to hear your petty case unless it is the head of
organized crime that controls the mob economy. If you defeat your opponent
physically then there is no dispute afterwards since he has to flee. Charlie
tries to act as mediator in his typical noble way however when the fight breaks
out he is almost powerless to allow this nobility to be manifested. It is
humorous to hear Charlie complain about his hand during the scuffle as he tried
to pull a gun with the hope that tempers would cool. When he is disarmed he
wails about his inability to engage in the bitter physical struggle by
complaining about his hand.
Other elements of the mob economy are on display if only
briefly. There are the strippers, particularly a black one which Charlie is
interested in, prostitutes and male homosexuals. In one humorous scene we
encounter two homosexual men who are forced into a position where they can sell
their bodies in a relationship or for money and so be offered security. This is
typical in a mob economy where the physically frail men resort to either
idealism or physical prostitution. Homosexuality is not exclusive to the mob
economy but it can be essential to survival on the fringes of society and in
some cases the men are forced. I here regard biological determinations of
homosexuality ‘Born this way’ to an extent.
Material circumstances are crucial here then. If you are born physically
frail as a man then you either become a homosexual or a rambling idealist with
recourse to faith in your mental powers which does not normally correspond with
the harsh physical environment on the fringes of society . In most cases you
are regarded as weak and are susceptible to being targeted. Scorsese with his
frail physical constitution was able to escape this bullying.
Charlie (Harvey Keitel) seeks to invoke Christ like compassion in the Mean Streets of New York
Compassion fails to
prevent alienation in the Mean Streets: The good old days are no more
The idea that Christ like passion has failed to consolidate
friendship and to preserve the good old days in the face of the naked cash
economy is the essential premise of the film. Along with his compassion for
Johnny Boy who is his best friend Charlie has a sexual relationship with Teresa
(Amy Robinson), an epileptic with a temper who is made fun in her community of
due to her condition. She makes up for this with a fiery tongue and with an
acute sense of aggravation at the slightest reprimand or antagonistic action.
This sexual relationship is not healthy for Charlie’s career in the mob because
his uncle has forbidden his association with her and Johnny Boy. This is
because of their volatile natures: Theresa is considered by Giovanni as ‘sick
in the head’ and Johnny Boy is considered to be volatile. ‘Honorable men go
with Honorable men,’ says Giovanni with reference to Charlie’s relationship
with Johnny. He also warns Charlie not to get involved with Teresa although he
may observe simply because she is a blood relation of Johnny Boy whose whole family seemingly is problematic. This puts Charlie in a quandary because he has
compassion of these individuals that are to be ostracized by the mob
represented by organized crime. It
becomes a very frustrating enterprise ad this is revealed towards the end when
the volatile nature of both characters comes to the fore in one explosive
moment. When Johnny Boy asks Charlie to settle the dispute with Michael through
his uncle Charlie knows that it is out of the question. Charlie describes his compassionate nature
for Johnny Boy in a conversation with Teresa in a stroll between the two on a
beach after Teresa accuses Johnny boy of being crazy which means that he is
headed down a destructive path. Charlie says to her ‘Who’s going to help him if
I don’t? It’s supposed to matter. Nobody tries anymore.’ ‘Tries what?’ asks
Teresa. ‘ Just tries to help people , that’s all. To help people.’ ‘You help yourself first.’ ‘Bullshit Teresa.
That’s where you’re all wrong! Francis of Assisi had it all down. He
knew.’ ‘What are you talking about?
Saint Francis didn’t run numbers.’ ‘Me neither I don’t run numbers.’ He may not
run numbers but he is endeavouring to become a significant figure in the
organization that supports those that run numbers. It is not about him but the
mode of production that exists on the fringes of bourgeois society. Charlie
exposes his idealist sentiments here and exposes his naiveté when he hopes that
he can encourage compassion for his fellow man when in these times it is
everymen for himself in line with the bourgeois dominated economy that
encourages the naked cash economy as the means for survival for those on the
fringes of society.
Teresa wants to remove herself from the fringes and enter
bourgeois heaven in Manhattan but not without him. She sees escape as the way
out whereas Charlie naively claims he want to stay since the streets are all he
has yet at the same time claiming that he can make a difference through his
compassionate nature. After the conversation with his uncle regarding him
staying away from Teresa and Johnny Boy Charlie is frustrated and has to tell
Teresa that he cannot associate with her because it will affect his career. He
seems naïve in his outbursts towards her
which only reflect how powerless he is to effect change through his compassion.
His compassion for Johnny Boy becomes eroded when we see Johnny Boy on a
destructive path; firstly we see him on top of the roof top unloading his
revolver into the air and even at one point almost fatally as a shot from his
gun goes through a woman’s window. He claims that he is trying to shoot at the
Empire state building/Chrysler ( or the Chrysler building. I am not really sure but both are testament to the indulgence of the bourgeois class) which is the pinnacle of bourgeois success in New York
City. There is another affecting scene where we see Johnny roaming the streets
like a loose cannon as if he is being constantly hounded. We are seeing him become increasingly
alienated especially as he has to look over his shoulder as people are in
search of him for claims for money owned. It is among the tombstones that
Johnny makes it clear that he wont take the job he was offered because it is
for the suckers and is only convinced to take it as Charlie tries to drive home
the point that he owes a lot of money particularly to Michael. It is Johnny
boy’s increasingly erratic nature that makes it difficult for Charlie to make
his philosophy of compassion work for him.
Before we head to the climax of the film there are other
incidences of compassion that are altogether minor yet significant. Firstly
Charlie is attracted to a black stripper
Diane and asks to speak over a proposal for her employment as a hostess
at his new restaurant or soon to be new restaurant. He offers treat her to
Chinese food but the reality hits him when he sees her standing outside the
restaurant waiting for him. He realizes that the myopic cultural sentiments of
the Italian immigrant forbid this on patriotic grounds. He must leave her
standing and alienated . It is made clear in another scene where Michael
instantly loses interest in a woman when he is told that she was seeing kissing
a black man under a bridge. These myopic cultural sentiments reinforce the
nationalist principles taken with the impoverished immigrants from their
respective territories. It also speaks to the specific isolation of blacks in a
racist American society where blacks at the time were considered the poorest
group of individuals on average per
capita in America. As Teresa and Charlie are leaving a hotel room, Teresa after
an upbraiding by Charlie takes out her frustration on a black maid ‘We’re
finished now,’ says Teresa. ‘ I only got two hands,’ the maid responds. ‘I
can’t stand shit like that,’ says Teresa.
Charlie tries to smooth things over with a compassionate gesture as if
to say he apologizes. These many scenes seem to point to blacks as marginalized
group within urban America and in most scenes of this film they are presented
as such; the wretched of the earth in America.
There is another scene where we see Tony caring for a young lion in the
back room of his bar. This compassion that he exhibits stirs Charlie somewhat.
There is also another scene where Michael Tony and Charlie go to watch movies
and this is reminiscent of the god old days. They watched The Searchers which is one of Scorsese’s favourite films. There is
also an interesting scene in party for a Vietnam veteran or a soldier that
recently returned from Vietnam. There is
a kinetic moment where he sees his drunk or high on drugs girlfriend dancing
with another man. He pulls her hair and throws her about while she seems to be
oblivious to the whole episode. They separate the two and Charlie takes her in
and dances with her thereby demonstrating his understanding and compassion.
Even prior to this we see the head on lifestyle take a toll on Charlie for
while he is entertaining himself in the party there is an interesting shot
where the camera seems to be centred squarely on his face as he absorbs all the
excitement that comes from listening to music and drinking liquor. We see the
excitement and then the expiration of this excitement as he slowly lays his
head down apparently overwhelmed while the camera is focused on him the whole
time. The excitement seems to be empty and illusory much like the glamour of
the mob economy.
Now we turn to the climax of the film. The good old days
must come to an end and friendships must be torn asunder by the naked cash
economy that exists on the fringes of bourgeois society. Johnny has failed to make
his payments week after week and after Michael beseeches Charlie for a
resolution to the crisis. Charlie arranges a date on a Tuesday where they will
finally resolve their differences. Michael becomes increasingly impatient
because he begins to make threats against Johnny by saying what he will do to
him physically by tying him to a car and so on. Michael warned Charlie that he
shouldn’t have gotten involved and let things take its course but Charlie’s
compassion for Johnny would not allow him to do that. Charlie makes Johnny
aware of the situation but when the date comes Johnny is nowhere to be found
and it is on that day we see Johnny roaming the streets in a very apprehensive
manner and even assaults someone that brushes his shoulder as he passes by.
This kinetic moment shows that Johnny is becoming increasingly alienated. He is
being targeted by his loan shark creditors and is now always looking over his
shoulder and can no longer live the life of glamour that we saw him embrace at
the beginning when he strolled into Tony’s club with two girls on each side. He
can no longer live the lifestyle because no one will advance any more loans to
him so that he can live the high life. He now becomes a degenerate as a result
because his only recourse was to gambling or these loans which give the
appearance of easy money. His only other recourse would be to steal because the
job that was arranged for him was not his cup of tea. He is simply not prepared
to work. He only knows how to plunder and is therefore the embodiment of the
mob economy. We see that he becomes a degenerate because he resorts to antics
such as, previously mentioned, shooting wildly from the rooftops and so on.
This is his compensation for existing within the void that manifests on the
fringes of society where money is not present in abundance. The behavior seems
antisocial as a result simply because he cannot integrate as big time money
spender. Based on how he acquired the money however he was always rotting on
the inside.
The date to meet Michael has arrived and now Charlie is
apprehensive because no one has seen Johnny boy not even his cousin Teresa.
Charlie goes into his regular immature outburst towards Teresa because his compassion is of no consequence
and is clearly not appreciated. He should not have gotten involved. The
immature outburst forces him to console Teresa and in a warm embrace the two
are discovered by Johnny Boy. A series of threats of blackmail and insults
occur and a fight ensues particularly as Charlie feels he can calm Johnny Boy with a slap or
two to the face but this only creates a negative reaction from Johnny Boy.
Johnny even makes an insult regarding Teresa’s epileptic condition and her
sexual prowess. This drives Charlie mad and when the two are engaged in the
physical altercation Teresa goes into a epileptic fit and the two take outside
and then we see Johnny Boy break down and cry and we know that his spirit is
broken or his aspirations to ward mob glamour have broken his spirit because he
can no longer rely on simply borrowing and gambling without some recourse to
his labour power. Charlie once again caught is forced to help Johnny boy to pay
up $30 since Johnny Boy has no money to his name but again the loose cannon
that is Johnny Boy throws another curve into the mix. When they do meet Michael
who has been waiting for a while Johnny boy decides to give him only $10 of the
$30 as payment on the $2000 debt. Michael says he was prepared to accept the
$30 on behalf of Charlie but $10 is more than an insult. Johnny taunts him by
asking whether the $10 is too good for him particularly as Michael crumples the
$10 dollar note and throws it back at Johnny. Johnny sums up his crass behavior
and in his last insult to Michael and afterwards it become clear that honour is
at stake which can only end in violence because Charlie has failed as a
mediator through association with Johnny. Here is what Johnny says: ‘I borrow
money all over this neighbourhood left and right, from everybody, and never
paid ‘em back. So I can’t borrow no money from nobody no more, right? Who does
that leave me to borrow from but you? I borrow money from you because you’re
the only jerk off around here that I could borrow from without payin’ back,
right? Cause that’s what you are, that’s what I think of you, (as) a jerk off.
He’s smilin’ because you’re a jerk off. A fuckin’ jerk off. Mikey I fucked you
right where you breathe cause I don’t give two shits about you or nobody else.’
He burns the $10 Michael assaults him and Johnny Boy draws a gun ‘Come on motherfucker.
I’m a big shot.’ A bigshot who does not have a dime but in the mob economy
physical violence represents more power than money. The gun isn’t loaded. Michael has to repay the favour
although he doesn’t know that the gun cartridge was empty.
Charlie goes on a rescue mission for his compassion won’t
allow him to let go. He Johnny and Teresa go for a drive with the intention of
going out of town after watching a movie. It is supposed to be a means of
escape but Michael catches up with them and his henchman shoots at the car and
catches Johnny Boy in the neck. The pandemonium forces Charlie to crash the car
in a hydrant and the effervescent Johnny rolls out of the car with blood
squirting from his neck obviously on the path to death. His time has finally
expired and it is not clear whether he will survive. When we see him
floundering in the streets we see urban alienation in all its glory as some
people wind up to die by the wayside in the great urban centres of the world.
The Christ like compassion of Charlie was unable to resolve
the tensions associated with the naked cash economy that exists on the fringes
of society which is enough to tear friendships asunder. This is a classic
example of the urban alienation that exists in the great cities of the world.
