Goodfellas reaction

Goodfellas is a famous film portraying the life of a young gangster in the early 70’s. Based on the life of Henry Hill, it depicts the life of a gangster as brutal, ruthless, and power crazy. In the beginning Henry is a normal young boy who gradually becomes more and more entwined with the life of a gangster. He speaks of the power he had at such a young age thanks to his background; at one point describing how his gangster associates went as far to assault a postman to prevent letters from his school reaching home. Such a severe reaction to an act of complete normality for a teenage boy truly demonstrates the brutality of the mafia, as do several murders that follow.  As time goes on Henry begins to uncover and become more sensitive to the acts going on around him. After one of the biggest heists in History performed by his group, he sees such power and money breeds corruption, as one of his own begins to kill off fellow members of the group. It seems Henry began to question the integrity of the mafia, it had always been seen as a surrogate family to him. I think this is a realistic representation of the often vague background of the mafia. Drug fuelled, plus money and power crazy.

Pretty woman- Gender rep

Despite being a hit film, pretty woman has come under fire by many critics. Accused of glamorising prostitution and corrupting the minds of young girls; this article coincides with this particular view. In the film Vivian- played by Julia Roberts- is a working prostitute in New York who meets rich contractor Edward, through this sordid line of work. The fairy tale ending of the film has been proven to be far from reality. The article states that Opera often interviews young girls working as prostitutes who have their sights set on a fairy tale ending portrayed in the film “It’s nothing like the fairytale” one girl sobs. However although the film does have misguided elements of positive embellishment, it also has depicts incredibly negative aspects of this seedy element of the film. For example, even as early as the first scene it is made clear another working girl has been murdered and thrown into a dumpster like common trash. Vivian also displays an interest in making something more of her life.