# Stink Fish Pot's movie questions of the week - Goodfellas

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stink-fish-pots-movie-questions-of-the-week-goodfellas/669981>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [September 30, 2013, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stink-fish-pots-movie-questions-of-the-week-goodfellas/669981 "2013-09-30T04:50:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stink-fish-pots-movie-questions-of-the-week-goodfellas/669981/21 "2013-10-01T17:08:38Z")

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> [@Miller](#):
>
> It’s the Mafia. Everyone is a sociopath or psychopath to some degree. The ones that are sane enough to function are the ones who end up running things. The ones that aren’t, end up in a landfill.
> 
> Hell, I suspect at least part of the reason Jimmy and Henry weren’t killed is that just about everyone in the Mafia has had some experience of dealing with a friend who was just a little _too_ crazy. At least they didn’t rat him out, so they were showing loyalty, which is something Mafia guys like to think they value.

This is actually my question, you say that “everyone is a sociopath or psychopath to some degree.”

So, does organized crime turn someone into a psychopath/sociopath, or do those types of personalities gravitate to organized crime?

I am thinking of the movie Goodfellas, now, and the characters in it. Henry doesn’t appear to be either a sociopath or a psychopath. To me, he’s just a guy who grew up in the world of organized crime, liked the lifestyle it provided, and did what he needed to do to stay with it. But he never kills anyone (don’t know about real life, but I assume the answer is no if they let him be in the WPP), and he is just a thief, drug dealer, whatever it takes to put money in his pocket. That’s all he knows.

Jimmy Seems to be a sociopath, since he “loves to steal” and really doesn’t care what he takes in. If he indeed kept millions in cash from Lufthansa, and he continued to knock off trucks or whatever, he clearly had no desire to ever fit into a normal society and follow the rules. He also kills, however, and he does so without remorse. Not a guy you want to tangle with. This is why I never understood Maury’s (the wig guy) connection to him. He had to know that Jimmy wouldn’t kill him before he gave him any money. Maury was an idiot in so many levels.

Tommy was a sociopath, but it think psychopath also applies. He kills without feeling, thought or remorse. To him, it’s just part of his day. Either business (Stacks) or fun (Spider), all of his victims are the same only in one respect. They are dead.

To me, Tommy would be like Lefty in Donnie Brasco. Someone they rely on to kill people, but not someone they would ever bump up to be anything other than a soldier, even if they do make him. Tommy was ever going to be anything but a soldier, even if they didn’t whack him, because he was such a loose cannon.

I love that Joe Peche played both Tommy in Goodfellas and Nicky in Casino. He plays a perfect nut job who would kill you at the drop of a hat.

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