# The "Hostess Party" scene in movie Goodfellas never made sense to me **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 11, 2019, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582 "2019-01-11T07:03:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/21 "2019-01-11T15:51:01Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Well they tried to enjoy the boost in lifestyle ASAP, even though Jimmy told them specifically not to. And be honest, wouldn’t it make you sick to turn money over to the guys who stole it, when you could just whack em? [”But still, months after the robbery they were finding bodies all over. When they found Carbone in the meat truck, he was frozen so stiff it took them two days to thaw him out for the autopsy.”](https://youtu.be/IowunN9Y5yE) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/22 "2019-01-11T15:53:45Z")
> [@rsat3acr](#): > > I just charge everything to the Underhill’s account.(sorry wrong movie)😃 > [@Andy\_L](#): > > “Strangers in the night, exchanging clothing” You’re really funny. It’s funny, you know, that story, it’s funny, you’re funny guys. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/23 "2019-01-11T15:56:16Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > I got the impression that Karen’s family was “old money” even though they were not too wealthy - that is they moved in what would be considered somewhat elite social circles, where as the mob wives were “new money” and though they had some wealth they couldn’t shake their lower class upbringing. Interestingly, the wives suddenly falling into money and showing it off like that comes back around after their big hit and the guys start buying expensive cars and fur coats. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/24 "2019-01-11T16:15:49Z")
If they were really NY area Italians they should have had plastic covers for the sofa and other furniture. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/25 "2019-01-11T16:19:53Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > At many high end golf clubs, especially back in the day, membership comes with a mandatory bar/restaurant tab. You are already charged $x per month for food and drink so you just sign for stuff until that total is reached. At the club I belonged to the yearly dues included $XXXXX fee which was deposited in an account to be used at various bars/dining rooms/pro shops throughout the year. You signed the tab with your member number and your account was debited. Often the result was at the end of the year some members had a good bit left in their accounts and would throw pretty nice parties for other members and their guests - it was a Use it or Lose it situation. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/26 "2019-01-11T16:24:02Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > You’re really funny. It’s funny, you know, that story, it’s funny, you’re funny guys. What do you mean, you mean the way I talk? What? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/27 "2019-01-11T16:36:23Z")
in case anyone is wondering Karen and Henry were in Omaha, then Cincinnati and then Seattle in the witness protection program. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/28 "2019-01-11T18:33:22Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Paulie is their crew chief. Does he look rich? Paulie _was_ rich, he just didn’t flaunt it. But he wasn’t the crew chief( Jimmy was that ), he was a caporegime. Everybody kicked up to _him_ and he only kicked up one level - he sat near the top of the pyramid. One of the things that was intriguing about Henry Hill in real life was that owing to his upbringing he was unusually close to the RL [Paul Vario](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Vario), having an surprising level of access for a non-made man street-level mechanic. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > However the real point was directed back at Karen Hill. Sure, she looked down on these people; she had come from a better background. > > But the reality was she was there at the party with them. She was now a mobster wife just like they were. She was now at the same low level everyone else was. But the rest of them had grown up on that level; Karen had willingly sunk down to that level. A point driven home later when she is shown wearing the same sort of pantsuits and having the same hairstyles as the other wives. She started out country club, but quickly transitioned to blue collar mob wife. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/29 "2019-01-11T18:34:05Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > in case anyone is wondering Karen and Henry were in Omaha, then Cincinnati and then Seattle in the witness protection program. Like schnooks. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/30 "2019-01-11T18:39:26Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > interesting that I’ve never seen a picture of Karen Hill. The kids wrote a book about growing up but they had no pictures of Karen. Also saw a mob wives TV show that had pictures of other wives but not Karen. This [article](https://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/goodfellas/232540/the-real-goodfellas) shows the real life counterparts of the movie’s characters, including Karen Hill. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/31 "2019-01-11T18:44:36Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > This movie (and _Donnie Brasco_) were essentially reversals of _The Godfather_. _The Godfather_ showed a view of the Mafia from the very top. Which is like trying to show what American politics is like by focusing on the President. _Goodfellas_ and _Donnie Brasco_ showed a more realistic view of the Mafia by showing it from the bottom. Another movie that made this point in a humorous way was _Ghost Dog_, where the old mafia guys’ headquarters are a back room they rent from from a Chinese guy, and they have trouble making the rent. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/32 "2019-01-11T18:44:50Z")
if you don’t know at the end of Goodfellas Henry picks up the paper living in a suburb. as a tribute to Goodfellas every season of the Sopranos starts with Tony picking up the paper at his suburban house. and for the last season Tony tells Carmela he is not picking up the paper again. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/33 "2019-01-11T18:53:10Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Well they tried to enjoy the boost in lifestyle ASAP, even though Jimmy told them specifically not to. And be honest, wouldn’t it make you sick to turn money over to the guys who stole it, when you could just whack em? That was one of the themes of the movie; you can’t succeed in the Mafia. If you fail then you fail (and probably get killed for not producing enough). But if you succeed then you also fail. You being a successful criminal means you now have money and you’re surrounded by people who steal money. Respect among thieves? That’s a joke. The whole point of being a criminal is being willing to break rules when it’s in your interest. Mobsters are just as willing to break the Mafia’s rules as they are the law. The only thing that keeps mobsters in line is the fear of retaliation. And when you know you’re surrounded by people who you know would betray you, the temptation is to betray them first. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/34 "2019-01-11T18:55:16Z")
IIRC, wasn’t Hill kicked out of Witness Protection because he kept giving interviews? ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/35 "2019-01-11T18:57:38Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > IIRC, wasn’t Hill kicked out of Witness Protection because he kept giving interviews? More because he kept getting arrested. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/36 "2019-01-11T19:17:04Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > IIRC, wasn’t Hill kicked out of Witness Protection because he kept giving interviews? > [@JeffB](#): > > More because he kept getting arrested. Sounds like [Vinnie Antonelli.](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100212/) 😃 Loosely based on the life of Henry Hill, the same man who was the basis of Goodfellas (1990), after he went into witness protection program. The films’ respective writers, Nicholas Pileggi and Nora Ephron, are husband and wife. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/37 "2019-01-11T19:41:48Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Sounds like [Vinnie Antonelli.](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100212/) > > 😃 > > Loosely based on the life of Henry Hill, the same man who was the basis of Goodfellas (1990), after he went into witness protection program. The films’ respective writers, Nicholas Pileggi and Nora Ephron, are husband and wife. [What a day for a mow, huh?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOmWxIvK2Do) ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/38 "2019-01-11T19:43:51Z")
I’m not sure it’s about old money vs new money rather than the fact that having money doesn’t stop you from being crass. Can you think of any prominent individual in the US today who was born into wealth, lived all his life in wealth (despite some bankruptcies) and still has less class than a high school drop out meth-addicted trucker? Conversely, you can be working class and avoid bad skin, too much make-up, badly matched clothes and domestic abuse. The point of the scene is that money doesn’t make you a better person and the attraction of the mob life is gaudy gold-platting. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/39 "2019-01-11T20:55:31Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Like schnooks. ”Right after I got here, I ordered some spaghetti with marinara sauce, and I got egg noodles and ketchup.” > [@JeffB](#): > > More because he kept getting arrested. [As portrayed in the unacknowledged sequel.](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100212/) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/40 "2019-03-31T19:50:47Z")
> [@hopesperson](#): > > Many (I would guess most) exclusive country clubs or social clubs are “cashless,” meaning the member signs the bill, and receives a monthly or quarterly invoice that includes all the charges incurred throughout the period. It prevents members from having to wave money around at the club, which is considered gauche in the same way that old-money families consider overtly discussing their wealth to be gauche. It’s part of the ritual, and not recognizing the custom in these settings may be regarded as a sign of one’s inferior social status and breeding. How is Henry able to sign for anything at all? 😕 Presumably since he’s Karen’s guest at a country club her family is members of so would she be the one to sign? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582.md?page=3)