# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/41 "2019-03-31T22:17:33Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > 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? Guests at a club don’t pay for anything. Everything is put on the account of the member who invited the guests. It goes against Henry’s nature to let it be obvious that his in-laws are paying for him, so he feels the need to be seen spending. ---
**Author:** ![rkaplan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rkaplan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rkaplan)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/42 "2026-04-30T23:04:09Z")
The town where Karen’s family lives, Lawrence, is real. I grew up 10 minutes away. The people there aren’t so much “old money,” but it’s definitely upper middle class. It is also predominantly Jewish, which is why it’s so painfully awkward when the woman who is doing her nails says that Miami is like “if you died and went to Jew heaven.” Hope this helps! 🙃 ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/43 "2026-04-30T23:41:40Z")
It’s a class thing. Karen is middle class, the other mafia wives were not. She thinks it shows in their choice of make up etc. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/44 "2026-04-30T23:46:06Z")
While they were clearly well-off and fairly refined, I wouldn’t call Karen’s family “old money.” I use that title for prosperous cultured people of mostly Anglo-Saxon descent who have been in the US since its founding, or nearly so. Being Jewish, the Friedmans had probably come from Eastern Europe around the turn of the century and escaped from NY’s lower class after a generation or two. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/45 "2026-05-01T12:26:08Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > It comes from the stereotype that exists even today that Italian-Americans value the presentation of high class while actually still being low class. It’s very much a Long Island/New Jersey thing of Italians valuing wealth and class but not actually knowing what that entails, they just like the illusion of it. Nitpick - Henry Hill was Irish. I might be inclined to say that to a certain extent the opposite is true where people expect wealth and class to look like the guy in the Armani suit with the fancy education working at some Manhattan investment bank or law firm. In reality, often that working class looking guy with the provincial accent is a multi-millionaire who owns a successful construction and real estate development business or chain of restaurants. But yeah, as Karen Hill points out in I think the same scene or maybe later on, Henry and his Mafia pals aren’t educated, worldly sophisticates. They’re uneducated working class guys who rob and steel for a living. Whatever money they bring in is most likely to be immediately spent on cars, fancy suits, booze and fancy meals (when they don’t steel or extort them), and women who aren’t their wives. In fact Jimmy has to make a point several times about not having them go out and make a bunch of extravagant purchases after the Lufthansa heist. ---
**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:** [May 1, 2026, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/46 "2026-05-01T12:39:49Z")
LOL - how the heck did this re re-started? 😆 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/47 "2026-05-01T13:01:51Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > They’re uneducated working class guys who rob and steel for a living. They rob and steal, too. 😆 ---
**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:** [May 1, 2026, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/48 "2026-05-01T13:27:55Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Nitpick - Henry Hill was Irish. Nitpick - half Irish. His father was Irish, his mother was Sicilian, so he could never be a made man. > [@msmith537](#): > > In fact Jimmy has to make a point several times about not having them go out and make a bunch of extravagant purchases after the Lufthansa heist. “Make a point” - hah! ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/49 "2026-05-01T14:11:46Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > It’s a class thing. Karen is middle class, the other mafia wives were not. She thinks it shows in their choice of make up etc. A bit of culture clash as well, she comes from a Jewish family. To her, family is close and important, but in an entirely different way than to Italian Americans. Added to this family is a responsibility to her mother, so staying out late it verbotten, but to Henry Hill (Irish, but idolizes the Italians) family is what shields you from the inevitable consequences of your chosen profession. Family makes staying out all night possible and fun. ---
**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:** [May 1, 2026, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/50 "2026-05-01T14:22:33Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Henry Hill (Irish, but idolizes the Italians) Half Irish. His mother was Sicilian (IRL), and was happy the Ciceros came from the same part of Sicily she did (in the movie at least). ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/51 "2026-05-01T17:44:17Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > “Make a point” - hah! That’s funny to you? Funny how? ---
**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:** [May 1, 2026, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/52 "2026-05-01T17:58:31Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > was happy the Ciceros came from the same part of Sicily she did (in the movie at least). She was apparently born in [Barrafranca](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrafranca) and the Varios seem to have originated in [Erice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erice), so that may be just for the movie. I read the book ages ago, but I honestly can’t recall that part in detail. Or it was a conflation of her initially being pleased they were from Sicily generally. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582/53 "2026-05-02T16:19:30Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > in the movie Karen’s neighborhood looks very nice , don’t know if that is supposed to be based on where she grew up. > > 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. Karen grew up in Five Towns. Lawrence, Woodmere, etc. At the time, they were heavily Jewish enclaves that existed ON Long Island ( i.e., Nassau and Suffolk counties ) but are and were very very close to the Queens/ NYC line. Woodmere’s no more than a [few minutes’ drive from the NYC line and from J.F.K. Airport](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Woodmere,+NY/@40.6358042,-73.7428351,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x89c265b05d6bb091:0x663d39ec24f29ac2!8m2!3d40.6320482!4d-73.7126314!16zL20vMHkzZ2s?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDQyOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D). I’ve not been to Woodmere since the late 1980s. But it was quite the area back then. Even the crowd of young men across the street from Karen’s parents house one of whom was working on a car were spotlessly clean and well put-together. I’m not Italian-American and so cannot comment on the posts above regarding those folks in the NJ/NY area. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hostess-party-scene-in-movie-goodfellas-never-made-sense-to-me/827582.md?page=2)