Organized Crime
Popular culture portrayals of organized crime are sordidly romantic. Like medieval royalty, mob families appear tyrannical and noble at the same time. The kingpins are usually kind if ruthless. They love their families and protect them at any cost. Like kings, mob bosses reign over a specific territory and usually respect their competitors and their boundaries. Like medieval nobility, organized crime has hereditary lineage, and sons inherit a title from their fathers as in the Corleones of The Godfather. Stories of organized crime include titillating themes of betrayal, backstabbing, murder, and intrigue. Organized crime also depicts the triumph of the underdog: the would-be poor immigrant growing rich in spite of being hounded by the big bad cops. These themes are especially appealing to Americans, who have consistently been fascinated with underdog winners and anti-establishment ethos.
Movies like Goodfellas and television shows like The Sopranos are perfect examples of how organized crime is romanticized in pop culture. The bad guys don't seem so bad because they have families, friends, and a code of ethics. Even if their code of ethics is warped, audiences root for the gangsters because they earned our trust and sympathy. Based on pop culture definitions alone, I could define organized crime as a collective response to political, social, and economic injustice. Most television and film mob families...
Their criminal activities help them achieve the American dream. They might break the law, but also help pour money back into their communities. In fact, organized crime syndicates take the law into their own hands when the establishment falls short. Cops in mafia movies are usually as corrupt as the gangsters.
Gangsters only kill out of self-preservation and hot-headedness is not tolerated as a rule. Joe Pesci's character in Goodfellas is one example of how the mafia cleans up after itself, preventing outright chaos. They often work closely with law enforcement to ensure maximum public safety. Economically motivated, organized crime bosses are no different from corporate managers. The only difference is that instead of selling widget they sell drugs.
Organized crime comes in many shapes and forms. The syndicates might be primarily concerned with economic power, but politics also motivate organized crime. In that sense they seem no different from any other lobbying group except for the fact that their business interests aren't as "legitimate" as mainstream ones.
However compelling the popular culture stories of organized crime may be, they seem silly when compared with reality. Portrayals of organized crime in fiction are decidedly exaggerated and often outright false. Organized crime in reality is not much different from terrorism. Using the threat…
