I couldn’t agree more. I’m younger then a lot of the posters here to give my observations some context I’m talking about the late 90s and later. Staten Island and Jersey. Except for a handful of old timers I knew or was related to growing up (that are long dead), most of the guys in the life that I’ve met are scumbags. Most of them were broke or middle class at best. And they were jeans and t shirt kinda guys. More often then not they were heavy drinkers, into drugs, or were degenerate gamblers . Or all three. And they gossip and complain about people nonstop. Have drama over women or petty bullshit nonstop. The guys who acted and dressed the part were usually barely connected gym rats who just liked to get into bar fights. Philly guys I’ve met are a different animal from NY and they are actually more down to earth in my opinion. I’ve been to many weddings at Russos on the Bay. I’ve seen that side of it too. But in general, from my experience the life is nothing like the movies. At least not in the last 25 years.

Of course it's not going to be like the movies anymore, because they can't be so blatant about it anymore in today's Surveillance State. But if you're judging their financial status by the clothes they wear, that's just ignorant. Billionaires like Bill Gates dress like shit, they look like they shop at the Salvation Army. Cosa Nostra boss Bernardo Provenzano sat on top of the entire Sicilian Mafia yet was found in a dilapidated farmhouse, Ndrangheta bosses are found all the time in underground bunkers living like rats. Chin Gigante stumbled around in a bathrobe and slippers. On the flip-side, you have guys wearing high fashion but are neglecting their utility bills. These things really mean nothing.

I don’t know what was in their safe or their bank account. But most of them complained about money all the time. They were always “robbing Peter to pay Paul” borrowing from this guy to pay off this other guy. Most of the time the money they have on the street is somebody else’s too and they just make a spread by borrowing cheaper than lending it out. I’ve met captains but never really knew one so I dunno that might be a different level.

I disagree that Hollywood “glamorized” mobsters.
Early gangster movies form the ‘30s portrayed organized criminals as schizos and overly well dressed (to the point of looking cartoonish) lowlifes that spoke in broken English.

Even in The Godfather the only “good” and “moral” mobsters are Vito, Tom (if you even consider Tom a mobster) and Michael, although Michael does get darker by the end of the series. The rest are a bunch of thieving, back-stabbing, sociopathic criminals.

Goodfellas shows this very well. Tommy is a sociopath that kills a teenager over a joke. And the others don’t bother to do nothing about it.

In Casino, the torture scene and the Santoro brothers’ gory death aren’t exactly filed as “glamorous”.

Donnie Brasco beautifully depicts them as broke hoodlums that would brutishly murder their own to move up. The Three Capos murder scene is phenomenal because it shows that these people are legit serial killers. It’s a clear contrast to the ”clean” and “professional” hit scene when a target is shot with a silenced handgun.

Anybody that finds these depictions as “glamorous” should seriously consider the help of a good therapist for I believe he’s a closeted sociopath.

There are a lot of brokesters within and around the mob. I question whether these types should even be permitted to join the ranks, I mean why would you want guys around who can't manage their money and are always broke. Plus it's very bad when you have these types borrowing money from loansharks within the Family, nothing good comes out of that. At the same time, sometimes they make the best soldiers, and are otherwise Cosa Nostra to the core. It's a double-edged sword.

Liggio - Bro, they are the only guys joining the ranks at this point. It’s brokesters, drug dealers, a few guys making decent money with gambling, and some wanna be types successful in legit business that basically buy their button. It’s been rehashed here a bunch but that’s all that’s left. Made guys working day jobs are common and it’s not always just to fool LE and show legit income.

Luan - Movies don’t show them as nice guys. But the stylish good looking part is mainly bullshit. And a lot of these guys are much bigger assholes to everyday people than the movies portray them to be in my opinion. Again, not everybody.

And the funny thing is, I’ve never met a wiseguy who wasn’t a hustler. The lifestyle is actually a lot of work. And the ones I knew were all great salesmen. If most of these guys just went into sales in a legit job they’d probably make more money and not risk their ass.

Lol if you don't think that Casino, Goodfellas, and Donnie Brasco portray them as assholes you must've not been paying attention. And what exactly are you basing your claims that it's all they're recruiting these days, are you on the inside?

And if you look at photos of the real-life mobsters those movies portrayed, you can easily see that it was indeed how they dressed in those years. Were they as good-looking? I don't know, I hardly pay attention to that part. Henry Hill for sure wasn't anywhere near as good-looking as Ray Liotta, but Tommy Desimone wasn't a bad-looking dude and wasn't a midget like Joe Pesci. So I suppose it could go both ways. Of course it doesn't compare to this day and age, but then again, people in general dress like slobs.

There were soldiers who were wealthier than some captains, because they were smarter in a business sense. Back in the day guys joined because it was something they believed in, it was in their soul, and it offered more prestige in the underworld. They didn't join to get rich, they were either already moneymakers or they weren't. I wonder though if buying your way in always turn out bad, the Angiulo brothers of the Patriarca Family for example basically bought their way in yet refused to flip when it all came crashing down on them and turned out to be great financial assets to the Family.

Liggio dont compare the mob with italian oc gruops!
In italy its normal to go on the lam for years and if you are on the run you certainly can't live in luxury villas! Provenzano ruled Cosa Nostra through his pizzini, many bosses of the Ndrangheta manage millionaire business and then have to hide in the Aspromonte mountains in bunkers equipped with all the comforts, same thing for the Camorra.
There few cases of american mobsters that ruled on his family while was on the run.

I agree, but my point wasn't how long American mobsters can last on the run. The point I was making was that they can appear to be impoverished or broke but at the same time have lots of money. I also threw Bill Gates and Chin Gigante in there lol. My whole point was that we can't go off of fashion and their homes alone.

In Italy the criminals understand that if they want to continue to run his organizations must go on the run and be low key.
An example? Paolo di Lauro that at his peak was making 500k a day with his clan, was in fact a recluse, he went out very little, didn't frequent other Camorristi and even few people in the neighborhood knew what he looked like. When passed the command to his son who was the exact opposite, it was the beginning of the end.

I wonder if the Di Lauro clan is still a force in the Camorra.

Eventually everyone has to lamb chop it for a while.

Yes but lost half of his power. Now is allied with the Vanella Grassi clan that are a split of the Scissionisti that was a split of theDiLauro clan.

Back in the day a lot of guys joined for the same reason they do today, so that nobody could fuck with your business. The quote in Goodfellas about it being a police department for wiseguys is what it’s all about. Everybody follows the rules and makes money, at least in theory. And No, I’m not on the “inside”. I have very little contact with anybody related to the life anymore and haven’t for years.

Happy we see eye to eye on this. Let me add, the women who are in relationships with mobsters are some of the most fucked up people you could ever have a relationship with. Not every one of them but there are quite a few that are just nuts. They refuse to branch out and create relationships with anyone outside of the little clique they have in the neighborhood they live in and they are ok with being abused physically and mentally day in and day out. Lets just say they are not marriage material or the type that you want to introduce to your mother. Many have huge coke problems and would suck cock for a hit of crack or a line. Problem with this is that they do it with a random dude and he ends up in the ER because their man finds out about it. I'll gladly stay far away from getting involved in that shit.

Truer words have never been spoken lol. Let me tell you, they loooooove to gossip. These are the women who'll post on mob forums about things they heard or believe to be true

Yup. John D'Amato found that out the hard way LOL

Thanks Furio

We are forgetting that your average Joe aren't serious mob buffs like people on this forum, they have no idea what the Mafia is and what it's really about. At the end of the day it's about obtaining and maintaining power at all costs.

I disagree, it used to be a way to make money when all other avenues were closed. In some cases a way to get in with a bigger gang. It changed, but the power they had is gone. It's almost like a fraternal group now. There are exceptions of course.