Goodfellas was not impartial. Henry Hill and others in Jimmy Burke's crew were much worse than what the movie let on. Scorsese and Nick Pileggi had to have known it, especially Pileggi, who'd been an investigative journalist covering the mob for years. Scorsese knew they were worse based on his own experiences growing up. Scorsese and Pileggi whitewashed the Burke crew, and they knew it. They took an otherwise dark, disturbing story and made it intriguing and acceptable to mainstream American audiences.
Fair enough I suppose but I do recall a scene towards the end of Goodfellas where it's heavily implied that De Niro's character is trying to set up Bracco's character to be whacked. As for Liotta's character, how much worse can you portray Henry Hill? The movie portrayed him as a criminal, a drug addict and a philanderer. As far as I'm aware the real Henry Hill wasn't whacking people left, right and center.
