Ben Wright 1

English 201

Essay #1/Draft #4

12-16-99

Robert DeNiro and Generation X

Robert DeNiro movies are not your typical “good guy beats bad guy and saves the world” type movies. In movies like Goodfellas, Casino, and Heat, DeNiro plays a type of criminal who feels little remorse and yet retains his humanity, making himself difficult to hate. I often find myself rooting for him, even though he is the antagonist. I often wonder what part of me it is that wants to see DeNiro get away with murder. Why is it that he can maintain the ability to commit immoral, selfish actions and yet at other times appear to be very selfless? My reply is that he is more representative of American culture than most people would initially believe; his characters exhibit fundamental American traits, which at times are in conflict with each other. The lack of which go to the very heart and psyche of Generation X, myself included.

DeNiro is a very twisted character in many of his gangster movies. He often takes the role of a very competitive individual in gangster movies, with a great deal of power and prestige, all valued American ideals. His characters combine all of this with an insatiable craving for money. For example, in Casino, he is the point man for the illegal distribution of Casino earnings, funneling the money to the hands of the Mafia bosses. In Heat, he is the leader of a small gang involved in robbing banks. It seems very hard for DeNiro to get away from being criminally involved with greed in most of his movies.

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DeNiro acts like a true original, he shows no regard whatsoever for acceptance into the realm of normal society. By taking on the criminal leadership role, DeNiro is the outcast among outcasts, and therefore also a genuine individual and independent of the rest of society.

I can relate to DeNiro’s characters not in any direct way, but I do experience a great deal of what they represent on a daily basis. I love to compete, whether it is athletics, grades, or chess. I strive daily to become more of an individual and less dependent on what others might think. In addition, I could definitely use more money and more power in my life. My plans after College are likely Law or Business School, both of contribute well to this type of an agenda. All of these American traits are valued very highly – just look at any copy of USA Today. There is one section devoted entirely to Money, one section giving news on competitive athletics, and usually at least a couple stories dealing with the exploits or ambitions of our powerful military. The concept of the individual, competition, and power are significant cultural areas of which the United States places great importance. The high value I place in the characteristics displayed by DeNiro probably stem from these different American cultural obsessions that have been deeply imbedded in my psyche before I had much of a chance to choose.

There is also a different set of traits seen in DeNiro’s characters, which help to show why audiences at times relate to him better then the protagonist. He seems to play characters that are very loyal to his friends/ partners in crime. He is rarely afraid for his own life, but is afraid for the lives of his friends. His characters’ have a keen sense of belonging to the criminal organization and not engaging in back-stabbing. In this way, he

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can be seen as acting in a selfless manner whenever the agenda of the team/group is at stake. For example, in Heat, when one of his accomplices is gunned down – Val Kilmer – he does not leave him there to die, even though it would have been much easier for DeNiro to get away without him. Another thing which excuses DeNiro from some of the guilt associated with his wrongdoings in his gangster movies is that he is always a part of a team. Inside the team, he finds his comfort zone, sense of belonging, and safety. He justifies his evil doing by being a part of that counter-cultural team. So even though DeNiro might be doing wrong in the eyes of larger society, he does have a type of mini morality, a type of world within a world. In one way, it is his justification for all the lust for money and power. In a sense he does what many Americans do, except with different ideas of what is right and wrong. Selflessness, belonging, and helping others in his team all go hand in hand in DeNiro’s movies.

Again, I believe I exemplify a number of these qualities exhibited by DeNiro, specifically the need to belong to a group, to be selfless, and to help others. A sense of belonging to a team has been known to be very important for people, if nothing else than to help define who we are as individuals. The desire to belong to a team is a fundamental reason many people play team sports throughout high school, myself included. This is definitely another value in American culture as can be seen in the greater notoriety of team sports such as football and baseball over more individual sports such as swimming or track and field. In addition, selflessness is an attribute that I prize greatly. One of the nobler reasons that I joined the Army National Guard last year was in an attempt, however futile, to become more selfless and belong to a group. This is a desire which

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almost every human being has and individuals will look almost anywhere for it. To dissolve the self and lose all aspects of selfishness can be very important to people, depending upon who you are. This may seem like a contradiction from the individualistic outlook presented previously but in reality this isn’t the case because it is possible to stand out by your actions as an individual and yet be a team player, Ron Dayne being a prime example.

Only few individuals, such as Dayne, are part of a team and yet able to stand out by their actions. For the most part, there is a great deal of incompatibility and necessary compromise among the desirable qualities discussed previously. But this does not impede myself and other Americans from trying to be an individual yet belonging to something, a competitor yet selfless, and desiring money and power while still able to help one another. However, it is very difficult to satisfy all of these wants or needs while working towards a noble objective. One example of this is my experience this semester writing stories for the Badger Herald. Even though the experience was gratifying as far as belonging to an organization which had a voice, and the selflessness of writing an article, it did not function to help my monetary situation ($5 an article) or satisfy my desire to compete like a high school sport would have. As you can see, the current problem is that often times, the only way we can achieve both sides of this spectrum is through means that work toward immoral and bad ends, such as in DeNiro’s case. These desirable traits conveyed to us through American culture can be very hard to come by, especially by the less fortunate. For every Robert DeNiro gangster character, there are a thousand juveniles involved in gangs in our cities, searching for what DeNiro’s

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characters take for granted: a sense of belonging, money, power, a selfless cause to devote themselves towards, and the ability to help one another while also retaining their competitive edge. All characteristics that any gang will help satisfy, not just the ones in the movies. The actor in DeNiro has similar characteristics with that of which the majority desires in American culture, yet heads for the opposite direction. This is the same way a great deal of Generation X will grasp for anything which will satisfy these needs even if it is wrong or violent. I have gone through this struggle as well to satisfy these needs, luckily choosing the correct path a majority of the time. But the alienation and feelings of emptiness still exist at times. As shown through this actor, I contend that the need for these characteristics and the lack thereof in present society is the fundamental problem that Generation X has faced and will continue to face.

The fact that DeNiro plays a criminal and still exhibits these qualities is interesting and quite scary for America. I have shown that DeNiro’s characters exhibit many American cultural traits. Furthermore, I believe that DeNiro’s characters have goals and interests very similar to myself, and the rest of America even when at first glance his characters seem like outcasts of society and act as criminals. Consequently, fundamental traits in American culture, of which I am an example, can be related to the high amounts of crime and the popularity of gangs in America throughout the 1990’s. It explains why criminal juvenile gangs in the late 1980’s and 1990’s have become so prevalent, it fulfills aspects of their lives even though much of what they do is illegal and wrong in the eyes of larger society.

Why has Generation X felt so slighted and resorted to many immoral tactics, and

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felt like we are empty and entertained with shows about “Nothing”? I believe that it is from a lack of “good” fights to fight. A lack of available causes that satisfy the American desires aforementioned. The WWI and WWII generations had their fights through war. The Baby Boomers followed with their fight against war, racism, and sexism. There has not been much left for the 90’s generation, mostly re-runs. Therefore, because we feel empty from nothing to stand for, we become as twisted as a DeNiro character in an effort to fight and stand for something, anything. Even if it means promoting an agenda that is harmful or full of lies.