The Rest is Bullshit and You Know It: Performative Masculinity and Religious Sin and Guilt in 'Mean Streets'

Martin Scorsese’s gangster films are well known for exploring masculinity (toxic or otherwise) and the role it plays in the lives of men and their loved ones and enemies. The 1973 film Mean Streets is the start of Scorsese’s long running exploration of the Italian-American mafia and is centered on four such young men: Charlie Cappa, the nephew of mafioso Giovanni Cappa; Johnny Civello, Charlie’s best friend and local delinquent; Tony DeVienazo, another friend of Charlie and local bar owner; and Michael Longo, “friend” of the other three and a local loan shark to whom Johnny owes a large sum of money. Throughout the film, Scorsese analyzes these four men and their relationships to religious sin and guilt, penance, and masculinity and femininity. Scorsese uses body positioning to establish physical hierarchies between the men that are linked to the level of masculinity of each man and determine their standing in the community as well as amongst each other. Ultimately, it is this masculinity that drives the men and influences their decisions. The religious background of their community instills in them a strong sense of honor and teaches penance as the only proper response to correcting a sin, which extends to the secular parts of their lives. The only way to right a wrong—atone for insulting another man, restore your honor, enforce your gang’s will on another when they don’t pay up—is an act of penance, which most often means asserting your masculinity. The nascent, adolescent nature of their masculinity means this penance often takes the form of violence, and the only solace for these men is in an unrepressed femininity, as a refuge but also as an additional way of asserting masculinity.

In the film, the level of masculinity one has is inversely proportional to how mature one is. Each of the four main men have their own level of masculinity and their own ways of using this masculinity to drive their lives, and each fits into a hierarchy from most to least masculine. Johnny, the most aggressive and overtly masculine of the four, is also the most adolescent of the four, and his masculinity manifests as brash activity in hopes of getting noticed. Though the crux of his story revolves around the money he owes to Michael, Johnny’s main driving force is constantly trying to prove his worth by setting off bombs, making a scene with the women he arrives with, boasting about how much money he spends, etc. He is generally well liked, though, so he mostly gets a pass. We do see, however, that this has its limits when Johnny arrives at the bar for the first time with two women, and he’s not wearing any pants; he then parades them around the bar, making sure everyone sees him and knows he’s asserting dominance over the women. It’s a fun gag and everyone laughs, but then Charlie thinks to himself “Thanks a lot Lord… for opening my eyes. We talk about penance and you send this through the door.” Johnny ignores his lesson from Michael and Charlie, though, and in his next scene in the pool hall Johnny immediately jumps on the opportunity to bet money, notably while wearing a new outfit (with a hat he boasts that cost him $25) that reflects the earth tones of the outfits of the women he tried to sleep with, indicating his turn toward the feminine as a conquering act of masculinity.

Most important for Johnny is his turn to outright violence after his conversation with Charlie in the graveyard. Johnny reverts to total adolescence, reminding Charlie that they used to play in the graveyard as kids. Charlie then emasculates Johnny, berating him once again for not paying back his loan and making a point to say that he, Charlie, persuaded Michael to lower the payment. Charlie then treats Johnny like a little kid, wagging his finger and saying threateningly, “My uncle hears one word about this… On pay-day at least show up to Tony’s place to meet him. This way he doesn’t think that you’re trying to make a jerk-off out of him… I’m not asking you, I’m telling you.” After this conversation, Johnny’s only recourse in his mind is to retain his manhood by beating up a random stranger, again fleeing his responsibility by hiding on a rooftop afterward. He still has to prove his masculinity to himself, though, and cheers in silence alone, completing the performative act of masculinity with a literal performance that is only for himself. 

Next most masculine is Charlie. He still gets into fights and threatens people, but he is more diplomatic about his aggression and tries to solve problems with words more often than fists. As the nephew of a community leader and the leader of his own little gang, Charlie also has positional (both literal and metaphorical) authority. Charlie is often at the forefront of scenes with other less masculine characters framed behind him, and we can see that in the confrontation at the pool hall and in scenes at Michael’s bar. When confronting Joey about the money he owes Jimmy, Charlie encroaches on Joey’s personal space while the rest of his gang is at the back of the shot. By asserting his physical presence and leaving his men on the side, Charlie is showing he is in control of the encounter. This positional authority also extends to the rest of the men: Tony is frequently behind the counter at his bar, signaling a detachment from the masculine nature of the other men; Michael is often adjacent to other figures at the start of interactions but can overtake them as the scene goes on and he exerts his force; and Johnny slides back and forth depending on who he is in a scene with.  

But while Charlie is no stranger to violence and authoritative domination, he is second in the ordering of the four main characters’ masculinity because he also shows a more contemplative, feminine side. He is tasked with maintaining peace, a more feminine act in the eyes of the film as almost every man here—the notable exceptions being actual adults like Uncle Giovanni and Oscar, the restaurant owner—is involved in violence, and most of Charlie’s day-to-day duties revolve around making sure order is maintained: explaining why his uncle’s clients cannot make their payments, acting as a mediator between two conflicting parties, etc. Charlie is also the only one of the main four who is seen on screen receiving a meaningful feminine influence through Teresa, his girlfriend.

While Johnny and Charlie are representative of the more brash, adolescent side of masculinity in the film, Michael is a representation of a more mature side of masculinity, a man that is more sure of himself and not as prone to violence or grandiose acts, placing him third most masculine. Michael is also notably one of the two main four that actually participates in business, however illegitimate it may be: Tony runs his bar and early on we see Michael trying to negotiate a sale of cargo. Conversely, Johnny refuses to work and Charlie just runs errands for his uncle. As a force of momentum in the film Michael is absent from many scenes and does not physically exert himself by means of violence, but the mere threat of his influence is enough to shake people up as we see with Johnny. Michael does all he can to prevent a negative outcome, imploring Charlie to intervene multiple times. When he does find himself on the verge of violence, he is the first to try to de-escalate the situation, saying he is insulted by Johnny’s offer of $30, but that he’ll take it because he respects Charlie. When this doesn’t work and Johnny further escalates this situation by calling Michael a jerk-off, Michael lunges at Johnny but is quick to back down again in an attempt to de-escalate when Johnny pulls out a gun. Indeed, Michael seems almost put off by violence, instead enlisting others to perform it for him, further attempting to distance himself from the adolescent nature of masculinity present in the friend group, though perhaps also as a way to wash his hands of any potential sin and guilt.

Finally, fourth most masculine is Tony, the bar owner. Tony does sometimes get involved in skirmishes, but the more protective and defensive role he takes among the four portrays him as an almost motherly figure. He is often physically separated from the other masculine figures in scenes by obstacles. Indeed, Tony’s one big moment of masculinity instead becomes a moment of tenderness. He introduces his exotic cats by saying he is the only one that can go near them (much as a wild animal mother would treat her children), then comforts them. Later on, he takes the same role with his patrons when there is a shooting at the bar, acting as a guiding force in a moment of chaos. He directs the whole group in various directions before tending to himself. Later still he acts as a mediator between Michael and Charlie and Johnny. This moment is particularly notable because he scolds Charlie and Johnny, wagging his finger and opining that their hijinks are no good, while also being instructed to get rid of Johnny’s gun. The duality of being a defensive force and following the orders of another man firmly cements Tony as the least masculine of the four but also as the most mature of the four because he readily accepts his duties without complaint.

In addition to its exploration of masculinity, Mean Streets also has a strong throughline of religious imagery and guilt, and penance is repeatedly referenced in the film. There is the idea that masculinity is constantly making penance, mostly through acts that invite pain. With the characters so mired in masculinity comes the inevitability of violence as a way to force others to atone for their sins. The ultimate penance seems to be death, indicated by the story of Groppi’s suicide and his last interaction with his mother being telling her he’s sorry. There are two sides to penance, though—those who give it and those who receive it. Charlie recites his sins at an altar and repeatedly holds his hands over flames and Johnny is threatened, beaten, and eventually shot while Michael, as an authoritative force, is the one extracting penance from others. Tony, in his more fluid masculine/feminine role, is most often a mediator between sinners and those who have been wronged.

Charlie is unique in the film because he is on both sides of penance, being the only one of the main four who asks for forgiveness but also directly forcing others to atone for their sins. Tony and Michael extract penance from others but only indirectly, Tony using his bouncer George and Michael using a hitman to shoot Johnny. And while Johnny and Tony participate in the violence at the pool hall, the need for penance from Joey comes about because Charlie, as a patriarch among the younger members of the community, is responsible for righting wrongdoings. So even though Jimmy is the one aided, the act and responsibility is coming from Charlie. As a sinner, though, Charlie must also ask penance from a number of sources, most notably his uncle Giovanni and God. Charlie asserts that penance is performative and (masculine) actions and pain are the only thing with any real meaning, saying “Those things, they don’t mean anything to me; they’re just words… if I do something wrong I just want to pay for it my way…and it’s all bullshit except the pain…of hell.” In addition to making his own penance, as an authority figure Charlie must also make penance for Johnny’s actions when Johnny refuses to make his own. Johnny never redeems himself, instead attempting to reassert his masculinity when asked to atone for his sins: he calls Michael a liar and insinuates he’ll fight him (then makes up some convoluted excuse for why he doesn’t have the money, never accepting responsibility). As a consequence of these threats of violence, Michael repeatedly goes to Charlie as the mediator of the penance. 

Although masculinity is a dominant force in the film and the men masquerade themselves as conquerors of women, all four of the main men are taken with femininity as something to be revered and a place of refuge, not a conquest. Charlie has an actual source of reprieve in Teresa, Johnny is constantly talking about or parading around women, Michael has a brief mention of a woman he is interested in, and, notably, while Tony does not mention any women he is instead portrayed as an almost motherly figure with his exotic cats and the way he treats his friends and bar patrons in times of crisis. Either as a refuge or something to be conquered, though, femininity is viewed by these men as something explicitly for them with no regard to women’s feelings. When Charlie comforts the woman attacked by Jerry in the bar he starts by letting her steady herself on him but then can’t help himself from asking her to dance and embracing her. Only when she literally passes out on her feet does he let her go. There is an interesting juxtaposition here, though, because feminization is only acceptable when done by women; when a man is threatened with emasculation by another man, this is cause for outrage. For example, multiple times throughout the film, having a man “make a jerk-off” out of you (i.e. have a sex act done to you by another man) is enough to induce people to rage. Even just the insinuation of this can be an insult. As the men are making their getaway from the bar shooting, two gay men, who are interestingly implied to know Michael, worm their way into Michael’s car, much to the disgust of the men in the car.

The exploration of masculinity in Mean Streets is a complex one. Scorsese treats masculinity as a valid way of interacting with the world but mainly focuses on its faults. Although the men in the film have perceived positions of status among themselves, these positions are wholly dependent on violence being an acceptable solution to problems. This requires the caveat that although masculinity is functional, it is not healthy. The men are constantly on hair triggers and treat any conflict as a way to enforce themselves. Scorsese’s use of body staging and camera angles highlights the roles that each man plays in the different situations they find themselves in, and the film’s focus on religious guilt acts as a conduit to explore how each man responds to the self-destructive nature of untamed masculinity. The only recourse for this masculine self destruction, therefore, is in femininity, its opposite. But because the men treat any interaction as a test of wills, they are constantly twisting their only source of refuge into another source of conflict through their desire for conquest.

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