Hold a Goodfella down; "Karen Hill" bitches. -Fabolous, Bitches.
"So what are your plans? What do you want to do? I mean... do you just want to get married, have kids and have a man take care of you?" my roommate asked. "I mean... Eventually," I responded. I figure... its okay for me to want kids, right? For me to want to get married, right? So why can't I also want to be taken care of? It'd be nice. I think everyone --male or female--would like to be taken care of if the situation allows. To not have to work anymore. It's the Hollywood dream, I think.
I love Goodfellas. For a multitude of reasons. Everytime I watch this movie, I watch it from a different point of view. First, there's Henry's story. But if you pay attention, for a big portion of the time, Karen Hill is also narrating. I mean... the story is as much hers as it is his. When I heard Fabolous's lyric above, I had to throw in the DVD and watch the movie again. I mean, it's true. Through it all, Karen stayed by Henry's side. Through the lying, cheating... and his prison sentence, which meant her poverty. We only get a half-view of what Karen went through.
You see, Karen was a good girl from the suburbs. Raised by protective mother with strong religious values. But not matter how "good" she was, when Henry Hill tried to stand her up, she drove right over to where he was and put her in her place. She was submissive yet firm all at the same time -- a balance I'm sure is difficult to achieve. You see, Karen tripped about Janice Rossi sleeping with her husband: She hit the intercom buttons for all the apartment's in Janice's building and yelled "You have a whore living in 2R. Rossi. Janice Rossi. He's MY husband. Get Your own God-damed man!" Karen really didn't play.
She didn't leave him though. "Why should I give him up? Why should she win?" she narrates before the scene change where she's aiming a gun at Henry while he's still asleep. You see, Karen was a good woman... but Henry was a good man. There's a scene where they're both getting dressed. Unfortunately this video only show's Henry's closet, but if you watch the movie, you can see that her's is just as stacked. [Beading & fur, baby... Beading & fur.] Then he drops her [*This much*] for the day so she can go shopping. If I had a man who could do that for me, I'd be on my Karen Hill game ASAP.
Problem is, most men out there want a woman who can stand by their side, when they have nothing to offer. Any woman with a brain wouldn't stand by that. I'm not saying a woman needs the world... but a little piece of it would be nice. A little property. Something. Men can't expect women to be on their Karen hill if they not on their Henry, forreal. It simply makes no sense. Same goes for Mia in Pulp Fiction who could have any man she wants. Yet, she doesn't jeaopordize that on her night out with Vincent because her man, Marsellus Wallace, gives her everything she could possibly want. You can't get everything you want if you don't give everything your partner wants. Like Miss Keri, baby, says "was looking for a man to hold me down. How I end up with you?"
Money matters. I'm just not sure neither Henry nor Marsellus would have landed the women they had without a couple of $$ to their names. & I don't think that Mia nor Karen are wrong for this. Sometimes, behind the scenes, a woman is the best asset a man has. I'm talking real life. Like Beckham with Victoria. I'm not sure how much she was making without him, but he allowed her the opportunity to start up the VB line which is sure to expand and make [sorry for the ghetto but] maddddd money in the future & she plans to hand the company down to her son Romeo. That's how you play it. You can't just "live off" a man... you have to take the opportunities that come through him and make it on your own. Truth be told, if I got me a rich boo ready to hand me some money... I'd pay these student loans off. First order of business. lol.
It's a new day, though. & Men aren't making enough money for two. But I still have hope. lol... I just think that today [in my circles] men and women are more equal than anything else. But someone has to be willing to sacrifice somewhere. "You gotta have a certain amount of money to do certain shit.," told my roommate. Like... when you have Kobe money... you're allowed to cheat. I'm just saying. A broke man has no say in this world. He has no privileges and deems no sympathy. I think this is because a man with money gets more attention than he actually deserves. So if your man has money... there are women out there who will be attracted to him just because of that. So.. he can deserves a bit of sympathy. In Goodfellas, we see the girlfriends Henry has, and really... we don't hold it against him. Except for Janice Rossi... cuz she just wanted the money.
If you get old and boring, you also have to allow more sympathy. Henry's girlfriend, Sandy, on the other hand, was... hot. She did Henry where he wanted, when he wanted, how he wanted. Wives don't typically do that... So if you're not going to give a man everything he needs, you gotta expect him to fail you, too. [See? I'm all about equality.]
So yup. Karen Hill had it made. But Henry Hill was makin it.
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