Mean Streets

Italian-American Charlie, who lives in the Little Italy neighborhood of New York City, leads a conflicted life. He identifies as Catholic, but feels he has to deal with sins in his own way for absolution than say Hail Marys. He works as a collector for his gangster uncle, Giovanni, but has empathy for those who cannot pay. Another who cannot pay is his best friend, Johnny Boy, a self-destructive and disturbed individual who owes money to their loan shark friend, Michael, but makes no effort either to repay that loan or to stay clear of Michael while he still lavishly spends whatever money he has on having a good time. Charlie tries to keep the peace between Johnny and Michael, while realizing Johnny is shirking his responsibilities. Meanwhile, Charlie has been in a clandestine relationship with Johnny’s cousin, Teresa, an epileptic who is in love with him. Charlie, on the other hand, doesn’t want to encourage Teresa largely because the tribalistic and intolerant Giovanni doesn’t approve of her as he sees her epilepsy as a major character flaw. Charlie tries to reconcile all these disparate aspects of his life.—Huggo (updated by R.M. Sieger)