The gay man.

…at the end of the movie, Johnny Boy see Charlie and Teresa together and gets upset. There should be no reason for him to get upset. He wouldn't be upset because Charlie's with his cousin because it's obvious from the film that he does not care about Teresa at all. This might be interpreted as Johnny Boy getting upset because charlie is with someone other then Johnny Boy. Johnny gets upset because he thinks Teresa (a woman) is stealing charlie away from him. Again this doesn't mean that Johnny is gay, it just means it's homosexual subtext.

I recall seeing it when it first came out. Watched it to see how it would strike me after more than 40 years. I also recorded it in case I wanted to go over parts to help me understand it better.

Visiting imdb to see what others were discussing about Mean Streets I expected the idea of 'gay subtext' to show up somewhere. The above comment being an excellent example.

However, outside of the fact that any manner of friendship can be likened to any other manner of friendship (heterosexual friends being not necessarily any more bound to one another than homosexual friends) it seems to me that the above point of view lends more to the relationship than is evident. That Charlie’s allegiance to Johnny and Johnny’s cloying association to Charlie is best understood in these ways:

1- They’ve likely been friends since childhood, or at least for a very long time.
2- Charlie is involved in a romantic relationship with Johnny’s cousin.
3- Johnny has defaulted on a loan that he was able to get because Charlie assured the lender that Johnny would repay. Making Charlie indirectly responsible for the debt.


Johnny’s unhappiness with Charlie’s relationship with his cousin is likely due to his being in a financial bind. A debt that, if not repaid, will get Johnny beat up at the least or, possibly, murdered.

Johnny has requested several times that Charlie ask his uncle, an influential crime lord, to intervene on his behalf.

Despite having arranged for his friend to acquire the loan, and closeness to his crime boss uncle, Charlie has repeatedly refused to do this because his uncle has already expressed that he does not think well of his association with Johnny. He regards Johnny as "half crazy." A term he seems to use to describe anyone not conducting themselves in a way he considers rational. (e.g. the no-show partner of a restaurant he has bankrolled; the epileptic girlfriend) In Johnny’s case he means an irresponsible screw up who will only cause problems for his nephew. He may or may not be aware that Johnny is indebted to many people for a considerable amount of money because he regards Johnny as more or less unworthy of his attention.

Thus Charlie’s relationship with Johnny’s cousin could be perceived by his uncle as Charlie putting himself into a compromising situation. Johnny might expect favors that Charlie is in no position to extend. Though Charlie enjoys his association to the power his uncle wields he cannot exercise that power as his own. Which is what Johnny wants him to do.

Johnny’s unhappiness with Charlie and his cousin’s relationship reflects his mounting desperation pushing him to use the relationship to free him from his debts. He wants Charlie to regard the relationship to mean that they (Charlie and Johnny) are like family. Close enough for Charlie to ask his uncle to act in Johnny’s behalf. Knowing that Charlie’s uncle would be displeased to learn of the relationship, he threatens to expose them.

So, in growing desperation Johnny is thinking to his own convenience: " I let you have what you want but you won’t let me have what I want. You're screwing my cousin, but refuse me your uncle’s influence."


"Your thinking is untidy, like most so-called thinking today." (Murder, My Sweet)

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