City Of God Sociology

In the beginning of the movie one can tell that the less developed, or "slums",

The extreme economic differences between people belonging to the upper and lower classes are ridiculously extravagant. One can see the living conditions between the rich and the poor are extremely unbalanced. This trend is evident in comparing two representative districts in Lima. On one hand is Villa El Salvador, a shantytown located in the southside of Lima where dirty, misery, and hunger are part of the natural landscape on the streets. On the other hand Miraflores, a high-end residential district in Lima where people of white descent live comfortably and the settings are dramatically more favorable than in Villa El Salvador. One can see luxury cars, big houses, and domestic servants of indigenous features in Miraflores and contrast

The author provides the insight towards “the poor” as they are a social category that has no access to resources, along with the media’s perspective that they do not exist. The tragedy of the lower class as they stated that “forty million poor people in the nation” (Mantsios, pg. 92) are being ignored, due to the media’s views of uninterested coverage over the rich. Mantsios continues as the media finally contributes to the lower class, however in a way to portray the poor in the most disrespectful way. The media covers the lower class as “Eyesore” with “sensational stories about welfare cheats, drug addict, and greedy panhandlers” (Mantsios, pg. 93) rather than aiming on the predicament of the

In the deeper sense, the story discovers the allegory of capitalist societies where the power strictly belongs to the wealthy ones. In this respect, the city illustrates the comparison of the influential circles and poor people who are forced to subdue to the most privileged. In the broader perspective, the story constitutes the differences in the level of life between countries of First and Third World. The political constructions and characteristics of rigid economic systems are established in the way that the wealthy get the most of the benefits. In this way, the child becomes a marionette who is

The spectator is thrown into the reckless and expeditious world of the characters, creating a sense of hedonistic abandon and excitement. The chase leads to the first of the dramatic scenes within City of God. A heavily armed stand-off between Lil’ Zé’s gang, and the police ensues and we are introduced to Rocket who is caught between the two. It is here that the shot rotates 360 degrees, spinning us into the past, leaving the spectator keen to understand more. It is this exhilarating sequence of editing and camera work that has led some viewers to brand the film an indulgent exhibition of romanticized ghetto life. However, the producers of the film claim that the effects are present in order to assist the telling of a universally human story and are intended to capture its realism[9]. Kátia Lund commented on the rotation shot and remarked that “the critics would say this is a film from Hollywood, they’re doing The Matrix, these fancy shots. And the cost of the shot was...$20. Just a guy pulling a dolly”[10].

Reviewed in the text “Way Down in the Hole: Urban Inequality and The Wire” written by Anmol Chaddha and William Julius Wilson, is the idea that the television show The Wire, written and directed by David Simon, reveals the comparable outlining troubles in cities and the constant change of conditions in the urban areas. Both the television show and the article discuss the urban area’s in reflection of education, political standpoints, and the social status held in the communities. These two media sources are comparable in themselves because of their interconnectability to the real world situations they are exploring more of and hold the same stance on the quality of the urban poor.

In his critically acclaimed motion picture, “City of God” director Fernando Meirelles depicts the growth of organized crime throughout the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s in the Cidade de Deus favela of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil via the lens of a young boy named Rocket. The film culminates in the death of the two rival gang leaders in the aftermath of a shootout between police and conflicting locals, we as the audience only experience through Rocket’s untimely habit of seeing too much. Applying the modern Psychoanalytical approach to literary analysis, understanding the City of God hinges upon both an audience's knowledge of Meirelles’ biography; which serves to explain the idiosyncrasies and nuances expressed within

     The City of God is based on actual events that occurred in Rio de Janeiro during the 1960’s and 1970’s. The movie is about the rise and fall of a fearsome sociopath gang leader Li’l Ze, who reigned as king of the drug lords during the 70’s. The first part of the movie illustrates some of the forces that mold Li’l Ze into the man he becomes, while the second half shows his ruthless leap to power, followed by the war he wages against opposing gang leaders Carrot and Knockout Ned. The film is narrated by Rocket, a photographer who exists on the outskirts of Li’l Ze’s circle of dominance and control. In the film the city is filled with ruthless acts of delinquency and is basically in

City of God is a film about life in a Brazilian slum spanning the decades of the 1960’s through the early 1980’s. The film is a narrative style with many flashbacks showing the main characters as they grow up in the crime infested favela (slum) known as City of God. The opening scene is a montage of a knife being sharpened on a stone, followed by a black screen. This is repeated five times in quick succession. This is interspersed with shots of the guitar playing, a samba rhythm and shots of a nervous looking chicken watching his friends having their neck sliced. The chicken escapes and is chased by a group (which we later learn are gang members) through the streets. In the process, they brutalize people on the street and finally end up in a stand off with a group of police. Stuck between the gang and the police is a young man, named Rocket, who seems to fear the gang. The camera whirls back and forth showing the gang, the chicken and the police, all from the point of view of Rocket. The scene then flashbacks to the early 1960’s when the favela was brand new. A group of kids are playing soccer. Rocket is one of the kids playing. The favela is new, but already, there is crime, and petty thievery going on. Rocket begins the narrative of how he and his friends grow up in the favela over a period of twenty plus years. By the 1980’s the favela is a war zone and most of the protagonists are either dead or engaged in a bloody war over drug turf. The story focuses on the escalating

Vaccination safety and necessity has been debated for years. Vaccine supporters claim they are completely safe and necessary for everyone. People against vaccines question their safety and feel it should be a personal choice. While some vaccines are for personal safety, others are for the safety of society and should be given to the majority of people to avoid previously eradicated diseases from coming back and killing off thousands, even millions of people. Vaccinations are an asset to our healthcare and help to keep us safe from many deadly diseases, including polio, measles, tetanus and meningitis.

Comparatively, the inner-city demographics hindered the boy’s chances of social mobility and personal growth along with the social brutality. A city is like a machine in the sense that every part of the city works together to bring

The film The Gods Must Be Crazy follows the story of a tribe of people in the Kalahari Desert. These people are known as Bushmen, they live in isolation and believe that they are the only people on Earth. The Earth is of great importance to them and they live in harmony with it. The Bushmen are known as being very peaceful, and they do not understand the concept of ownership, hierarchy, or violence. The role of the gods and family are highly prioritized in the Bushmen society. When a Coca-Cola bottle falls from the sky the Bushmen see it as a gift from the gods. The Bushmen, unfamiliar with technology had never encountered an object like the bottle. The inventive Bushmen use the bottle for many purposes such as a musical instrument, crafting

City of God is a depicts the reality of the narrator’s life growing up in the slums on the outskirts of Rio. What was meant to be a small film project became a success in many ways. Although it quickly became an international sensation winning numerous awards the filmmakers were also successful with their use of various components of cinematography. One critic said that “City of God is a wildly entertaining film. The sheer energy of the movie is never less than compelling. Meirelles pulls out every filmmaking trick in the book, utilizing freeze-frames, montage, flashback, quick-cutting, and even strobe lights” (Millikan 1). I will analyze various scenes from the film and explain how each successfully applied film techniques. “The

Sao Paulo is Brazil’s financial center and is well-known for its breathtaking views, its abundant cultural institutions and for their rich architectural scene. However, there are many negative issues that are ravaging the lives of the citizens in this city. For starters, Sao Paulo has terribly congested traffic, a significant amount of crime and gang violence, a lack of quality in the medicine-health field, a high amount of air pollution, and also water shortages. However, these are not the biggest of their obstacles. Sao Paulo’s most pressing issue of the moment is the informal housing that is plaguing the city. This essay will first analyze Sao Paulo, Brazil’s informal housing issue, then will compare Sao Paulo’s unique obstacle to similar

All over the world, there are various kinds of socio-economic classes, races, and ethnicities, all with a different style of living. One important sociological idea is that a person’s quality of life is determined by their rank in a social hierarchy. This includes education, access to jobs, income, and other factors that all determine where and how they will live. In all parts of the world, urban planning is significant for a society to prosper. However, in underdeveloped parts of the world, this aspect is a struggling factor. The movie, Children of Heaven, directed by Majid Majidi, is a perfect example of a lower-class society struggling in the city of Tehran, Iran. It is centered around a family of five trying to make a living with the little income that they have. Not only does Children of Heaven show the hardships of a poor family, but it also displays the inequality between different classes, and the ways that the community can be affected by Urban Planning, both today and for years to come.