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Dope Film Analysis

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Dope is a film written and directed by Rick Famuyiwa, which depicts the struggles and achievements of Malcom Adekanbi. Malcom, a teenager who is growing up in the Darby-Dixson neighborhood commonly known as “the bottoms” in Inglewood, California, understands who he isn’t, but struggles throughout the movie to figure out who he is. This film brilliantly explains a few reasons for delinquent behavior, including societal need to label and/or define people, which is often decided based on race, gender, socioeconomic status and social standing, as well as how to overcome obstacles that have been placed in front of us, thereby changing the trajectory of our lives. The following quote from the movie given by Malcom explains how labels have made it hard for him to figure out who he is: “For most of my life I’ve been caught in between who I really am and how I’m perceived. In between categories and definitions…. But when you don’t fit in you’re forced to see the world from many different angles and points of view” (Famuyiwa, 2015). Malcom wonders if he’s a geek, a poor black child who doesn’t know his father and is being raised by a single mom, a menace, a drug dealer or is actually Harvard material. Who you socialize with tends to determine whether or not you will participate in antisocial behaviors and/or delinquency. Youth tend to follow and repeat deviant activities their friends are taking part in such as consuming marijuana and/or alcohol. Siegel and Welsh (2015) found

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