Whitey Bugler

Blaxploitation is a cultural subgenre of the exploitation films, and became extremely profitable. These films were originally made explicitly for the African American (then called Negro) urban audience. The new cinema was new as far as the new actors and messages, however the movies themselves some had buffoonery, and other embarrassing forms of entertainment for African Americans. Then came along this private detective that smashed some of the stereotypes blacks have been portrayed. He was strong, good looking, educated in not only in law, but he was very street savvy. On July 2 1971 enter Richard Roundtree as Shaft, and was featured in its two sequels as well who would redefine the stereotype of The Black Buck Brute. Historically there were other films that displayed African American men as strong positive ways who loved women, they weren’t slaves, and they were not the “No Sir, Yes Sir” type. They had a certain dignity to them. “Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song”, “The Spook Who Sat by The Door”, and “Nothing but A Man” the men portrayed in each of these films were Shaft at that time was the quintessential movie to of its time that showed this. A rebellious black man who fought for the black community, who did not take any mess from anybody, went up against the white police department and black gangsters. Shaft had a purpose and a cause to his actions. He was

“Boyz n the hood” takes place in South Central Los Angeles in 1984. The main actors in the movie are Cuba Gooding Jr as Tre, Morris Chestnut as Ricky, and Ice Cube as Doughboy. In the beginning of the movie it says, “One out of twenty-one Black American males will be murdered in their lifetime” followed by “Most will die at the hands of another black male”. Later it shows the main characters in the movie Tre, Ricky and Doughboy as kids each of them having plans in life. Ricky’s dream is to become a football player and Tre going to college and doughboy still not deciding what he wants to do in life.

This popular film 'Boyz N the Hood', which was nominated for both best director and original screenplay takes place in South Central Los Angeles, California. Before the opening seen of the movie there are two messages that come across the screen about violence in South Central, LA. The one message states that one out of every twenty one black American males will be murdered in their lifetime. The other message says that most will die at the hands of another black male. The plot of the movie is based about a young male named Tre' who was sent to live with his father in South Central to learn discipline and life lessons. Before moving in with his father Tre' was following the path of a criminal lifestyle. Tre' then learns from his father

Antoine Fuqua’s, Training Day (2001) is an intense movie that follows a rookie police officer Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke), whose dream in life is to become an elite narcotics agent for the LAPD. But before landing this difficult job, Hoyt must prove his worth. Enter the ultimate badass, thirteen-year veteran Detective Sergeant Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington), who accepts to test Hoyts capabilities by riding with him for a day around the cruel streets of South-Central Los Angeles. This is a crime thriller that depicts a police culture entrenched in corruption and violence. While Training Day is a great movie, it uses storybook stereotypes of black males with strong masculinities to portray what seems to me to be a negative representation of black society in America.

John Singleton’s Boyz N the Hood is an American teen drama film released in 1991 that focuses on three black teens who live in the dangerous neighbourhood of Crenshaw, Los Angeles. The main characters Doughboy, his half-brother Ricky, and their friend Tre grow up together but meet drastically different fates as young adults. As Swanson (2011) points out, it is important to understand the tension within black communities in Los Angeles at the time of the film’s release; the Rodney King beating had taken place only months before and LA’s gang wars were reaching a peak. As a Los Angeles native, Singleton’s goal with the film was to alert people about the situation around them, as he said: “I couldn’t rhyme. I wasn’t a rapper. So I made this movie” (Swanson 2011). To reflect the environment as accurately as possible, the film was shot on the streets of South Los Angeles, so the crew was just as on edge as their characters would be; there were even threats of gun violence from local gang members.

When talking about a true American crime story, one can start and end the discussion with one of the most powerful and influential true stories ever told: GoodFellas. Based on the incredible true story, the film follows the rise and fall of Lucchese crime family associates Henry Hill and his friends throughout the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 1980s. Originally written as the non-fiction novel “Wise Guys” by Nicholas Pileggi, the story takes you deep into the world of arguably the most notorious crime posse America has ever known: the Italian Mafia. It is viewed by scores of critics and moviegoers alike as one of the greatest crime/drama movies ever filmed – so needless to say, with such a

Trying to make ends meet, he turns to selling drugs. By the time Jimmy finds love ones more and decides to settle down tragedy occurs. Trying to escaping from a drug bust at a friend’s house his attempts end up with a conviction for murder. Due to his illiteracy, Jimmy couldn’t read the false accusations he never committed.

The Departed, a film written by William Monahan, Alan Mak, and Felix Chong, directed by Martin Scorsese, was in my opinion a spectacular crime-thriller deserving of less criticism from overly sentimental viewers. Though this film is in some scenes brutal and vicious, I praise Martin Scorsese’s refusal to cower away from the undeniable truth that organized crime in the United States is murderous in nature just to satisfy certain viewers as critics advocated he should. Being a four time Oscar winning film with sixty-three other awards for numerous aspects in the movie industry, I don’t believe anyone can contradict that The Departed is profoundly unforgettable to masses of moviegoers.

on. Also, it told an interesting and exciting story which made it fun to read. I learned alot about how the Mafia conducted it's operation, and what their operation involved. It was interesting to learn how and where they would set up their breweries and how

In the movie “Boyz in the Hood” director John Singleton, paints a clear image of the problems that happen very often in the African American communities. The movie deals with issues such as: the importance of a father in a young man’s life, the ongoing violence of black on black crime, and how black people are put in situations where they are put to fail and not succeed in life.

Gangs of New York (2002), a bold and violent movie directed by Martin Scorsese takes us back to a New York without skyscrapers and modern-day lavishes that shows the rise of violent gang power and political corruption. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis, the film features a personal struggle placed within the context of gang warfare between Nativists and immigrants, which is set in the larger context of the Draft Riots and the Civil War. It is a reconstructed historical narrative that uses interlocking events filled with gang violence and political corruption to show how the modern New York was born.

Another element of the gangster genre that is seen in Wellman’s film is the rise and fall trajectory of the central gangster protagonist. In order to avoid glamorizing the life of a gangster and his perverted American Dream, his crimes must be punished. This is a central element to any gangster film created under the auspices of the production code. To obey the rules and regulation of the PCA, any gangster in film will live “a short but glamorous life..that reaffirms the audience’s knowledge that in Hollywood, lawlessness cannot go unpunished” (Køhlert 857). The era under the PCA shaped the narrative of the gangster genre to include the death of essentially every gangster protagonist. In one of the most powerful scenes of the film, after Tom has taken revenge on the rival members, he stumbles, shot, clutching his chest into the raining streets and gutter (The Public Enemy). He is alone, isolated by the rain, and likely going to die. This is not a character the audience is supposed to sympathize with, and this is exactly to goal of the gangster genre. After the audience has seen Powers rise through the world of crime starting as a little boy

A Bronx Tale depicts the everyday occurrences that used to happen in my neighborhood, in exception with the racism that occurred throughout the movie. The shootouts between gangs, and the drug dealers in the corner stores and also the respected/well known individual of the neighborhood all this used to happen in my neighborhood. The movie takes place during the 1960’s, a time where the civil rights movement was still occuring. Its setting takes place in Bronx, New York in a Fordham neighborhood which is populated by people of Italian Decent. Sonny the gangster of a mob is feared throughout the streets but also respected and looked up to. Calogero the son of a bus driver, who lived next to the bar that sonny always hanged out in, always used to copy all the moves and gestures that sonny did. One day Calogero witnessed sonny shooting a man in front of his house. When questioned by detectives and told to point out the shooter, he didn’t point out sonny. After that Calogero from a young age became sort of sonny’s right hand. Although many events happen throughout the movie, sociological forces and ideas are present in the movie. Forces that are shown include the groups that exist in this neighborhood, the micro- macro dynamics of the society that Calogero is living in, sociological imagination, and most importantly a problem between races. The sociological forces are needed in order to drive and

The story is set in the town of Lawless, Illinois during Prohibition era, where brewed liquor dominates the black market. Angelo Lagusa, a young man whose family was murdered in a mafia dispute, seeks revenge against the Vanetti Family and its don, Vincent Vanetti. Seven years after the murder, Angelo receives an anonymous letter from a self-proclaimed friend of his father's, prompting him to return to Lawless and exact his revenge.

Al Capone was the center of the movie, as a man who went against all