"Charlene: So what is it that you do? Marcus: I'm a gangsta."'Are young black males excessively stereotyped as gangsters, with reference to "Get Rich or Die Tryin" 2005’
Recently in movies, black males are being represented as gangsters, this is happening due to the changes in society and that black males are being stereotyped as gangsters, this convention has been shown in many movies before and has also been shown in 50Cent ‘Get rich or die tryin’, mainly when 50Cent (Marcus) associates himself as a gangster and there are many black boys in the movie being represented as gangsters, this therefore seems to support the question that nowadays there are many black males represented in that way. This convention has not only be shown in this movie, but it has also being shown in other movies such as ‘Bullet Boy’ where Ricky (Ashley Walters) who also stars in 50Cent’s movie, is being represented as a gangster in both movies, this therefore seems to support the argument that black males are being commonly represented as gangsters.
“According to Hollywood, the gangster film could combine realism and popular culture because it has been very popular throughout the years and more films have been made following this type of genre”
[1], so as main genres of the movie is the gangster and the biopic genre, so therefore this movie can be seen as a typical gangster movie as it follows those conventions, as it is showing the real life of 50Cent and many gangsters. So this movie is also trying to warn other black males what would happen to them if they became gangsters and what problems will they be facing, and might be able to get shot as it happened to 50Cent, but this is considered as one of the gangster genre conventions, as gangster movie are about law and order "law, order, crime, but unlike other crime, but unlike other crime and police genre, it focuses upon the figure of the gangster”
[2], this movie focuses on the gangster genre and mainly of the life of 50Cent, which will really appeal to audiences as they would want to know more about his life and what had happened to him, this therefore is related to the Auteur’s theory, because of him being the protagonist of the movie.
These black males are turning into gangsters because of many problems that they are facing in society such as racism and poverty ‘we were always going on about discrimination, always talking about racism. There’s nothing wrong with doing those things as such…
[3]’ poverty which is considered as a big problem for these males, so this is causing them to get involved in things like crimes, drugs, robbery etc, in order to get rich, and also there has been an association with rappers that they are mostly from a black background, this might be because they want to get out of poverty, and these rappers might have been in the same situations as 50Cent such as being gangsters and rap music is thought to make them rich and become popular, but even though they are rich they are still facing problems and still having enemies and they are still being punished many times such as 50Cent being shot 9times and 2Pac being killed and facing prison which happened to many black gangsters and that most of the times that they are being shown in either movies or in the media, they are shown as being in prison because of a crime or a robbery that they have committed as Ricky in ‘Bullet Boy’ have faced prison because of carrying a gun, so this is therefore showing the binary opposition, that they still have people opposing them even thought they try to prevent it.
This problem of poverty which is seen as being a big problem for these black males, is shown in the movie in many scenes mainly when 50Cent when he is teenager, he wants to buy a trainer but unable to afford it, neither his mum because she tries to work and get the money to feed her family, and there is also a scene where he is being called names and being tortured by other friend ‘Rivalry with other criminals in gangster warfare is often a significant plot characteristic
[4]’, so this is therefore creating the Propp theory, where he is seen as a hero and being able to survive it, in order to make the audiences sympathise with him and make them see the other boys as villain because they are torturing him, this is now showing that his personality is being constructed, because the director is trying to make him look innocent and the others as guilty, this construction is used to make the audience feel sorry for him and to make the audiences become more interested in his life and how he was able to become a famous rich rapper from being in a poor society, this is another convention that the director have used to sell the movie, constructing 50Cent in some way by the use of close up shots when that situation happens to him and by the use of emotional music, in order to appeal to audiences.
Stereotyping people is categorising them with few characteristics, and in this case black males are being stereotyped in the same way in the media, such as being trouble makers and gangsters which is therefore making us the audiences stereotype them in that way and make us think that all black males are supposed to be like that, and this is therefore showing that the media is manipulating our ideas and make us think the way it wanted, even if some of the times representation are wrong, such as the fear of the youth culture mainly that black males are always associated with hoods and crimes, so this is therefore trying to create ‘the hegemonic ideology’, ‘hegemony refers to create to the winning of popular consent through everyday cultural life, including media representation of the world’
[5], so this is now showing that the media is winning our minds and making us stereotype all black males as being gangsters and make us fear them, as the theorist Marcus has mentioned that the media tries to ‘indoctrinate and manipulate us’. So in 50Cent ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’ this stereotyping is used because it is only showing the black youths as being represented as gangsters and it is not showing white people or other races being represented in that way, and this is also shown In ‘Bullet Boy’ 2005, and ‘Boyz n the Hood’ 1991, where they also include gangsters but from a black background, but again these things are happening because of poverty and racism that these young males are facing in society, and that they are living in the ghetto and in order to try prevent this problem and to stop being ruled by ‘Those groups with most power’
[6], but also wanting to have their voice in the society and become popular and that what is making them become gangsters, which will make them look more powerful and dominant.
However there are other reasons that are causing these black males mainly teenagers to form gangs and try and do something for their social group and have their voices passed on and as mainly this gangster cultures is associated with gangsters and which therefore seems to create the ‘Youth Culture’, because these youngsters are facing many problems and as they are young they don’t have a voice, and this creation of the youth culture is due to problems, such as poverty where this problem is used in a lot of gangster movies, which is the need of money. The other reason that are resulting them to create this culture is the lack of offering them things to do, as well as the failure in schools, and having family problems which could be also seen as the other reason that is causing these youngsters to form their own gangs, in order to solve their problems by themselves and they are able to understand each other, so these family problems could be seen as being one of the main problems, when in the movie 50Cent’s mother is killed because she was also getting involved into drugs in order to feed her family, and this makes 50Cent more furious and gets much more involved in the gang and wanting to revenge, but this also seems to create him enemies, and which therefore shows the binary opposition because from then he started to get more enemies and mainly when he became the ‘BOSS’ of the gang, this is also promoting the ‘Patriarchal’ ideology because he is being the leader of the gang and this again is creating him enemies from the gang because they couldn’t stop being managed by him and therefore they start to revolt against him, and which is clearly shown at the beginning of the movie when the gang goes on and robs the bank, 50Cent shouts at one of the members and takes all the money robbed, which at the end we see him shot being shot and that is because of that member being his enemy and couldn’t be ruled by him.
This family problem is also shown in ‘Bullet Boy’ because there is a lack of the father, which could help him solve his problems and understand him more and give him more advice and which will therefore prevent him into getting in these types of things, this lack of father is used in both movies and it is again promoting the ‘Patriarchal’ ideology because it somehow showing that the man still has the dominant role and the main role in society, and if he was included there wouldn’t be that much problems, and those boys won’t be involved in gangs.
So those are the problems that are causing the ‘Youth Culture’ to happen in the society and therefore lead to creating gangsters, and this is the reason that is making the directors represent the black males as gangsters, because they are trying to inform the audiences about what is happening in the society and that black males shouldn’t be blamed if they get into gangsters, because we should firstly consider the problems and the reasons that are causing them to become gangsters, but also this use of black males as gangsters mainly when they get punished at the end, such as 50Cent being shot and Ricky in ‘Bullet Boy’ being killed, so it is trying to warn the other black gangsters what might happen to them if they get involved into gangs, and also the reason that black males are associated a lot with gangsters is because what we see everyday In the news, if a murder happens by teenager, it is mot of the time blaming black teenagers, the blame is there but at the same time we seem to forget and just stereotype all black males as being trouble makers and murderers and we don’t seem to consider what are the reasons that are causing these black males commit these things, and again in this case the media brainwashes us and make us think the way it wanted us to.
Racism which is still a big problem in our society, mainly amongst black people which are still facing this issue, even though the changes in our society and that there should be more equality amongst people from all races, but it still exists, this therefore leads to the issue of ‘Blaxploitation’ cycle which was discovered mainly in the 1970s, which is about black Americans and Africans, which is shown in Scarface 1932 and in boyz in the Hoods 1991, where black males are being discriminated, and that America tries to denies that it is being racist and denies that these black males have become successful throughout the years and this ‘masks the continuing racism of US society behind the convenient half-truth immigrant groups have made it’
[7] and that ‘those groups that would show how America still discriminates are not represented’
[8], so this again shows how the US is still racist against those black people which try or have become successful, which is therefore following the Propp theory, because America is trying to show itself as being the hero and unable to support the fact that black people are capable to become successful and still represents them as being the villain and as a problem for the black society. So this denial and under representation of black people is what might be causing those black males to form gangs, in order to fight back and have their place and their voice to become heard in the society, and that what is also making people such as 50Cent and other black gangsters fighting back and becoming successful by getting involved in those crimes etc, so this fight back by forming organizations and hence creating the ‘Black Power’
[9]can identify them as being gangsters and that is the other reason why most of the times of black males are represented as gangsters in the media.
As a result, that is another motive why most rappers are from a black background, such as 50Cent, 2Pac and many others, on one hand they are thereto entertain their audiences and fans, but on the other they are trying to pass on their voices and messages through their music, this is shown in the movie ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’ where in that scene where 50Cent wanted to buy that trainer but wasn’t able to afford it, then later in the movie when he became a rapper, he made that song ‘Window Shopper’ and this now seems to show more sense why he made that song as it also included some shots of him starring at the window in the shop, this is again used to show how from being really poor, he became really rich and popular which is shown also by the posh car that he was driving, and to emphasise more on the ‘Black identity’ and black people should be more respectable in society.
This revenge and standing up of the black people, has also happened in the past years by the creation of ‘black power’ and ‘civil rights movements’, were used in order to stop the colonialism and stop the slavery of black people, and the denial of the existence of black people in the society, and this reaction of the black people has ‘helped to stimulate other nascent identity movements among other ethnic minorities’
[10], so this shows that the reaction of the black people has opened doors and gave voices to other ethnic minorities. This was therefore used to emphasize more on the ‘Black Power’ that they can dominate the society.
However apart from the fact that only black males are regularly portrayed as gangsters, the movie ‘The God Father’ 1972, is showing that not only black males are represented in that mode, but also white males are represented as being gangsters or as called the ‘Mafia’ which is associated with the Italian white mafia, Michael who has just came back from the second world war, has found his father being the boss of the mafia but he doesn’t want to get involved into drugs and crimes, but he is forced to do so because of his father being the ‘DON’ and also ‘for the sake of his family’
[11], so this therefore seems to show that the gangster genre might have started way before black males have been represented as gangsters, but it has started with the ‘white Mafia’ and this therefore seems to show the changes of the genre and the changes of society as nowadays most gangsters are being related to black males, and as this movie is named as the ‘Number 1 gangster movie ever made’.
So this issues particularly ‘particularly bank robbers, underworld figures, or ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law, stealing and violently murdering their way through life’
[12], have therefore created the Gangster genre, and are seen as the main conventions of this genre, this genre was first laid out during the 1930s and was used earlier in movies, such as ‘Little Caesar’ 1930, ‘Public Enemy’ 1931 and ‘Scarface’ 1932, these movies have been popular in the past and still used as common examples of this particular genre and because most movie made nowadays under that particular genre follow those conventions made in the early years, these gangster films made at that time only included white gangsters which were called the ‘Mafia’ and which might mean that the gangster genre has been created under ‘white people’, but then with all the changes in society and all the thing that black males are facing such as poverty, racism, which is leading them to go and revolt against the people, have therefore made the gangster genre associated with black American people. Movies categorised under this type of genre ‘is one governed by the morality of the wider society. This means the film shows the gangster’s fate to condemn him and warn others away from a life of crime’
[13], and this might be the reason why 50Cent and Ashley Walters are used, in order to warn its wider audiences mainly black youngsters who have the same problems as those actors, and as they are celebrities and famous, the audience will be more likely to identify with them and will have a big influence on them, and makes the audience think, if those problems have happened to people like 50Cent, it might also happen to us, so we can start thinking how try and prevent it in someway.
‘The gangster film as we know it was a product of the growth of the Hollywood system’
[14], it is now considered as one of the main genres of the Hollywood film industry, ‘the ways in which the studios were organised to produce films can be seen as a determining factor on the final pattern or form of the individual’
[15], however the system doesn’t have limits over the gangster genre and what is being produced, as it does have over other genres, because gangsters films are seen as being original and because they are trying to have their voice being heard as 50Cent has been showing in his movie, the problems that he has faced and that the only way to make their voices heard is to become involved as gangs.
‘Get Rich or die tryin’ uses a lot of these gangster conventions such as drug dealing, and crimes and clearly to get rich, these are seen as the main conventions of the gangster genre, and therefore it is promoting the ‘Capitalist’ ideology, as poverty which is the main problem that those youths are facing and the way to get money is to start selling drugs and get into gangs and get involved into crimes and robbing banks as it happened in the beginning of the movie, ‘Crack meant money, money meant power and power meant war’
[16], so this therefore shows that money means everything in this life and that if you have money, you are more likely to be more successful.
To sum up, black males are represented as gangsters because of the problems that they are facing, ‘the gangster… genre developed during the late 1920s and early 1930s at that time that its subject matter, matter manufacturing and distributing illegal liquor, gang warfare was actually occurring’
[17], those early gangster movies included white gangsters, but after the development of the countries which was mainly done by colonialism, has made those black people being seen as a lower class and a problem mainly for the American society, this has therefore made them revolt and fight back by creating gangs and movement to pass on their voices, and these black males decided not to stop revolting and get involved within the American society, until when their voices are passed and so they become accepted in the society,
Marcus: ‘Show no love. Love will get you killed.’
[18], and this shows if they accepted being ruled by the ‘White Americans’, they could be killed and demolished from the society, this is shown when 50Cent In the movie didn’t stop revolting and getting revenge mainly from his mother’s death, and even at the end when he got shot, he didn’t want to stop, or otherwise he wouldn’t get further in life.
As well as entertainment, this movie is trying to inform mainly its Black Audiences which are young adults over 15 which is the age certificate of most gangster movies, and that is the age when those teenagers start to understand what is happening around them and in their society and what problems they could be facing, so these movies are made to warn them about what things might happen to them if they get into gangs, but at the same time it is trying to tell them to fight and not to let the ruling class have power over them, in order to create equality between the social groups and to stop this discrimination against black people, which they are facing in every situation ‘who’s going to discriminate against me today? What job am I not going to get?’
[19] On the other hand this movie is passing on these messages also for parents, to try and protect their children, so they don’t get involved into gangs and crimes, as 50Cent is shown holding his baby son tightly, which shows that he is protecting him and doesn’t want him to get into problems that he already faced.
We are acting as passive audiences to the media, as it is brainwashing us and making us think that all black males are associated with gangsters and being murders as we see in every day news, nevertheless we seem to forget that there might be white males which are causing murders as well and forming gangs such as the ‘Mafia’, so this is showing the discrimination against the black people, and at the end what do black people have to say ‘because life isn’t like that for people’
[20]which means that white people are not facing the same problems such as racism and poverty, which black people are facing every day.
[1] Dominic Strinati, An introduction to studying popular culture, 2000
[2] Dominic Strinati, An introduction to studying popular culture, 2000, p.55
[3] Phillips in Pines, 1992: 147-8
[4] http://lamiamed6.blogspot.com/search/label/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.filmsite.org%2Fcrimefilms.html[5] Studying the media , 3rd edition, p.69
[6] Studying the media, 3rd edition, p.69
[7] Winokur 1991, p.10-11
[8] Ibid
[9] Micheal, Banton 1987
[10] Oscar H. Gandy, Jr (1998): communication and race
[11] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068646/plotsummary[12] http://lamiamed6.blogspot.com/search/label/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.filmsite.org%2Fcrimefilms.html[13] Dominic, Strinati, An introduction to studying popular culture, 2000, p.55
[14] Ibid, p.57
[15] Ryall, 1977, p.28
[16] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0430308/quotes
[17] Ryall, 1979, p.32
[18] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0430308/quotes
[19] Phillips in pines, 1992:147-8
[20] Ibid
Bibliography:
Books:
Dominic, Strinati (2000): An Introduction to Studying Popular culture. USA and Canada: Routledge
Tim O'Sullivan, Brian Dutton, Philip Rayner (2003): studying the media (third Edition). London: Arnold Publications
Oscar H. Gandy, Jr (1998): communication and race. New York: Arnold Publications.
Sarita Malik (2002): representing black Britain, black and Asian images on Television, Sage publications.
Michael Banton (1987): Racial Theories. Cambridge: Cambridge university press
Internet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Rich_or_Die_Tryin'_(film)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0430308/quoteshttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068646/plotsummaryhttp://www.filmsite.org/crimefilms.html
