SAMPLE "B" PAPER IN ENGL1201
John Doe
Professor Smith
English 1201
26 October 2003
An Italian mob family and their trials and tribulations, blacks and Hispanics getting rich off of Americas favorite drug, this monotonous format seems to be constantly recycled and repeated, but America is somehow untiringly attracted towards these movies. I can not remember the last time I saw a movie about an immigrant or a person of a lower class that was diligently working on getting an education to achieve the type of success their parents could not. It is no secret that gangster figures are typically people who are not white. In fact the one of the few movies, in which there is an American white man who becomes a drug magnate, was the movie "Blow", and for some reason the movie did not seem realistic. The white drug lord theme of the movie seems like fiction. This shows that Hollywood has done a good job of keeping white American gangsters out of sight. Most gangsters or drug lords in movies are from another country, particularly those from Italy or South and Latin America. In fact, most American movies with Italian characters seem to always deal with gangsters or mob figures and most Hispanic characters are usually the thieves and drug dealers. This kind of representation in Hollywood creates and promotes stereotypes based on race and culture. So why then would anyone be interested in watching such degrading art?
In his essay, "The Gangster as a Tragic Hero", Robert Warshaw examines the phenomena of gangster movies. According to Warshaw, when we go watch these movies simply because of "vicarious participation in the gangster's sadism" (345). The problem with participating in the gangster's sadism is the sadist gangster is usually Hispanic, Black or Italian. This leads to stereotypes and would lead people to think that these kinds of people are sadistic. We watch Tony Montana (Al Pacino) in Scarface kill dozens of men after stuffing his head into a mountain of cocaine and we watch Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) in Goodfellas kill and bury people, and we really think nothing of it. We not only think nothing of it, we enjoy it and are willing to watch it over and over again. Warshaw explains that "the gangster speaks for us, expressing that part of the American psyche which rejects the qualities and demands of modern life or 'Americanism itself'" (344). The gangster expresses what we can not express in our everyday lives because we would be considered somewhat crazy by American society. Tony Soprano, Tony Montana, Pablo Escobar, Sam Giancana, all real and fictional characters but none ever really classified as crazy. They might have been considered sadistic, but not crazy, there is a difference. To be crazy one has to be somewhat insane and not completely aware of what one is doing, but to be sadistic one is completely aware of what they are doing and is capable of preventing it.
When Timothy Mcveigh was finally caught for the Oklahoma City bombing, most people were automatically assuming he was crazy or insane. But when an Italian mob figure like John Gotti was arrested and charged with life no parole, for the murder of dozens of people, loan sharking and racketeering, America did not really view him as crazy, but cruel, vicious, brutal and sadistic. Obviously there was something wrong in his head, but it seems as if that was what was expected from such a man. For decades movies have been telling us that this kind of behavior is what we should be expecting from an Italian. The portrayal of sadistic gangsters creates a stereotype which causes America to view most, if not all, minorities as sadistic. One who thinks that every Italian is affiliated with some sort of crime or mob ring can not be completely blamed, because Hollywood has been, not lying, but not exposing the whole truth.
Although some Americans may recognize these false stereotypes, they still find themselves flocking to movie theaters to see these films on the big screen. Would a movie about a Cuban immigrant migrating from Cuba to the United States in order to go to college and then medical school sell as much as Scarface, the story of a Cuban exile coming to the United States to become the most successful drug dealer of his time? Warshaw explains that the character, like Scarface, represent, "What we want to be and what we are afraid we might become" (345). The fact that we are afraid to become this person attracts us even more to the movie. No one is afraid of becoming a teacher or a governor because those kinds of things are the qualities and demands of modern life. We want to dare ourselves. Stephen King says when talking about what attracts us to horror movies, in his essay, "Why We Crave Horror Movies", "dare the nightmare" (330). Somehow we all want to be these tragic figures deep inside, but we conceal these thoughts and feelings and live vicariously through these characters as we watch these movies. We enjoy this double satisfaction of watching the gangster kill, knowing that he is wrong, and in the end watching the gangster's "sadism" turned against himself. Obviously if we go watch these Immigrants and minorities because they kill, and in the end get killed, we are in some way sadistic ourselves. Stephen King agrees with this view when he says, "I think that we're all mentally ill; those of us outside the asylums only hide it a little better" (330). Horror movies, like gangster movies, "provide a psychic relief" (King 330). So it is no secret that we are all in our different ways sadistic, but it seems as if we only want to participate vicariously with a sadistic gangster who is black, Latino, or Italian.
There are several reasons why gangster films usually have a Hispanic, black or Italian figure as the protagonist. In some real life cases, an immigrant will come to America in search of a better life than his native country, and most of them are not adequately qualified for a decent paying job, so they must turn to drugs or other illicit means of achieving the American dream. Knowing this, Hollywood will constantly make movies of these men and display them "rejecting the qualities and demands of modern life "Americanism itself.'" It seems almost as if America will rather see a non-American rejecting Americanism than a white American. If we see a white American rejecting Americanism we would not be able to participate in his sadism, we will be participating more in his insanity or craziness, and that does not attract the same size audience. We are aware that the gangster is wrong; we know what he does is wrong; we participate knowing we are wrong -- and we love it.
Works Cited
Warshaw, Robert. "The
Gangster as a Tragic Hero." Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical
Reading and Writing. Eds. Diana
George and John Trimbur. New York: Pearson
Longman, 2004. 343-346.
King, Stephen. "Why We
Crave Horror Movies." Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical
Reading and Writing. Eds. Diana
George and John Trimbur. New York: Pearson
Longman, 2004. 330-331.