Arvin Sumasar
English 2150 – Hoodology
Ian Singleton
02/13/17
The American Gangster: a Modern Hero
Today, when you think of iconic pieces of media that changed the face of pop culture, what do you think of? Your mind may venture towards titans such as Star Wars or Alien, maybe even a superhero movie. But what stands out to me most in American culture is the American gangster. The Godfather, Goodfellas, and Sopranos have all had massive long-lasting effects on pop culture. But why has the American gangster–a character who is violent, profane and cruel–become such a key part of American culture. It is because the gangster is the embodiment of innate universal human desires. But that alone is just scratching the surface of why this genre has been so influential.
When we think of the gangster film we think of some of the most classic pieces of cinema. To find out exactly how the gangster film infiltrated its way into American culture we must look back to the first film of its kind. Entitled “The Musketeers of Pig Alley” the film is based off the shooting of a gambler in New York’s “other side” but because so many other factors at the time played into the shaping of the gangster archetype at this time. One such example is a collection of photographs by Jacob Reese entitled “Bandits Roost,” which is a picture that displays the trademarks of fear and fascination that we as the public have come to know and love today. This picture has influenced works into the 21st century but because of this ambiguity, it becomes apparent that there is no one true original gangster. In fact, almost every gangster from your favorite movie is most definitely a copy of a previous character. For example, Michael Corleone from The God Father who is the son of the Corleone crime family has a disdain for a life of violence and crime joins the military to escape and intern becomes a war hero. This is a direct parallel to Mike Powers from “Public Enemy” who is also a military man sharing a hatred for the criminal lifestyle but eventually succumbing to it. Another Example is Tommy from the cult classic “Good Fellas” roversial gangster movies “Scarface” which was created to push the limits of the Motion Picture Association of America’s rating system is a remake. One exception, some may claim, is the modern-day hood gangster movie such as Boys in the hood. But even in these films, the director pays homage to the character of old when the protagonist Ricky is in the hospital and in his narration, he says, “They kept me in the hospital for a week or so, I mostly stayed up watching old gangster movies.” The shot then cuts to the TV showing a black and white movie where when a man is stopped and asked for identification by the police he refuses and shoots the officer. Probably one of the most famous sequences from Bonnie and Clyde where the two lovers are caught and then riddled with bullets is almost identical to Sunny Corleone death in the Godfather when he stopped at a fake traffic stop and then is gunned down by multiple men from a rival mafia family. This is crucial because the realization that every gangster borrows something from older gangsters and you go back far enough the concept of the gangster in media isn’t based in reality at all. There is only the artificial construct of the gangster which people love not the actual crime-ridden world of violence and lawbreaking. In this way, the Gangster movie paints these negative actions in a positive light, for example in robbery where you would usually hope the person is alright as your first thought
That construct out reaching power is the key part in understanding Americans obsession with the gangster. The Viewer does not want to actually become the leader of the criminal underworld but rather is obsessed with the idea of what being a gangster represents. But what does a gangster represent and what does a gangster want? If you think it’s just women, money or drugs your wrong; In the Words of Frank Costello from the Departed “I don’t want to be a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me.”. This line describes A feeling that every human has felt, and every human understands. No one wants to be pushed around, bullied or to feel like they are not in control. The gangster is a character that embodies the ultimate control over his dominion in a realistic way that is not outlandish for the viewer to believe. To obtain a deeper understanding of this concept and why it resonates so well with people one must put the human psyche under a microscope. As psychologist Adam Philips states “We wouldn’t think of anything as a tragedy if we did not have a deeply ingrained sense of order already there to be affronted”, When we get angry it is due to something occurring in a way in which we did not want it to. Even when getting upset at something trivial like losing your keys your concept of an “ideal world” has been disrupted. A world in which everything is at your fingertips and you are always in control. In this ideal life, the rest of the world revolves entirely around you similar to the main character in a movie. The gangster is the perfect embodiment of this fantasy. The world bends to his whim; When he says “jump” others reply “how high?”. When he walks into a room he commands attention, he is offered a place to sit and he can do business whenever with whoever just with the nod of his head. This ability allows the archetype of the gangster to transcend trivial things such as money, sex or respect and obtain power over his dominion. I don’t think there is any better quote to illustrate this than when Vito Corleone says his famous line “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse”.
In all of the media, the gangster is probably the closest real-life embodiment of a god. Even superheroes who have god-like abilities and traits still have enemies and villains that pose a real threat to them because it is intricate to their character. The gangster, on the other hand, has nothing and no one to worry about, the power and appeal don’t come from being a gangster the power comes from him being all knowing and all powerful. If he does not want to pay a debt he does not have to. Because of this in cinema the worst part of the gangsters’ downfall is not when the gangster is killed but when the gangster loses all his power and returns to being a normal person like the rest of us losing the ability to control their soundings. This can be seen in 1931 black and white classic the “Public Enemy” when the expressive and lively Tom Powers is restrained and mummified symbolizing his loss of reach and influence. A more recent example is in the film “Good Fellas” when Henry Hill rats to the FBI and is placed into the witness protection this is soul-crushingly obvious to the audience when the slow panning shot lands on his face in the courtroom and he says, “Everything was for the taking, everyone had their hands out… and now it was all over.”. The next shot is one of Henry’s new boring house and boring life with his narration over it stating, “I have to wait around like everyone else.” And as he closes the door of his house the audience hears the sound effect a jail cell closing signifying the end of the chapter of his life when he was above the law and the loss of the aura of a gangster.
There is one more crucial factor to the gangster that has yet to be mentioned and that is the over the top violence. How is the genre so successful with such violence? In one episode of the Sopranos Tony is taking his daughters to visit colleges. On this excursion, he recognizes a rat so he hunts him down and strangles the rat to death with a wire. The creators of the show originally voiced concerns that they were hesitant of making this episode because of its hyper-violence but did it anyway. Rightfully so this episode is brutal the shots are painfully close on the neck be cut by the wire during the strangling with blood dripping off till the bitter end. The episode was praised by critics and went on to win two Emmys later on that year. Which begs the question why does the audience like this horrific violence? The answer is found within the idea of the “taboo”. Something that is taboo is untouchable and there is a fascination with things that cannot be touched. Subjects like drugs and violence are taboo but the fact that they cannot be touched gives them a level of power. If you refuse to touch something you have to be at some level obsessed with it, if that thing didn’t matter to you then you wouldn’t care if you touched it. For some people the taboo can be rooted in superstition like inversion to Ouija boards or black magic with that obsession comes to observe the taboo from a distance, naturally, there is a draw to look at something that holds so much power over us. As Karen Hill said in good fellas “I know there are women, like my best friends, who would have gotten out of there the minute their boyfriend gave them a gun to hide. But I didn’t. I got to admit the truth. It turned me on.”. Speaking of rats, they were view in Victorian society as unclean and certainly untouchable making them taboo. But a sociologist wrote detailed accounts of street performers who were trained in handling and touching sewer rats. Spectators would watch in disgust but also wonderment at the performer’s ability to put his hand in the cage and not get bitten. The street performer essentially had the mystical power of being able to handle something that was so taboo,appeal to them created by these taboos. The distance that film creates from the movie screen to a viewer is the perfect distance to look but not touch.
The gangster is certainly a complex character but was not all that much different from them. We all strive for the same things as humans’ respect, status, and control. The only difference is that that we don’t have the guts to do anything about it. We are satisfied seeing it on the big screen, and maybe that is a good thing or maybe we’re all a bunch of suckers and they’ve been right all along. They obtain this status and success from dominating their environment like the apex predator. Whether its heist, drugs or some other crime if it is profitable for them they will do it. Because at the end of the day these were blue collar guys this was the only way they could make an extra buck in their eyes. I think Henry Hill put it best when he said “For us to live any other way was nuts. Uh, to us, those goody-good people who worked shitty jobs for bum paychecks and took the subway to work every day and worried about their bills were dead. I mean they were suckers. They had no balls. If we wanted something, we just took it. If anyone complained twice they got hit so bad, believe me, they never complained again.”.
Works Cited
Chadwick, Bruce. “Why We Have Loved Gangster Movies for 100 Years.” History News Network, historynewsnetwork.org/article/160590.
“The Departed (2006).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0407887/?ref_=nv_sr_1.
“The Godfather (1972).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0068646/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1.
“The Godfather: Part II (1974).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0071562/?ref_=nv_sr_2.
“Goodfellas (1990).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0099685/.
Konnikova, Maria. “Why Do We Admire Mobsters?” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 19 June 2017, www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/why-do-we-admire-mobsters.
Milan, Michael Day in. “Secrets of the Mafia Mind Revealed by Psychiatrists.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 7 Nov. 2010, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/secrets-of-the-mafia-mind-revealed-by-psychiatrists-2128037.html.
“The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0002381/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1.
O’Neill, Ann. “Mob Week: Why We Can’t Get Enough of the Gangster Life.” CNN, Cable News Network, 22 June 2013, www.cnn.com/2013/06/22/justice/mob-week-bulger-hoffa-soprano/index.html.
“The Public Enemy (1931).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0022286/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1.
“Scarface (1932).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0023427/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1.
“Scarface (1983).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0086250/?ref_=nv_sr_1.