Sunday, April 18, 2010

Crips and Bloods: Made in America

Our class discussion of how Killer of Sheep portrayed Watts reminded of a documentary called Crips and Bloods: Made in America. This is a documentary about the gang violence in South Central Los Angeles. I can’t really decide if this is a movie portraying “city of fact” or “city of feeling”. It explains the history of the war between the Crips and Bloods gang as well as how historic barriers created the neighborhood. This movie does a good job of explaining why these people are here by interviewing gang members or former gang members who explain how the destructive cycle of killing and revenge binds them to their territory. However, I do think that this documentary does reinforce the stereotype of South Central as a gang infested community. There are people who are not in gangs in the area, but as this documentary is discussing this prevalent part of the community it characterizes the community, perhaps unfairly. Furthermore, the movie does not address the fact that South Central is turning into a Hispanic neighborhood. But, the documentary does provide a story of hope towards the end as it discusses the ways to stay out of gangs and how to perhaps end the gangs in the future. Below is the link to the trailer and a few interviews with different people involved in the movie.


Our class discussion of how Killer of Sheep portrayed Watts reminded of a documentary called Crips and Bloods: Made in America. This is a documentary about the gang violence in South Central Los Angeles. I can’t really decide if this is a movie portraying “city of fact” or “city of feeling”. It explains the history of the war between the Crips and Bloods gang as well as how historic barriers created the neighborhood. This movie does a good job of explaining why these people are here by interviewing gang members or former gang members who explain how the destructive cycle of killing and revenge binds them to their territory. However, I do think that this documentary does reinforce the stereotype of South Central as a gang infested community. There are people who are not in gangs in the area, but as this documentary is discussing this prevalent part of the community it characterizes the community, perhaps unfairly. Furthermore, the movie does not address the fact that South Central is turning into a Hispanic neighborhood. But, the documentary does provide a story of hope towards the end as it discusses the ways to stay out of gangs and how to perhaps end the gangs in the future.

Below is the link to the trailer and a few interviews with different people involved in the movie:

http://www.cripsandbloodsmovie.com/


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