Jason Paul Grant

Gangstar

The following essay intends to demonstrate how the gangster genre is re-created through studying two different texts within that genre. By examining one text from America and another from Britain will display the different tendencies of how the genre has evolved away from the classic iconographies and narratives from the past. This essay aims to explore the two texts in brief detail in order to understand how they contribute to the creation of meaning of the gangster genre.

In addition, this essay proposes to argue how the classic codes for the gangster genre are still used to some extent with the addition of other structures working alongside them. Lastly, taking a look at the concept of a genre and how it is formulated.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/menance%202%20society/chuy211/Menace2Society.jpg

For the purposes of this essay, the two texts that are to be studied are the 1993 Hughes Brothers motion picture Menace 2 Society and the 2006 Julian Gilbey film Rollin’ with the nines. Menace 2 Society is an African American movie based in Watts, Los Angeles depicting the life of urban teenagers trying to survive in an area full of depression, crime and drugs. F. Mason describes how the film is mainly trying to highlight the social oppression that creates youth gangs. Also how there really is not any viable option for young underprivileged African-Americans apart from the gangster life, which is not about the lavish pursuits but more about self-destruction through the animal like violence experienced on a daily basis. The narrative economy shows exactly how life is for young black Americans growing up in an area with no hope. The positive role models are few and far between with the lure of the streets much more powerful. Kane, the main character who also narrates the story, is forced to seek retribution for his cousin being killed. Revenge is a common feature creating disequilibrium throughout the film resulting in Kane’s own death at the end by a guy who was seeking to settle a score.

Rollin’ with the nines is a British film based in south London that also shows gangs but with a little more organisation, controlling the drugs trade. The narrative economy presents a rap group who are forced into heavy drug trafficking when one of their members is murdered. The murdered victim’s sister Hope walks into her house to find the killers demanding that she should pay off her brother’s debt. Hope is then raped and left for dead, which creates the disequilibrium for the film. She decides to deal with the killer by shooting him, which then puts her in contact with his supplier who she must now sell drugs for. Hope becomes a huge dealer but her crew all fall victim to her power. The end of the film shows Hope walking down a road with all the confidence and power radiating off of her. The motion picture attempts to highlight the issues of drugs, guns and gangs that have arisen in London over the recent years.

Steve Neale describes how the gangster genre is made up of specific defining characteristics that are mostly visual iconography. In Menace 2 Society the guns carried range from high-powered hand guns to shotguns to sub-machine guns which are mainly used in drive-bys, a term to describe driving while shooting from a car. The cars are mostly the American Cadillac types which have been converted into low-riders, a term to describe a car with hydraulics which enables a car to ride really low to the ground. The clothes are mainly street garments, traditional American hood clothing including khakis, baggy shirts, string vests and trainers. These signifiers help contribute to the creation of meaning.

However in Rollin’ with the nines the guns which are used again range from hand guns, shot guns to sub-machine guns but are mainly used up close to the victims. The cars range from big Range-Rovers, sporty Golf’s and executive Audi’s. Again the clothing is mainly urban street fashion, however there are more expensive styles worn from the classic sharp suits to expensive jewellery. This film seems to display a lot more money than the latter film. This is mainly due to being set in more than just one area of London. Again these signifiers assist in the creation of meaning for the movie.

http://unrealitymag.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/menace-ii-society_l.jpg

Both of the films can be categorised as ethnic films as they mainly have black characters. Barry Keith Grant suggests any motion picture with an all-black cast should be described as a race film.  However, movies with an all-white cast are not described as white gangster films, which may have to do with the way commercial pictures are marketed. Furthermore a black gangster is a person who gains income through criminal activities such as extortion, burglary, gambling, pimping, robbery and drug dealing. Whereas a white gangster would not only gain money from the above but would more than likely be involved in organising top level crime. In reference to Rollin’ with the nines even though the main characters are black, the person who is really at the top is an old white gangster who is actually above the law. Menace 2 Society only really has black characters with the white characters playing very limited roles, mainly police officers or non-speaking roles. Black gangster films could be described as contemporary films that have evolved out of the classic gangster films of the early thirties.

Gangster films can be thought of as what Jill Nelmes describes as genres of order. The hero is usually male or there are male dominant figures within the films. The setting of the movie is invariable in challenging spaces normally set within the cities most deprived areas that are ideologically unstable. Menace to Society is set within a deprived area, which can be described as a ghetto. The houses all seem to resemble each other and the lawns have no flowers. The furniture looks worn and the inside of certain houses are very dull, no bright colours. There always seems to be a lot of people out during the day without any real purpose. A very rundown area is signified through those characteristics. Rollin’ with the nines is set within London however the film is not placed in one particular area. Apartments are spacious with contemporary furniture that is clean and bright. Certain parts of the movie show more deprived areas which could be described as unstable, especially the scene when police raid a Jamaican’s house and find guns, drugs and dead bodies cut up in a bath tub. There is normally a conflict that becomes externalised through the expression of violent behaviour, usually gunshots. The resolution is only saved through the death or elimination of people who are deemed as a problem. In Menace to society all conflicts are resolved through violence, whether using fists, feet or weapons. In general the hero takes up the problems that are going on around them and acts as the solver or fixer. There is normally a macho code of conduct and that even applies to women characters. As in Rollin’ with the nines, Hope the leading lady has to overcome a traumatic rape then kill her rapist. She actually succeeds then starts selling drugs, which set the film off on the track of drugs, gangs and guns. Her behaviour could be described as very un-lady like.  Lastly there is an isolated self-reliance where the hero does not live by the roles of society but rather maintains individuality through their own sort of lifestyle.

http://latemag.com/images/Rollin_with_the_nines_2.jpg

In Menace to society, the meaning of the film is quite complex as on the one hand the movie has Kane’s loved ones telling him to leave the area. The reality is that he is murdered before he can leave and the surviving character is Kane’s friend O’ Dog, who incites Kane to commit his first murder. O’ Dog is one of the most ruthless characters throughout the film with the opening scene showing just how deadly he can be. The film leaves the impression that even if Kane had really wanted to live a different life, he would have had to of stayed in doors surrounded by the comfort of his religious grandparents. The streets seemed to have no way out apart from death, drug addiction or struggling to make ends meet. The meaning is created through the mindless violence, police brutality, drug culture, low aspirations and the desire to represent.

In Rollin’ with the nines, the meaning of the film is quite ambiguous as Hope is the last woman standing after doing most of the killing throughout the movie. She is protected by the gangster whom she is selling for, and the gangster is protected by the policeman who will break all rules to get what he wants. Corruption seems rife and affects all areas of life in the film. The film may have been trying to explain how certain people in London get away with murder. The creation of this meaning is made up through the murders that seem to happen every ten minutes, the amount of drugs that is being pushed through the streets of London, the different arrangements between Hope, the gangster and the police.

The gangster genre is a genre that can be understood as a commercial film, which Fran Mason depicts as with repetition and variation. They always tell similar stories with recognisable characters going through the same old situations. The movies enable the viewers to expect and experience the same sort of feelings as when they last viewed a film within that particular genre. Therefore genres are a set of practices that can be identified through iconography, narrative formulae and semiotic codes. Moreover, genres provide a safe way of viewing complex ideas about the social world in which we inhabit. This is achieved by using conventions and structured patterns of order to enable the audience to feel comfortable in knowing what to expect. The supporting feature of this argument is iconography, which is made up of the props being used, costumes being worn and the setting of the film. In the term of semiotics, which is attributed to Ferdinard de Saussure (1857-1913), he would describe these as signs and visual signifiers that tell the audience immediately the generic identity of a film. Jill Nelmes further discusses how it is signifiers, which make paradigms recognisable. The paradigms are costumes, weaponry, transportation and typical characters which all make up the rule of combination.

http://www.shikanga.co.uk/Uploads/RollinWithTheNines200x150v2.jpg

In conclusion, this essay has provided a brief outline of both films in order to look at the different tendencies displayed through certain gangster films. Furthermore paying particular attention to the narrative economies to view how they have helped in the creation of meaning for the films. As well as describing the different iconographies used and the similar characteristics displayed through the films to place them firmly within the gangster genre. Lastly by including the features that make up a classic gangster film to show how both films have moved away slightly from those classic conventions into contemporary gangster films. Also how the new contemporary films have deeper social meanings that are trying to highlight the problems that are going on at the time. As F. Mason states

“The resolutely urban context in the gangster film in this period can be seen as an attempt to offer some comment on contemporary social and cultural conditions”.