“City of God” follows the choices and challenges faced by a group of kids growing up in a very tough time in a very rough circumstance. This movie felt unique to me because instead of feeling like watching  a movie with clear “good” and “bad” paths, I felt like I was watching an unraveling of childhood innocence and the development of “anti-heroes”. This film reminds of another I have seen called “Beasts of No Nation”, which also dramatizes the situations that many children living in violent areas face. The striping of childhood creates a void in a child which will feel the need to be filled by a means of reclaiming a sense of ‘authority’ or ‘identity’–usually through some kind of a control over a ‘power dynamic’ , as seen in “City of God”. Watching this film really saddened me, and also gave me a sense to evaluate myself and introspect on my own life in relation to others to ensure that before I ever pass judgment on someone, that I ensure I understand their being in the context of their own life, not just from the perspective of mine.