Last week, GRF Tyler hosted the movie City of God, which depicted the life of two individuals in the same poor neighborhood. One of them became a photographer, while the other became the drug lord. I was pleasantly surprised with how the directors played with the power dynamics involved with drugs. For instance, at one point the main antagonist, Lil’Z, ensured the safety of the local residents by keeping raiders off the streets with his display of violence and cruelness. More interestingly, he achieved this kind of fame through drugs and by doing something “good” for his neighborhood, something that I certainly wouldn’t associate with a drug dealer.

But at the same time, I think the movie reveals a lot of the darker themes in life, especially in poor countries. From the beginning, the police force in their neighborhood didn’t prove to be of much help and many people would often be intimidated into helping the people who have committed crimes. In addition, there was lots of thefts, innocent deaths, and rape, things that plague poorer countries without proper law enforcement. One thing I found surprising was the scene when Lil’Z forced a child to kill another child in order for the latter to prove his commitment and bravery into joining the gang. His psychotic behavior certainly fit his role as the gang leader.

Overall, this movie was a bit too bloody for me, I didn’t really expect to see children killing other children, or children wielding guns for that matter. However, I feel that it depicts a lot of the structure that goes on in these areas run by drug dealers. While the drugs are bad, it seems that during times where there is a prominent leader, people benefitted from the “crime” control as opposed to what local law enforcement could do.