City of God depicts the extreme violence that is present in the favela and how it ubiquitously affects the lives of those in it. I was first introduced to the prevalence of the corruption and violence in Brazil while learning about the topic in high school. However, learning about it through a presentation is very different than seeing the visual aspects and internalizing the effects of continuously seeing dead bodies. The horrors of watching senseless violence become regular and as a result of incomprehensibly minute reasons becomes even worse as we see children cause this themselves. Further, the film depicts how often, the only way of surviving seems to be to participate in the corruption and violence themselves.

While this film was striking and seemed to create a sense of hopelessness, it is not surprising. There are large disparities between cities — a city can be teeming with extravagance while a neighboring city encounters death, corruption, and violence at extreme levels. It becomes more important to realize that these disparities exist so that cities do not become ignored and situations cyclically worsening.