He gave it up and returned to the streets, where his gang members hung out and fenced stolen goods for money.
When he was eighteen, one day his little brother, Paco, came to him and said he wanted to join the gang. Jose looked at his little brother, four years younger than he, with a round, innocent face and big, black, trusting eyes. Fear and anger rose in him.

No way!" he said. "You just stay away from those gangs. You're too young, you don't know what you are asking. You should go to school and make something of yourself, not waste your time with a gang!"

As soon as he said it, and saw the tears start to come up in Paco's eyes, he knew what he had to do. He was not setting a good example for his brother. His brother saw him smoking and drinking sometimes, and glimpsed him…...

Frank ends up in prison and comes out after 15 years a frail and misplaced person who no longer fits in the Harlem streets, no longer the feared drug baron that he was. It is also a positive experience since even in the midst of the rotten and corrupt police force, there was Richie who refused to compromise his personal and work ethics at all costs.
I did experience a cultural shock, since it is not a common scene for me to experience such extent of drug dealings and prostitution and a rotten police force that ended up being incriminated up to three quarters of the entire force responsible for Harlem being convicted for drug related cases, this was shocking.

The theory that best fits the movie and the experiences in the movies is the Social / learning theory and aggressive personality. There is a lot of influence that the society…...

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Delattre, E. (2006). Character and cops: Ethics in policing (5th ed., pp. 10, 79, 85, 88).

Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Retrieved August 5, 2011 from  http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/359222/predominant_theories_of_police_corruption_pg2.html?cat=17 

The Internet Movie Database,(2011). Biography of Ridley Scott. Retrieved August 5, 2011 from  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000631/bio

American Gangster" and "Scarface." Specifically it will discuss the similarities in the films. Both of these films explore the underworld of drug trafficking, and they illustrate how wildly profitable and dangerous the practice is for those who are involved. Interestingly, one of the things that the films have in common is main characters named Frank, but there are many more similarities to the films. They both show the world of drug dealing, violence, and paranoia that fills these people's lives, and they show that drug dealing really does not pay.
In "American Gangster," set in the 1970s, Denzel Washington plays Frank Lucas, a protegee of a well-known Harlem gangster and drug dealer. He takes over the business after the gangster dies, and he realizes that he can make huge profits by importing heroin directly from Southeast Asia, eliminating the middleman and keeping all the profits for himself. In "Scarface," Tony…...

The 1990s also saw innovative interpretation of law enforcement's role in the perpetuation of organized crime. One of the most notable examples is L.A. Confidential (1997), in which corruption has reached so deep into the Los Angeles police department that two seemingly unrelated criminal investigations both lead to the police chief. The genre also proved its adaptability and continued appeal with Heat (1995) and Carlito's ay (1993); both films starred Al Pacino, and Heat brought Pacino together with De Niro in two of the most memorable scenes in the pair's careers.

Prior to 1999, however, the gangster genre had not successfully expanded to television. But in January of this year, HBO's the Sopranos debuted with considerable critical acclaim. Again, the emphasis of the Sopranos, directed by David Chase, was upon realism. One of the most powerful appeals of the series was the portrayal of the delicate balance the main protagonist, Tony…...

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Works Cited

Biskend, Peter. "An American Family." Vanity Fair, April 2007. Available:  http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/04/sopranos200704?currentPage=1 .

Earp Trial Homepage. "Shoot-Out Scenarios." University of Missouri, 2007. Available:

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/earp/scenarios.html.

Faludi, Susan. "An American Myth rides off into the Sunset." New York Times, March 30, 2003. Available:

Gangster Rap Responds to Police Brutality
Gangster Rap Speaking Out Against Police Brutality

Art often reflects life. When life creates situations that are dire, the art projected from that experience echoes that sense of urgency for change. In today's modern existence, the values of various subcultures do not always correlate with that of the dominate culture. This can often result in a clash of cultures, where minority groups are left to deal with the judgment of the majority group. A prime example of this is the gangster rap coming out of Los Angeles in the late 1980s and the early 1990s. At the time, gang violence was increasing, thus prompting for up scaling of law enforcement strategies. Ultimately, this led to LAPD acting out often much too aggressively in order to curb the increasing violence of the region. The art coming from such circumstances thus illustrates a clear defiance for law enforcement…...

Lac talks about his journey into what he calls the "thug life." He is more into the Vietnamese gang headed by Dragon Head. They drink a lot, curse all the time, and go into somebody's house to rob. They steal money, jewelry, and whatever of value they can find in the house. It turns out that the owner of the house is the father of Lac's classmate. Although Lac joined the robbing, he feels remorse for what he did. He does not want to repeat it but he also wants to stay with the gang. When the Dragon Head asks him for a favor, he conforms. Lac, I think, tells this story to further discuss his inability to find the right place at his youth years. He thought being a member of a gang was cool. He also wanted a group he felt he belonged to as a respectable…...

Crazy Horse and the Western Hero
Crazy Horse, believed born sometime in 1838, was a respected member of the Oglala Sioux Native American tribe and is noted for his courage in battle. He was recognized among his own people as a visionary leader committed to preserving the traditions and values of the Lakota way of life and leading his people into a war against the take-over of their lands by the White Man. The location of Crazy Horses birth is not conclusively known. Some sources report his birthplace as the South Cheyenne River. Other sources point to either Rapid Creek, near present day Rapid City, South Dakota, or near ear utte outside Sturgis, South Dakota.

Crazy Horse earned his reputation among the Lakota not only by his skill and daring in battle, but also by his fierce determination to preserve his people's traditional way of life. Celebrated for his ferocity in battle,…...

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Bibliography

Marshall, Joseph M. "Crazy Horse (Tasunke Witko) 1840-77."

Pautler, N.P. "We all play the hand we're dealt, honored historian says." University Week. June 22, 1995, p. 3.

Robert Warshow. The Immediate Experience: Movies, Comics, Theatre and Other Aspects of Popular Culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001.

White, Richard. It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991.

Conclusions -- It becomes immediately clear that the art of the silent film depended on three major elements: smooth editing, appropriate use of subtitles, and actors who were able to use their eyes and movement to communicate or "play to the camera." It was surprising that only one of the films viewed seemed "primitive," and that was only the initial parts of Gertie. By the time we get to The ink, there has been an obvious improvement in camera techniques and the ability to film from different angles and heights, even if the camera is stable. In addition, the vaudevillian arm and comedy of The ink is classic. It is also interesting to note that the subject matter, while varied, seemed far less censored that what we would come to expect in later Hollywood years -- we see prostitution, abject poverty, criminal behavior, sexual innuendos with fairy creatures, and a…...

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REFERENCES and WORKS CONSULTED

Bowser, E. (1990). The Transformation of Cinema, 1907-1915. Scribners.

Clegg, B. (2007). The Man Who Stopped Time. Joseph Henry Press.

Wexman, V. And J. Wllis. (2006). A History of Film. Allyn and Bacon.

Film Links:

Criminology
obert Merton was the brain behind Anomie Theory. This theory majors on deviance. The theory's major preoccupation is why rates of deviance differ from one society to the other and from one subgroup that come from one society to the other. Merton's work emphasizes cultures' unifying aspects and how it can create deviance and disunity within a society. Cultural norms, according to this theory, break down as a result of rapid changes that take place. The theory attributes occurrence of Anomic suicide to the occurrence of major economic depression that makes people not to achieve the goals they had learned to pursue (Siegel, 2008). Anomic suicide can also occur when there is an economic boom. In such circumstances people fail to limit their goals and be satisfied with their achievements. There can be lack of fit with regard to culture's norm about what constitute success in life and the appropriate…...

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References List

Abadinsky, H. (2004). Organized Crime. Belmont, California: Thomson Wadsworth.

SAGE (n.d.). Major Sociological Theoretical Approaches in Criminology. Retrieved from  http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/50621_ch_7 

Siegel, L.J. (2008). Criminology: The Core. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.

This decision was a wise one from a business standpoint and it allowed him to drastically reduce costs, which in turn reflected in lower prices for cocaine. Soon enough then, Lucas became the preferred drug provider, selling the quality Blue Magic at low prices. He even became the wholesaler for other drug dealers in the city.
This desire to cut the middle man and deal with operations directly is also present with ichie obinson. Not once is he met with the frustration of the bureaucracy that slows him down. And when he finally manages to better follow the illicit activities, he becomes head of a new department that follows drug dealers directly, rather than focusing on the middle men.

Then, there is the theme of discipline and strong character. ichie oberts is not himself a very disciplined man. His marriage is falling apart and his colleagues dislike him. Still, in all…...

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References:

Benshoff, H.M., Griffin, S., America on film: representing race, class, gender and sexuality at the movies, John Wiley and Sons, 2011

Gambetta, D., The Sicilian mafia: the business of private protection, Harvard University Press, 1996

DiCanio, M., Encyclopedia of violence: frequent, commonplace, unexpected, iUniverse, 2004

Sifakis, C., The mafia encyclopedia, 3rd edition, Infobase Publishing, 2005

The film version of the 'GodFather' became famous. The reason is that it was essentially a portrayal more on the family and emotional side rather than the gun toting violence. Thus the viewer shows the discernment between a good and bad movie by analyzing the depth of the portrayal rather than stunts. The argument that violence in cinema begets violence in real life falls flat. The viewers are not imbeciles, although many film producers take that for granted. Scarface 1932 version was all about the real gang rule of America. However the film not only depicted the violent lives of these people but also examined the psychology of the gangster and challenged the administration and there was depth in the portrayal. The viewer was absorbed in the passions of Tony to which they could relate, if not with the violence. Could that film have goaded viewers to become criminals? It…...

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References

Youtube. (2011) "Scarface movie that released in 1932" Retrieved 11 June 2011 from  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qx6DhjaAP8 

Youtube. (2011) "Scarface" Retrieved 11 June 2011 from  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3jin2t_sJM&feature=related 

Pells, Richard H. (1998) "Radical visions and American dreams: culture and social thought in the Depression years" University of Illinois Press.

Lyons, Charles. (1997) "The new censors: movies and the culture wars"

Scarface is the nickname which was given to one of the most famous and infamous members of organized crime. Scholars and crime-buffs throughout the United States know all about Alphonse "Scarface" Capone and how he grew to head the mafia in Chicago, Illinois in the 1920s. Capone was able to achieve his success in the underworld by being smarter and perhaps luckier than his enemies. He was a strategist, as focused on the destruction of his opposition as any general of any army. Although his actions were nefarious and his endeavors only intended to his financial betterment, it cannot be denied that the likes of Capone served an important role in the formation of American history. The original film Scarface is based on the life of Al Capone, gangster films being very popular in the 1930s and early 1940s while the 1980s remake of Scarface tells a similarly themed story…...

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Works Cited:

"Al Capone." 2012. Biography.com 11 Feb 2012,

.com/people/al-capone-9237536http://www.biography

"Organized Crime." United States History.

Raab, Selwyn. Five Families. New York, NY. Thomas Dunne. 2005. Print.

Deglamorizing American Street Gangs

Social researcher and author Deborah Lamm eisel (2002) says that the glamorized image of the American street gang as drug dealers is not the image that is consistent with historical research (Lamm eisel 75).

The drug gang} is certainly not a typical street gang... They didn't even grow out of a street gang. These kids started out to make money by pedaling crack and that is a very different phenomenon than street gangs (Knox 66) (Lamm eisel 75)."

Lamm eisel has gone back to the essence of the historical gangs that go back to the earliest immigrants who carved out sections of neighborhoods for themselves using coercion and violence to maintain territorial boundaries. However, it is easy to disagree with Knox, because for decades now street gangs have been associated with the violence and trafficking of illegal drugs.

In a journal article by John M. Hagedorn (2006), the social scientist-writer…...

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Works Cited

 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=111541618 

Contemporary Gangs: An Organizational Analysis. New York: LFB Scholoarly Publishing, 2002. Questia. 14 May 2008  http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=111541620 .

Coppola, Francis Ford (dir). The Godfather, motion picture. Paramount Pictures (1972), USA.

A www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5017029131

A recent market report notes,

In recent decades, famous Hollywood directors, such as Quentin Tarantino and Oliver Stone, have credited the influence of Hong Kong film styles on their works. John oo has relocated his career to Hollywood to become one of its biggest directors. In fact, not only has John oo's style influenced others, but his current films are Hollywood. ("Hong Kong movie skills grow in Hollywood" para. 2)

Precisely why Hong Kong films have had this influence is hard to say for certain beyond noting that filmmakers like Tsui Hark and John oo adapted American genres to the international market in a way that re-energized those genres and showed American filmmakers a new way to approach traditional material. Hong Kong filmmakers like John oo and Ang Lee have transferred to Hollywood to carry the transformation even further.

orks Cited

Clouse, Robert. Enter the Dragon. Concord Productions Inc., 1973.

Hong Kong Cinema." Tourism in…...

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Works Cited

Clouse, Robert. Enter the Dragon. Concord Productions Inc., 1973.

Hong Kong Cinema." Tourism in Asia (2007).. December 2, 2007. http://hong-kong.tourism-asia.net/cinema.html.

Hong Kong Movie Skills Grow in Hollywood." International Market News (11 July 2002). December 1, 2007. http://www.piercelawgroupllp.com/hongkong_movie_skills.PDF.

Kei, Sek. "Achievement and Crisis: Hong Kong Cinema in the '802." Bright Lights Film Journal. December 3, 2007.  http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/31/hk_achievement1.html .

Music
Misconception is a false belief system; an erroneous cognitive construct that leads to a dysfunctional worldview and potentially destructive behavior. In possession of a misconception, a person develops a warped sense of identity and a distorted vision of reality. The media is especially brilliant at crafting stories that create misconceptions in the minds of the public and its consumer sheep, simply by creating a legend or a myth that influences consumer behavior and social norms.

Music can be a media tool to create the misconceptions that shape American social norms and consumer behavior. Most music has the potential to uplift, inspire, and enliven our community; yet some forms of music are having the exact opposite effect, and that negative impact is felt most by young and impressionable consumers. The negative impact can be referred to as misconception. ith regards to music, the wrong types of music can leave deep and lasting…...

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Works Cited

Crouch, Stanley. "Taking Back the Music." Social Responsibility.

Ferrell, Monique. "Go Brooklyn!" Lead, Follow, or Move Out of the Way

Giovacchini, Anthony M. "The Negative Influence of Gangster Rap and What Can be Done about It." Ethics of Development in a Global Environment. Retrieved online:  http://www.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/mediarace/negative.htm

The Evolving Portrayal of Traditional Filipino Games in Literary Works

Traditional Filipino games, known as "larong Pinoy," have held a significant place in Filipino culture for generations. These games have been passed down through oral traditions and have played a vital role in shaping the collective identity and childhood experiences of Filipinos. However, the portrayal of larong Pinoy in Philippine literature has undergone an evolution, reflecting the changing social and cultural contexts.

Early Portrayals: Nostalgia and Idealization

In early Filipino literary works, such as the novels of José Rizal and Nick Joaquin, larong Pinoy is often depicted with a sense of nostalgia and....