American Gangsta
I'm looking forward to seeing "American Gangster." Ridley Scott is definitely one of my favorite directors (I'm watching "Matchstick Men" right now). I think there's a possibility that "American Gangster" will quickly line up alongside "The Godfather," "Scarface," and "Goodfellas" as a film that middle class male wankstas look to for inspiration. Michael Corleone, Tony Montana, and other characters of their stripe are supposed to teach lessons. It's ironic that they seem to be idolized as role models by a lot of young guys. Throughout four years of university, our suite was of the few that was not adorned with posters of Don Vito holding a cat or Tony Montana brandishing an M-16 (I had a "Pulp Fiction" one-sheet instead; Uma Thurman is slightly more attractive).
My hypothesis has been strengthened by the announcement that (the supposedly retired) Jay-Z will be releasing an album of songs inspired by the film. Hip-hop has a longstanding relationship with this type of movie. A lot of artists want to believe that they live in the same high-rolling/high-risk world that the characters do. Not the healthiest image for their audience. We'll see how this one develops.
Comments
And I totally feel what you're saying about this odd hero worship for the main characters in these films. It's always seemed so odd to me that they are idolized as someone a young guy hopes to be, when the entire point of the story is the descent of person to the point that they lose their soul. The stories are tragedies, so it's certainly an odd cultural phenomenon to long to play the part of the lead in real life.