Analysis Of City Of God

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The film City of God (2003) co-directed by Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund explores the impact of urban planning and urban environment on the social and cultural behaviors of urban residents. The movie portrays urban planning as a factor in the allocation of resources to different urban neighborhoods, and how this allocation promotes the development of two social classes the poor and the rich. Secondly, the film attributes urban planning to social decadence as the marginalization of poor neighborhoods through government policies that limit resource allocation creates the perfect social environment for crime, moral decadence, and socialization of a whole generation into criminal activities.
City of God is set in the sprawling slums of Rio …show more content…

The film’s portrayal of government insensitivity to the plight of the slum dwellers and the telling of the story from the point of view of the characters shows that the youth who become criminals, such as the Tender Trio and the Runts are victims of circumstances. These kids were not born criminals or social deviants, but are, right from birth, exposed to a social environment that nurtures them into criminals. They are born into a world were survival requires one to engage in crime, a decadent society in which hardcore criminals like the Tender Trio are idols. The film, therefore, views the social problems associated with urban slums from the victims’ point of view by trying to show why they act and behave the way they do. It is not an attempt to excuse or justify their crimes, but an objective depiction of the interacting factors that make young boys like Li 'l Zé and the Runts to be transformed from innocent children to gun-toting robbers and drug sellers. They are victims of government negligence of the slum’s poor, exemplified by an urban planning policy that limits resource allocation to poor neighborhoods. The ending scene drives this point home powerfully when the Runts ask each other if anyone of them can write so they can make the hit list. Without education, how does the government expect such youths to earn a living, and how much can they be justifiably blamed for turning out the way they did? In the City of God, crime is the beast. If you run away, it will catch up with you, if you stay, it will eat

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