Black Mass was a movie directed by Scott Cooper where Johnny Depp played James (Whitey) Bulger. The film was created to show the actions behind what could be Boston's most notorious mob boss. From his daily life with his business to family life with his wife and son. Whitey Bulger and his associates were involved in racketeering, money laundering, murder, and extortion. This movie did its best to capture the essence of Whitey Bulger and who he involved himself with. Black Mass was loved by many, but people close to Whitey Bulger did not feel that they told what really happened at the time, including Whitey Bulger himself. To many people's surprise, James Bulger was not born in Boston. He was actually born in the town just north of Boston, …show more content…
Everett on September 3, 1929, less than two months before the stock market crashed. Early in his childhood his family moved to Dorchester where he grew up in a relatively poor household. James’ father was originally for Newfoundland but he moved to Boston for a better life. He found a job working as a seaman for a decent pay. Unfortunately on the job his arm was stuck between two freight cars and it had to be amputated. This setback deemed it extremely difficult to find any work to support his family later in life. Once the great depression hit, it was hard for James’ dad to find a steady job without an arm for doing most unskilled work. Another problem in James’ life was his lack of effort in school. His teachers knew that he was a smart kid, but he would constantly act out and was not able to sit still. James got the nickname “Whitey” because of his bright blond hair. His family was lucky enough to be chosen out of a total of 1,016 families to live in better housing in south Boston, and that is where they moved. Their family had always lived in small houses, so this three bedroom apartment was a big step up. Bulgers early life of crime began when he was fourteen years old. He was arrested for stealing, and his crimes just escalated from that point on. To try and straighten himself out, Whitey joined the Airforce but as expected, he served time in military jail for going AWOL. Once he was honorably discharged from the military, Whitey got right back into his life of crime. A string of robberies got him caught again, where he was sentenced to 25 years in jail. Nine of those years were actually spent in Alcatraz where he did testing for the CIA, taking LSD and being studied. This kept up for a few years, and even to this day Whitey complains that he is still affected from the testing. When Whitey was released from prison again, he joined the mob boss Donald Killeen where he worked as an enforcer. He killed many people and by 1979 he was the leader of the gang. Black Mass was centered around Whitey Bulger’s life in the 80’s after he became the mob boss.
Throughout the movie, he is shown killing people in broad daylight with a machine gun to strangling one of his associates daughter-in-law. Both of these events were not made up, they were just a small crack in the many murders that Whitey committed in his lifetime. The movie also focused on Whitey’s involvement with the FBI. In the course of the movie, Whitey’s handler John Connolly, a lifelong friend of Bulger, looks the other way while he continues to commit violent crimes in exchange for information on the Patriarca Family. This was beneficial to both parties whereas Whitey was getting immunity and the ability to expand his empire while simultaneously taking out the competition. Black Mass did a good job of showing the love between Whitey and his son Douglas. In both the movie and real life Douglas was caught Reye’s syndrome, a disease that attacks your liver and brain. In the movie Whitey’s wife is taking care of Douglas as she normally would when he has the flu when he has a secure and falls into a coma. Unfortunately, Douglas dies when they pull the plug, deciding that he should not suffer. They show in the movie how after that point Whitey changed and never went back to his old self, which holds true in real life as
well. There were some things in Black Mass that were not entirely true or completely left out altogether. People that were close to Bulger such as reporters, family, and even friends said that the movie glorified South Boston gangsters. Many felt that it was missing the mark of the actual events that occurred during Whitey’s time as the mob boss. Reports from the prison say that Whitey does not plan on watching the movie. Whitey’s attorney commented saying “Hollywood greed is behind the rush to portray my client's case.” That makes it seen like Hollywood just made up the whole story about the murders and drugs which is proven to be false. I think that he is just trying to protect Whitey’s “good” image. A long time friend of Bulger, Kevin Weeks made a comment on how he was portrayed in the movie. Kevin says, “We’re portrayed as low life thugs … we came off like paupers … at night we were wearing $2700 Louis suits.” He was referring to the parts of the movie when he was dressed in casual clothing at night and came off as not very bright, when in reality he studied at Harvard. The movie decided to have a different interpretation of how Whitey was finally caught after being on the FBI’s most wanted list for sixteen years. In the movie they showed him being apprehended by police in a parking garage below where he was living. What really happened was he was caught when he went down to his storage locker in the basement of the apartment where he was staying. I think that they changed the location because it is a better setting for filming rather than a cramped area with storage lockers. Even though Whitey Bulger does not plan on watching the movie and his close friends feel that the movie was not entirely actuare, it was a good overall representation of the events that took place. Not only that, it was also very entertaining, keeping me wanting to watch more as the movie progressed. The movie did not show it, but Whitey had a hard life growing up and got into trouble at a young age almost guaranteeing him a life of crime after being in and out of prison for many years. Even not being as accurate as some say, I still thoroughly enjoyed the movie and learned a lot about Whitey’s reign in Boston for almost twenty years.
Delacroix’s boss, Thomas Dunwitty, feels entitled to be and “act black and no matter how hard he tries to be black, he will always be white. Dunwitty is a typical racist that loves and appreciates Black culture, but doesn’t love and appreciate Black people. In the movie, he only wants to use Black people for entertainment and only wants to see them portrayed as their stereotype, which is being ignorant idiots. He doesn’t want educated Black people on his network. No, he wants the obedient, compliant “nigger” who is willing to do anything for “massa”. Dunwitty wants a “nigga” show. He wanted to use “being a nigga” as entertainment. He loved the fact that the show makes an absolute mockery of slavery and Black people because he thinks it’s not racist or wrong because it was made by a Black person. This movie showed me that no matter how hard we try to destroy stereotypes, they will always be in effect. People don’t want a show that shows black empowerment, truth, positivity, or Black intelligence. They only want the ignorant Black people, the stupidity, disrespect, and negativity. People want Black people to be portrayed this way on television just to say “see this is really how they act”. Intelligent Black people with dignity
...von Martin. It's what provoked four white police officers to fire 41 bullets at Amado Diallo, another unarmed black man, in 1999”(Fruitvale Station). Oscar Cruz was racially profiled, shot and killed due to the color of his skin. This movie truly shows how racism is still real, even in modern day America. It also helps open the eyes of Americans to see for themselves, literally, the struggles African American males face in comparison to other races and ethnicities.
Touching upon one specific case of this growing problem, she incorporates “Michael Brown,” who was an “18-year old unarmed black man shot down by a white police officer.” As heartbreaking as it sounds, it has happened on several occasions to men similar to “Michael Brown.” Accordingly, Myers formulates that it “is the same story. It is just different names.” Myers logically lists the other names of several black men who unfortunately fell victim to hate crimes, (Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin), as well as flashing their images on the screen. Not only does Verna Myers use imagery in order to show that there is an evident issue with brutality and racism, but she knows it will tug on her viewers heartstrings. Likewise, this makes her audience become wary and sympathetic towards the situation at
For several years now, Disney seems to be determined not to offend anyone in order to keep its audience; indeed we are confronted with animation films full of compromises; they are not as degrading for women as Snow-White and the Seven Dwarves (1937), but they are nonetheless still filled with clichés. Films such as The Princess and The Frog (2009), Tangled (2010), Wreck-it Ralph (2012), have in common the sense of being progressive and however we can notice the resurgence of harmful gendered stereotypes on the subjects of the social scale, women’s role in society, or the status quo. Frozen comes in and turns out to be no exception. Though it includes several encouraging and gratifying elements, it contributes insidiously to spread numerous
The phrase, “How’d this get so fucked up so quick,” that is spouted out halfway through Interesting Ball is something that viewers of the short film will be saying almost immediately as the film starts, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. This short film, brought to us by recently acclaimed directing duo otherwise known as DANIELS (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), is worth the watch and the thought afterwards. Both comedic and emotional, Interesting Ball is a short film not afraid to take its audience on a roller coaster of feelings.
In terms of a remake, especially with film, one is expected to reboot and refresh the original. This can be divided into aspects regarding the plot, cinematography, actor choice, etc. In the case of both John Carpenter’s versions of the Fog, many critics and myself agree that the 2005 version did not do its best in revamping the original. It did not reboot nor refresh the original 1980 film and so has made itself into a not so great remake. This can be argued for many modern remakes of films, especially for ghost stories. There is only so much that can be changed. THESIS.
The film Declining by Degrees effectively argues its claim that all is not right in higher education. They do this by interviewing countless professors and students that still attend college or that have recently graduated or dropped out. Their use of personal experiences, statistics, and expert opinions helps build their credibility and emotional appeal for the viewers of the documentary. The main audience for this documentary being anyone who cares about college, parents, students, and even the professors and staff at colleges in the United States.
The Three Here’s for Cooking The romantic comedy, Today’s Special, expressed the worries of Indian parents becoming at ease. Also, expressed the struggles a parent faces in search of a better life, the passion and dedication going unnoticed in the work field, and the connection between friends, a lover, and family. However, the film centered its attention more on the development of Samir’s “cold” cooking within the Indian food, with the help of Akbar. In addition, the main actors in the film looked the part and associated with the main idea of the culture of an Indian family. For instance, Samir’s appearance showed he had drifted away from his family’s culture and developed a professional understanding and love for the cooking industry.
Al Capone grew up in Brooklyn, New York; his parents came from Italy, so he had some Italian background in him. He was the fourth child out of nine; he went to school until he was fourteen years old, but he eventually dropped out to help earn money for his family. Right after he dropped out, he joined a street gang called the South Brooklyn Rippers. When he grew older, he joined a new gang called the Five Points Junior. These gangs never carried out any major crimes. The only thing they did was steal.
Al Capone better known as scarface was born in january 17 1899 in brooklyn. His parents had many dreams when they left naples to go to america. settled in brooklyn during the hardship life was rough for the capones as they struggled to escape the water front. The capones moved to a better neighborhood garfield pl when he was 10 .
Al Capone, probably the most notorious and well known gangster in history, was born in 1887 in Naples, Italy. His father, Gabriel Caponi, immigrated to Brooklyn from the slums of Naples in 1910. After he came here he changed his last name too Capone too blend in more. Al Capone’s gang activities started out when he was young. He was in the Five Points Gang, who were known for their violence. The gang’s tradition was to scar their victims with a knife cut from the outside corners of their eyes to their ears.
The novel, Monster, by Walter Dean Myers is about a young black 16 year old boy, who is on trial for felony murder which he was accused for being a part of this
I chose to analyze Despicable Me, an animated film geared towards a younger audience, because I was interested in examining underlying theories and messages that this film would be relaying to its viewers. Often times, when watching animated films, children are not aware of these messages, as they are absorbed by the characters, special effects, and humor. But as we have learned throughout this semester, our brains are subconsciously primed by the various surroundings we are exposed to. Since we also studied the impacts of entertainment, such as television and video games, on children, I wanted to see how a popular children’s film might also affect them.
Wong doesn’t offer enough for viewers evidence to determine whether Cop 223 is any good at his job. In the film’s most energetic sequence, he makes a bust, but once he fixates on Lin’s mystery woman at the bar, he ignores the drug smuggler under his nose. He’s too blinded by heartbreak to notice. Heartbreak has a way of doing that, especially in this film. 223 will soon celebrate his 25th birthday, and like all the dates in the film, that’s significant. It’s the age when, for many people, life stops being theoretical, when those who’ve previously consigned careers, marriage, parenthood, and other responsibilities to the world of grown-ups start to realize they now live in that world. 223’s girlfriend is gone, and for much of his sequence, he
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence is a Steven Spielberg science fiction drama film, which conveys the story of a younger generation robot, David, who yearns for his human mother’s love. David’s character stimulates the mind-body question. What is the connection between our “minds” and our bodies?