Sin Nombre

Growing up in poverty, lack of parent's attention, financial gain, drugs, power, corruption, lack of opportunities, vengeance, hopelessness, and an open display of violence as an everyday occurrence is depicted in film City of God and Sin Nombre. Both these films tell a story of kids being recruited into the gang life. In City of God we have Li’l Ze, who as a kid, starts killing at a young age, he yearns for power, and has no fear. We see the life of Li’l Ze as a child transition into adulthood, and he is feared within the favelas of Rio. In Sin Nombre we find Benito, who is 12 years old, and is recruited by Casper to join the Mara Salvatrucha 13 gang, also known as MS-13. Benito was submitted to the initiation ritual of the gang, and endures

The film centers around Willy, nicknamed Casper. Casper is a member the Mara Salvatrucha gang. Casper introduces Benito, a 12 year old into the Mara Salvatrucha. Benito is then nicknamed Smiley. Just like Steak'n'fries in City of God, Smiley was ordered to kill a member of another gang member from the Chavala gang. Casper shows Smiley how to use a makeshift pipe gun and the gang member is killed. Smiley is trembling and hesistant, but he completes the mission he was assigned. We see the cruelty Lil'Mago is in the scene, and he makes it clear that once in a gang alway in a gang. Chavala is then fed to the dogs. Roger Eberts states in his review "Smiley, so young, with a winning smile, is perhaps the most frightening character, because he demonstrates how powerful an effect, even hypnotic, gang culture can have on unshielded kids". This was true in Smiley's case and in the favelas. In Sin Nombre, Casper takes Smiley under his wings, and at the end of the film, it is Smiley who kills Casper. This is also the same in City of God, where Li’l Ze is killed by the Runts, the same group of kids that were working for him. Smiley showed loyalty to the Mara Salvatrucha. Both Smiley and Li’l Ze were little boys when they started killing, it is sad that both of them wanted this type of lifestyle. None of them showed any

We meet Sayra, a Honduran girl who is traveling with her family on a train through Mexico to get to the United States. As in City of God, the people from Central America also face the same issues such as gang violence, corruption, and lack of opportunities. There is a scene in the film, where the people that were heading North, were stopped by Mexican authorities. The Mexican authorities then demand any items of value and for them to get naked, in order to search them. Clearly, this is corruption. Both films depict police corruption, where we entrust our authorities, and in turn the misuse their