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Category:    Home > Reviews > Documentary > Gangs > History > Racism > Crips & Bloods: Made In America (2009/Docurama DVD)

Crips & Bloods: Made In America (2009/Docurama DVD)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C+     Film: B

 

 

You hear so much about gang violence and the quick mass media idea is to minimize said gangs and say they are 100% at fault for everything bad they do and happens, that they are out of control and if only they could stop, yet as much as self-control is a vital issue, that is not the only one.  What causes young men (and even women) to join gangs to begin with?  Is the sudden rise of gang violence in the 1980s a coincidence or is something more going on?  Stacy Peralta’s Crips & Bloods: Made In America (2009) is a stunning, landmark portrait of the two longest-running, most successful gangs ever and shows how they came to be.

 

Narrated with empathy by Forest Whitaker, we learn about the war between the two for four decades running, how they only were formed when the auto companies ended their factory production in Southern California and out of the rise and fall of The Civil Rights Movement.  Trapped in a narrow stretch of neighborhoods surrounded by some of the most expensive real estate with one of the most successful industries in human history (the U.S. entertainment industry) and Los Angeles’ unique history, we slowly get a portrait of how both organizations were formed and sustained.

 

We also get to meet members old and new in what amounts to a character study of the situation, how real solutions and progress have been abandoned as billions of dollars are spent on prisons when they could be spent on new industries, innovation, infrastructure and opportunity.  The only thing I could think of when it was all over is how happy I was that Obama was president because this nightmare could finally see its course changed.  It is a combination of economic abandonment, bad policies, outright racism and ideas that were obsolete on arrival that should be retired for good.  No, this does not make any gang member a saint either, but when anyone is kicked down and out for nowhere to go, this is what happens.  Thanks to changes about racism in this country, that is why a Black Panthers is no longer as possible as it once was.  With more changes, these gangs could become more history of the past than present, but it is going to take much work.  But the system is partly responsible and that must change.

 

This is a must-see documentary worth everyone’s time.

 

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is a mix of old and new footage, some on film, some stills and various analog tape formats, well-edited.  It may be inconsistent, but when it is this effective, that does not matter.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo mixes are about the same and just fine for a documentary, with everything from new recordings to old monophonic archival audio.  Extras include interview segments by Rappers Snoop Dogg and Lil’ Wayne, deleted scenes and a making of featurette.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo


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