City of God

“City of God” was a movie based on the life of many youths in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  I circles around the life of a young man growing up in the most impoverished part of the city.  He had grown up around gangs, drugs, and stealing all his life but knew that it was not for him.  He longed to be a photographer and once a war between two rival drug lords broke out, he was given his chance.  He was able to take up close personal pictures of all the men involved but most importantly the corruption and massive death that was going on.  It was very difficult for the young boys of all ages to escape the gangs and drugs.

            Ney dos Santos Oliviera, “Favelas and Ghettos: Race and Class in Rio de Janeiro and New York City,” discussed the major differences between the ghettos of New York City and the Favelas of Rio de Janerio.  The favels have a very negative connotation and that could be in part from the way they were formed.  Unlike the United States, initially the Europeans in Brazil were concentrated in areas while African Americas were dispersed around the country (74).  But just like the ghettos of New York the Favelas were created in part from urbanization caused but industrialization.  As more and more people wanted to move to the cities the demand for housing rose and there were unable to accommodate and this created slums.  The slums quickly became a concern to the different government regimes.  They all wanted to find a way to control and clean up the slums.  The mobilization of the favelas is a major issue because it creates racial conflict.  In the movie there was not a lot of racial conflict but there was a social distinction of those that were of European decent.  The favelas in Brazil are of concern especially on how to control and or fix their internal problems. 

            Hart noted the success of The city of God throughout Latin America.  It was a big deal to this small production team and group of amateur actors (205).  The movie touched on many topics that are high influential in Brazil.  There was religious symbolism with Li’l Ze and how ne practically was baptized given ad new name and because evil (207).  It was as if Li’l Ze had sold his soul to the devil and uses violence and drugs to channel his evil.  This is ironic at the end when they begin to pray the rosary before they kill each other.  Catholicism was such a part of their lives that it was natural to pray before anything that you did but it was almost sacrilegious to pray before slaughtering people.  The City of God addressed different aspects of society that affect the daily lives of the young boys living within the slums of Rio de Janerio.