Why Has Audience Positioning Towards Gangster Films and Their Main Characters Changed Throughout the Evolution of Film?
“Why has audience positioning towards Gangster films and their main characters Changed throughout the evolution of film?”
“The crime film is the most enduringly popular of all Hollywood genres, the only kind of film that has never once been out of fashion since the dawn of the sound era seventy years ago.”-Thomas Leitch
The central theme of the gangster film has always revolved around law and order and essentially boils down to the Criminal institutions fighting one another or fighting a corrupt authority. Movies such as ‘The Godfather’, ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Public enemies’ follow the same plot of organised crime. That is what the films are about, seeing as though the central characters operate under their own premise of law, the narratives involve their relationship with the authorities and agencies of law enforcement while the plots are usually structured around the process by which they are brought to justice. But throughout the evolution of the gangster genre is a central argument reflecting a fundamental difference in audience stance towards the gangster hero. This plays on an Active audience theory as the audience take in the information they are given and pick sides.
The contrast of audience opinion is displayed in a variety of different ways. In the film The Godfather, Sterling Hayden (Captain McCluskey) is the official figure, he is quickly revealed to be very brutal and corrupt, being a key person on the Tattaglia's payroll. When some enforcers of the Corleone family protect Don Vito Corleone, McCluskey has them taken away. Michael arrives soon after and realizes this. Soon after, while Michael is guarding the entrance of the hospital with Enzo the baker, McCluskey and his guys drive up and harrass the two, ordering that they be taken in. When the officer refuses, McCluskey hits Michael across the face, badly bruising his face and breaking his jaw. Gangster movies frequently demonstrate that society’s official institutions are as corrupt as the criminals
“The crime film is the most enduringly popular of all Hollywood genres, the only kind of film that has never once been out of fashion since the dawn of the sound era seventy years ago.”-Thomas Leitch
The central theme of the gangster film has always revolved around law and order and essentially boils down to the Criminal institutions fighting one another or fighting a corrupt authority. Movies such as ‘The Godfather’, ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Public enemies’ follow the same plot of organised crime. That is what the films are about, seeing as though the central characters operate under their own premise of law, the narratives involve their relationship with the authorities and agencies of law enforcement while the plots are usually structured around the process by which they are brought to justice. But throughout the evolution of the gangster genre is a central argument reflecting a fundamental difference in audience stance towards the gangster hero. This plays on an Active audience theory as the audience take in the information they are given and pick sides.
The contrast of audience opinion is displayed in a variety of different ways. In the film The Godfather, Sterling Hayden (Captain McCluskey) is the official figure, he is quickly revealed to be very brutal and corrupt, being a key person on the Tattaglia's payroll. When some enforcers of the Corleone family protect Don Vito Corleone, McCluskey has them taken away. Michael arrives soon after and realizes this. Soon after, while Michael is guarding the entrance of the hospital with Enzo the baker, McCluskey and his guys drive up and harrass the two, ordering that they be taken in. When the officer refuses, McCluskey hits Michael across the face, badly bruising his face and breaking his jaw. Gangster movies frequently demonstrate that society’s official institutions are as corrupt as the criminals