An Analysis Of The Movie 'City Of God'

City of God

The movie, “City of God”, presents a bleak picture of the realities of life in ghetto cities in the Caribbean, a place generally associated with beaches and glamour. The truth of the cities, such as Rio are harsh, and the corruption that enables them to maintain their criminal lifestyles is even bleaker. According to Mehta, (2013) in her article about Brazil, where she vacationed, it was one of the most violent places in the world at the time. She was robbed by a young boy there, who stole her phone and asked for money. The incident prompted her to research Brazil and fine out why the crime was so bad, and the criminals were so young. She discovered, “More people are murdered in Brazil than in almost any other country. In 2010,

Mehta (2013), writes, “. In the past, the police would raid individual favelas, capture or kill the biggest drug dealers, and leave. They would soon be replaced by other dealers, and the violence would continue. “The new strategy is not to target individual drug dealers. It is to take back territory,” a high police official told me”, she writes. (Mehta, 2013). What has happened is that many officers and those in power have been paid enormous amounts in drug money and bribes to allow gang activity to continue. This has created a need for Brazil to come up with options and money for officers that prevents them from the temptation of taking money from the streets. Mehta explains, “The government attempts to peacefully enter and reestablish state control over the most violent enclaves of the city, those dominated by drug gangs called traficantes, or by syndicates of corrupt police called militias. Until 2008, when the pacification program started, the traficantes controlled roughly half of the favelas, and the militias the other half,” (Mehta, 2013). The new system provides officers with financial incentive to help them as they