American Gangster - Why This Movie Bothered Me


In response to all of the hype, I went and watched American Gangster tonight. My feelings on it are a bit split. Looking at it strictly as a film, it was well made. As with any movie starring two Academy Award winning actors like Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, the acting was superb. I thought Ruby Dee (a true legend) was excellent as Frank Lucas mother. Not a lot of scenes but powerful in the ones she did have. The movie is long (almost 3 hours) but if flows well...


The movie left me bothered though.....The movie takes the path of portraying Frank Lucas as a redemptive figure in the end, showing him in a positive light in spite of what he symbolized, which was the spread of death throughout the black community. As much as some will laud him for his "smart" approach to crime (Typical Sicilian mob values such as not showing your money and surrounding yourself with family to insulate yourself), the reality is that this man pushed a product onto the streets more potent than what was already there, and that led to a boom in addiction and all that goes with it.


Furthermore, it was a reflection of the time. The movie covered a period from 1967 to 1973. This was the era of Cointelpro, the FBI's program that investigated and took down what it thought to be "dissident political organizations" in the US. Among these organizations were civil rights organizations, including Dr. King's SCLC and many others. So during a time when there was a groundswell of unity and an activist spirit in inner city black communities, and the government was trying to undermine this movement , along comes Frank Lucas.


We're supposed to believe that a former bodyguard and flunky for Bumpy Johnson (another small time hood), through a family member in Vietnam just STUMBLES by accident on a pure heroin connection worth hundreds of millions of dollars and is able to outsmart the CIA and other federal agencies, and smuggle it into the country for 6 YEARS right under their noses without them knowing anything about it. (All during a time of cointelpro here and a war in the region there).


Yup, I put that right up there with a fat white guy with a beard in a red suit coming down my chimney to drop off presents and a rabbit that lays colored eggs in April.


In my view: This whole Frank Lucas rise happened on the governments watch.....they watched him import enourmous amounts of pure heroin into the black communities to extinguish the black consciousness and civil rights movement of the 60's. Then once things were done and an entire community was sick, down and out, he gets a slap on the wrist (after the fact) and lives out his life in peace rather than dying in prison.


Consider in the aftermath of this time, Afros, dashikis and positive entertainment were replaced by perms and pimp coats glamorized in flicks like "Superfly" and "The Mack". A movement gone...


I know some will try to dismiss this as another "Bringing the black man down" rant (seems like that's what conservative types call any attempt to call the government out on a racial issue.....it is an attempt to group all arguments together and dismiss them). But when you look at the facts, its clear that Frank Lucas rise and fall, and the many people who were addicted and killed during its time, took place on the watch of those who could have prevented it if they wanted to.


Add to that the fact that the movie really doesn't leave enough of a "cautionary tale". Young people who see this will see a man who had a beauty queen wife, money, cars, clothes and a glamorous lifestyle who beat the system time and time again and in the end walked away unscathed. Not the best message at all, especially during a time where I have to read about young people, the people I work with, shooting at each other on a daily basis.


It is what it is....And as much as I can appreciate a well acted movie, the man it portrays and what transpired around his rise sickens me.