So I saw the film American Gangster last night and I liked almost everything about it including the performances, the music and the fashion but my only complaint was the story itself. It seems weird for me to have liked the movie so much yet had issues with the story but it was not what was told that I had a problem with, it was what was left out. I felt like the movie was a slow build that disappointingly left out many, if not most of the details of Frank Lucas’ downfall. Also I found myself conflicted about Hollywood focusing on a black drug lord who was bigger than a thug or street pimp who actually built an empire with sound business practices to ensure success when they have so often have only presented the latter on screen. Although Frank Lucas was a criminal he still defied certain stereotypes in a lot of ways and as a black man I had to catch myself a few times from feeling a sense of pride toward a man who became more powerful than the mafia, who probably would refer to him as a “freekin’ moolie” or “moulinyan” at a time when the consensus was that we were somehow less intelligent than everyone else but still was a murderer who sold poison to his own people.
All in a all, if you want to see a great performance by arguably the greatest actor of his generation, Denzel Washington, then check this movie out. I still plan on buying it when it comes out on DVD and if you want a little more insight into Frank Lucas, check out this interesting New York Magazine article.
-A.R.
COMMENTARY: Drug Dealer Frank Lucas, Denzel and Dad
My Father as a kid delivered groceries to the first drug kingpin “Bumpy” Johnson, who at the time, lived in the corner building on 120th street and 5th Avenue, across the street from Mount Morris Park. He use to tell me these colorful stories with admiration, about this man. Bumpy was an employee and conduit for the mafia, helping to orchestrate the distribution of heroin into Harlem and surrounding communities in the 1940’s, an epidemic that would later spread and engulf the entire country for generations to come.
The street gangs of the 40’s would become some of the first addicts, their members would ultimately form the first ruthless drug-gangs of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Families were destroyed individual lives ruined, violence and crime across the board increased at staggering rates. In spite the gains from the Civil Rights Movement, as a community we never fully recovered from the initial impact of the flooding of drugs into our communities.
Frank Lucas, portrayed by academy Award winner Denzel Washington in “American Gangster”, was the driver for Bumpy Johnson until his death by heart attack in 1968. By the time Mr. Lucas took power- the Harlem community had been decimated by this epidemic and the second generation of addicts already overwhelmed the streets. Like the Hip Hop culture violent movies have a tremendous impact on our children. Our young-people are continually bombarded with negative messages that unfortunately help shape and mold their character, Al Pacino’s as Scareface is still a popular image on T-Shirts.
The moral of the story is not that the bad guy gets it in the end. Too many hopeless kids who are engaged in criminal activity, view the demise of these individuals in a fatalistic and morbidly glamorous way. Enlighten by our past history and current events we have to be careful not to glorify criminals. Mr. Lucas has the right to have his story told but as parents, mentors, big brothers and sisters, we must always monitor the messages and more important the response to the message portrayed in media.
Dad’s discussions about Bumpy, were a small part of the rich history of the community that he shared with me. He gave me, as I did my son, Claude Brown’s definitive book on life in Harlem, “Manchild in the Promise Land”, when I was a teenager. He also talked about Malcolm X and Dr. King, Miles Davis and Charlie Parker. Together we watched, Gil Noble’s informative program “Like It Is”. My love of history and current events came from my dads talks about the Bumpy Johnson’s as well as the Dr. King’s of this world. He taught me to discern the messages that would bombarded me in my life-time. He knew then that no matter what, there would always be plenty of people like Bumpy Johnson and Frank Lucas around to share theirs.
Brotherman
Wingless says : I absolutely agree with this !
Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation
Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Downtrodden!