AMERICAN ME PART 2 COMING SOON

[REEBOK]

HOW MANY PEOPLE THINK THERE SHOULD BE A PART 2

[Silencioso]

it would probably make a good movie. But they'll never do it. To many people died because of the first movie. Nobody would ever make a sequel.

[StillNoScript]

it would probably make a good movie. But they'll never do it. To many people died because of the first movie. Nobody would ever make a sequel.

I don't think that's the reason nobody's made another movie about the Mexican Mafia. Besides, wasn't it specifically because the film depicted a Mexican Mafia member getting raped? Take out the rape scene, and the Mexican Mafia members who conspired to kill people who worked on the film evidently don't have a problem with the movie after all, right?

I think the reason has more to do with the fact that Hollywood, for whatever reason, just does not want to make realistic movies about gangs. Nobody wants to invest in them. They can make one cheesy one after another where gang members are phony, but nothing that just rings true. Whatever their reason is for this, I believe it's the same reason that we haven't seen another movie about the Mexican Mafia. They want to keep gang films dumb and phony, just like modern day commercial hip hop.

[MMRbkaRudog]

it would probably make a good movie. But they'll never do it. To many people died because of the first movie. Nobody would ever make a sequel.

I don't think that's the reason nobody's made another movie about the Mexican Mafia. Besides, wasn't it specifically because the film depicted a Mexican Mafia member getting raped? Take out the rape scene, and the Mexican Mafia members who conspired to kill people who worked on the film evidently don't have a problem with the movie after all, right?

I think the reason has more to do with the fact that Hollywood, for whatever reason, just does not want to make realistic movies about gangs. Nobody wants to invest in them. They can make one cheesy one after another where gang members are phony, but nothing that just rings true. Whatever their reason is for this, I believe it's the same reason that we haven't seen another movie about the Mexican Mafia. They want to keep gang films dumb and phony, just like modern day commercial hip hop.

That was 1 of the reasons, but that movie was hated for more reasons. They'd probably just make part 2 more crappy any how.

[StillNoScript]

What's up Rudog. I don't know much about why there were so many brutal repercussions to the film American Me. I always thought it was due to the rape scenes. But anyway, have you noticed that after American Me and Mi Vida Loca, which came out around the same time, there have really been no films that even came close to capturing the reality of Chicano gang life? And, there has really never been a movie focusing on black gang life and doing so in a realistic manner. Boyz N The Hood was probably the best, but it's really a father/son story, with a few gang members living across the street. Of course, gang violence does play a role in the ending, but the real story of the film doesn't focus on the gang life. Just the main character's father warning him that his friends across the street would meet a bad fate, and they did. Baby Boy focused a little more on the gang life but the main character really wasn't a gang member. More of a modern day ghetto love story than a gang story.

Don't you ever wonder why every movie that depicts gangs today is just hideous as far as acting and production is concerned, except for the few I've mentioned? Training Day uses real gang members as extras but overall it's an action flick, designed to wow suburban audiences with shootouts and car chases. More focus on the relationships between Denzel Washington's character and some of the gang members he had a rapport with would have made the film closer to what American Me and Mi Vida Loca were.

Anyhow, I think the reason we haven't seen films like these anymore is because Hollywood, for whatever reason, just doesn't want us to be enlightened and woken up, so to speak, with movies about urban ghettos that are not only interesting with likeable characters, but also are realistic. They want us to see the shootouts and the high speeds. I think it has to do with the same reason they only put crappy music on the radio anymore. For whatever reason, Ru, Hollywood doesn't want us thinking. And I think that's the reason we haven't seen a movie similar to American Me in years.

[perongregory]

Hollywood says black movies don't have overseas value or resonate with non-black people (meaning non-sensationalized, realistic black life movies). but people like gangs, and violence and blacks are the ones in those gangs, supposedly, so you get the silly movies.

[StillNoScript]

Furthermore...

If the reason we haven't seen movies about the Mexican Mafia since American Me really had to do with fear of repercussions, you wouldn't be seeing this Gangland and MSNBC Lockup stuff, either. The owners of the production companies which do these shows are in the film business too, for the most part. This is the way they'd rather present this world to us. Showing the grit of it. The worst of the worst. And maybe one token do righter trying to find his way out. They're not interested in capturing the so many nuances that play a part in someone becoming a gang member, and winding up in prison. These t.v. reality shows can't show a Santana being ignored by his father, for the fact that he's not really even his kid. They can't show how kids in juvenile hall will be bullied and possibly raped if they don't have a gang to protect them.

[StillNoScript]

Hollywood says black movies don't have overseas value or resonate with non-black people (meaning non-sensationalized, realistic black life movies). but people like gangs, and violence and blacks are the ones in those gangs, supposedly, so you get the silly movies.

I think people like to know how and why gangs exist, and what keeps them going. They also want to know what's so attractive about the life. Wasn't Boyz N The Hood an overseas success? Of course it was, and of course Hollywood is making that shyt up.

[Cold Bear]

Anyhow, I think the reason we haven't seen films like these anymore is because Hollywood, for whatever reason, just doesn't want us to be enlightened and woken up, so to speak, with movies about urban ghettos that are not only interesting with likeable characters, but also are realistic. They want us to see the shootouts and the high speeds. I think it has to do with the same reason they only put crappy music on the radio anymore. For whatever reason, Ru, Hollywood doesn't want us thinking. And I think that's the reason we haven't seen a movie similar to American Me in years.

At the same time though Lockdown, Locked Up, Gangland, type reality shows have risen tremendously and feed the American public's at-home, and marginal at best interest in problems that they may or not be encountering in their everyday life. Those shows almost always have some type of educational / moral slant, and balance sensationalism with realism.

Hollywood not investing in that domain is due to the American public's need to be distracted and happy at a movie, especially with the economic problems faced right now.

[Cold Bear]

Furthermore...

If the reason we haven't seen movies about the Mexican Mafia since American Me really had to do with fear of repercussions, you wouldn't be seeing this Gangland and MSNBC Lockup stuff, either. The owners of the production companies which do these shows are in the film business too, for the most part. This is the way they'd rather present this world to us. Showing the grit of it. The worst of the worst. And maybe one token do righter trying to find his way out. They're not interested in capturing the so many nuances that play a part in someone becoming a gang member, and winding up in prison. These t.v. reality shows can't show a Santana being ignored by his father, for the fact that he's not really even his kid. They can't show how kids in juvenile hall will be bullied and possibly raped if they don't have a gang to protect them.

My bad I missed you mentioning the new growth of documentary coverage on television of prison and gang life. Of course, 20+ years of being molded into a gang member can only be captured dramatically. I don't agree that it's all about grit. I think it's about information, a mix some boogie-man scariness, and an overall moral message. How can you really get to the cats that don't give a fuck and are hard edged when the majority of who they have access to are retired, reformed, or PC'd up?

[StillNoScript]

Anyhow, I think the reason we haven't seen films like these anymore is because Hollywood, for whatever reason, just doesn't want us to be enlightened and woken up, so to speak, with movies about urban ghettos that are not only interesting with likeable characters, but also are realistic. They want us to see the shootouts and the high speeds. I think it has to do with the same reason they only put crappy music on the radio anymore. For whatever reason, Ru, Hollywood doesn't want us thinking. And I think that's the reason we haven't seen a movie similar to American Me in years.

At the same time though Lockdown, Locked Up, Gangland, type reality shows have risen tremendously and feed the American public's at-home, and marginal at best interest in problems that they may or not be encountering in their everyday life. Those shows almost always have some type of educational / moral slant, and balance sensationalism with realism.

Hollywood not investing in that domain is due to the American public's need to be distracted and happy at a movie, especially with the economic problems faced right now.

The economy didn't crash until '08, and Hollywood stopped putting out decent gang movies in the early '90s, even though some turned huge profits. Boyz N the Hood cranked big time profits. Menace II Society too. Yet they stopped production of those types of movies. Money nor demand are the reasons for this. Believe me, I looked it over. IMDB.com has the box office numbers to just about every movie ever made.

[StillNoScript]

Also, Hollywood is still forking out huge money on movies, and hardly any of them are "happy". Thrillers, gory slasher flicks. How happy was "paranormal activity"? LOL.

And, I don't know if I agree with you that Gangland is intended to be educational, even remotely. In fact, I think they put the few educational facts on there, which are obvious and can be found with one google search on any of the gangs, just as sort of a disclaimer to their critics. I've never once watched that show and felt educated after watching. I did feel educated after watching Lives in Hazard (supplement doc. to American Me, it's an xtra on the DVD), and the Nuestra Familia, "Our Family" on PBS. Also felt educated after watching Bastards of the Party on HBO, especially the historical breakdown involving the police, the politics behind the breakup of the Black Panthers, etc. The Gangland shows, and shows like it, emphasize the sensational. I know that word's overused, but it' can't be more true in this case. They expand on the same thing the regular media does. 'Gangs are out there, and they kill people'. They just expand on that premise. That's not educational, in my opinion. It's something everyone knows.

[MMRbkaRudog]

Yeah, MVL seems to be the last film like that. Nobody wants to make them like that any more. Dead Homies came close, but it was more like a doc..