Title:

Criminal Stars

: 514

Summary: Hollywood is in the enterprise of glamorizing criminals in response to public demand.

Key phrases: movies, television, mob, crime, sopranos, hollywood, enterprise, jewelry, thief, murder

Post Body: Thievery is alive and properly in Hollywood. The glamorization of crime invariably tickles the curiosity of the public. Criminals have been portrayed as exciting, daring and cunning tantamount to hero status. They are the risk takers who need to not be entirely judged upon their criminal expression but rather looked at as people with some merit. They are cast sympathetically as their relationships are examined and ultimately lend credence to the justification, in their minds, of the criminal alternatives they have produced. But worst of all, they are typically shown as becoming ‘cool’, even as they hurdle towards the death of their freedom.

Take, for example, the jewelry or art thief. Movies like the Italian Job, the Score and Ocean’s Eleven display criminals as normally model citizens, other than once they are committing crimes. There could be such criminals but are they so suave in their actual lives? Are they seemingly morally upright in their relationships with other people? Are they genuinely just very good guys who take place to commit crimes? In actual life the majority of criminals are not suave, cool or sympathetic figures. They are cutthroat, ruthless and to a degree, sociopathic. Mob figures are the finest example of the paradox between the glamorization of criminal life and reality of criminal behavior.

All agree that the Soprano’s, a show about mob life in New Jersey, is a very good show. The production value is high, the actors are skilled and the plot lines are nicely conceived. Individuals get whacked, income gets laundered and criminals get promoted for great function. However, in order for the audience to tune in every week they ought to connect with the characters. Hence, the boss of the loved ones, Tony Soprano is shown as a father, a husband and as attempting to increase his relationships with the outside world by visiting a therapist. This is a ploy to generate sympathy for a ruthless murdering crime boss. And it works, as the Sopranos is a hit. What then are the actual criminals performing?

Accurate mob figures don’t give a damn about the outside world. Their loyalty lies with their crime families. They lie, cheat and murder for riches and would stomp on the average individual, literally, to further their gains. A Accurate jewelry thief is typically a two bit criminal who robs the neighborhood loved ones owned jewelry store, as can be verified by FBI criminal statistics. Actual criminal life is fraught with betrayal, discomfort and stints in prison. Most criminals are caught at some point with over 13 million arrests produced in the US in 2005 alone, according to the FBI.

The organization side of Hollywood is reactionary in nature. The glamorization of criminal life is partly in response to a demand by the public. Interest in stylized underworld figures comes from a public maybe bored with their average every day existence. The concept that there are individuals who survive in a world where they ignore the law, fascinates us. But as soon as the glamour is shaken off, and the dust clears, there is only an empty fancy suit left, where a thief once stood.