What's always bothered me with the film Scarface is that people use Tony Montana as some sort of role model. As if the way his life was displayed in the movie is one which we should all look up to. What's even more disturbing is that this image has been marketed to the minority population of America as being cool, hip, and an acceptable way of behaving. Seeing young Hispanic and African-Americans walk around wearing Scarface shirts deeply bothers me because it re-enforces stereotypes that they've been trying to shed for years. Well, for years, this is why I avoided purchasing this movie. But, I gave in. It's such a great movie and Pacino is excellent in it. Then, I checked out the back of the DVD case and saw that this short little gem was included with my purchase. "Def Jam: Origin of a Hip-Hop Classic". Sheesh, I can see the hypocrisy building already. So, in the "documentary", we see such hip-hop leaders as Puff Daddy, Snoop Dog, Method Man, Nas, Eve, Clipse, and we can't leave out Scarface, can we? These are all people who have, through incredible luck in some cases and incredible talent in others, risen to the top of their profession. Sorta like good old Tony, right? Well, there's a huge difference. These people work in a legitimate field of business, they pay their taxes, and in most cases, people don't have to be killed to continue to be successful. What a lot of these people also have in common is that they have tried throughout their careers to help the cause of the minority in America. In a place where you're judged instantly based on the color of your skin, tearing down these stereotypes is a very difficult process to accomplish. Seeing these famous people talk about how much they look up to Tony Montana and value the lessons they learned from him makes me real sad. These are the people that a large amount of minority children look up to, these are the people they listen to. And what are they telling them? That Tony Montana is someone to admire. "Hey, I'm rich, I'm successful, I have everything I've ever wanted, and you know who I look up to? Who my role model is? Tony Montana, a drug dealing, murderer." What's even more frustrating is that Scarface was written by a white guy, directed by a white guy, and marketed by white guys. I have nothing against Oliver Stone or Brian DePalma, it's those other guys who market it as something to look up to, it's those guys that bother me. An African-American male will buy this movie, see his favorite rappers talking it up, and this in turn will leave the impression that Tony Montana's behavior is somewhat acceptable. It's not. To me, this seems like blatant propaganda and it's garbage. Almost makes me not want to own the Scarface DVD.
