Território Violento

I live in Singapore. All the way the other side of the world, in Southeast Asia. I lead a comfortable life, there are no ghettos here. No shootouts. And this movie isn't the first I've watched about living in the ghetto or about the nitty gritty harsh realities of life that I have been lucky enough not to experience myself.

But I don't need to be in the ghetto nor do I need to have lived through them in order to empathise with the characters. This movie's portrayal of the common human condition was convincingly moving enough, without it being overly sappy, that I who live on the other side of the world am able to identify with their emotions and feel for the characters.

For that, I do think it was overall a good movie.

"Our America" tells of two black juvi's who are given recorders so they can do a radio documentary of their project/ghetto. An unfortunate but well intentioned flick, "OA" has nothing new to offer and appears to be a misguided attempt to expose the real truth behind the projects (drugs, gangs, crime, cockroaches, etc.) as if we haven't had our fill of ghetto flicks. What is worse, our heros play a game called "Knockout" which involves dropping rocks from a freeway overpass which everyone knows is as potentially lethal as the gangbangers shooting up the "hood" with their Uzzis and for which they receive a mere reprimand. Stupid tripe not worth the time. (F)

There is much not to like about the movie "Our America". The stereotypical nature of most characters involved, the great white savior aspects, and the alternating afternoon special light weight fare that switches to riveting restricted viewing violence are all reasons to dislike the film. If a person approaches this film as laughable lightweight fare on par with "Finding Forester", then they can extrapulate some good from it. The discussions that can result from the film are numerous. The two lead characters' tendency to listen to the radio hosts and apparently fail to have any mentionable adult ties to those in their own community. Muhammad Ali once made the joke, "Where are the real pilots" when talking to an all black flight team. His humor was a healthy adjustment. The students in this film appear to have the typical unhealthy internalized doubt of those in there community as much of what they reported was negative while outreaching to the strangers at the radio show. This film makes a launching point for discussions on race and socioecomics.

I don't agree with the first reviewer at all. The movie does show illegal activities on the part of the main characters as he pointed out, but that reality needs to be shown for the movie to be the least bit credible. The vandalizing of private property is not, unfortunately, and uncommon occurrence for young people. The movie shows that if you can reach these young people before random acts of vandalism grow into more serious criminal acts, you can save lives and improve society. The movie does have a unique message because it depicts, in a powerful way, the negative "world" that many similarly situated inner-city youths face. And.. it is inspiring because it reminds us of the untapped potential that may be festering beneath the surface, just waiting for inspiration and guidance. As I usually find with these kinds of movies, it takes both an intellectual thirst, and intellectual maturity, to truly appreciate the film in the way it was intended.

The movie is based on a true story of two boys growing up in the projects of Chicago. They get the opportunity to be reporters for NPR. They bring equipment with them to school and around the community to show what goes on in their daily lives. The documentaries they made were controvercial and original. This movie gave an insightful look at the situation and the lack of future image the residents of the inner-city projects experience. One of the boys had no future and the other may have had a future, with help they both had a bright future. Anyone studying a career in Justice or Juvenile Justice should watch this. Related movies of interest if you liked this one include: Fresh, and Boys in the Hood.