Scarface

[UptownNewOrleans]

If I see one more person wearing a Scarface shirt, it's on . No matter where you are, you are guaranteed to notice someone with a Scarface shirt on. Scarface is popular among the inner-city crowd to the point where youngsters are wearing the shirts. I have no issue with free expression, but at the same time most inner-city people wear Scarface shirts out of ignorance. Very few know what he's about. What's the point of wanting to be like someone who shot up people (including his best friend) for $$$, ran a drug empire, had a thing for his sister (yes, Scarface did have incestuous desires for his sister. Any self-respecting guy that sees his sister as his girlfriend lost) and dies at the end?

[erdogs]

Scarface should be a message against such lifestyles, yet he has become a fictional hero for too many young people. When I watch that movie, I think of what good he could have done if only he didn't take the easy way to making money. If you can run a drug empire, you can also run any business, legitimately. The same goes for movies and shows like the Sapronos. They are entertaining, but I would never want to live my life in fear of being killed if I made the wrong decision in dealing with others. This is nothing new, just look at how people used to love watching Westerns and played cowboys and indians. Many of the worst characters, were the most liked and emulated. We all seem to have this desire to see the bad guy win at times. Maybe we think he was dealt a bad hand in life, so we sympathize with his plight. Hell, if you ever watch MTV's Cribs, most of the rappers and football players have a Scarface poster hanging on their wall. While this is nothing new, it is still disturbing.

[UptownNewOrleans]

True. I bet many football players and rappers with a Scarface movie & poster haven't even seen the movie. They display Scarface just to make it seem like they're gangster.

[dgreco]

True. I bet many football players and rappers with a Scarface movie & poster haven't even seen the movie. They display Scarface just to make it seem like they're gangster.

[kayman]

It shows the belligerent ignorance of some 'folk' in the inner city. Anytime I see somebody running around representing themselves as Scarface, I just . It is just as bad as the "No Snitchin'" BS.

[Cadeho]

I think "No snitchin'" is much much worse. Come on, if Cam'ron knows who shot him... GIVE HIM UP! There really needs to be a re-neducation.

[JerseyBoy]

Absolutely agree about the comments on the obsession that the inner city residents seem to have with Scarface.

These are other shirts that I see around town that really make me wonder:

[dgreco]

I don't look much into the clothing, but Thugbob is just a ridiculous shirt.

[Cadeho]

HAHA Thugbob... I like that... but I hate the obsession with money and guns. There's nothing glamourous about being evil.

[richyb83]

^Amen to that! I notice the Scarface jackets in the public school where I work. Definetly not a role-model to say the least. It's sad and hard to understand. The love of $money is the root of all evil.

Years ago I knew of college football players that would spend hours watching Scarface; and rewinding the gruesome scenes over and over again.

[Lowerdeck]

I caught glimpses of the somewhat famous Baltimore video "Stop Snitchin", which at one point features Carmelo Anthony. Basically it's just one long spree about warning people not to talk to Baltimore Police about what goes on in the streets. And we all wonder why Baltimore has such a huge crime problem. The police there may as well just retract themselves to the better neighborhoods of town and let the ignorant hoodlums destroy themselves.

At least with The Sopranos, it shows consequences and emotions of what the crime family endures. Scarface, it shows the downfall of Tony Montana like a warning... don't be like greedy like him, don't get involved in the cocaine thing, it's not that glamorous cause you're going to pay dearly (likely with your life).

Meanwhile, inner city youth tend to ignore the consequences shown in The Sopranos and Scarface. They see the part where Tony Montana moves into this giant mansion in Miami Beach, has piles of cocaine to blow as he feels like it, millions of dollars, a posse protecting him. The world is yours, that's what everyone wants. Same thing with Sopranos, everyone wants the millions of dollars, the nice cars, the well-off house in North Jersey, mistrisses, power and respect. But these kids in the cities just all ignore the downside, cause everyone greedy and crazy. Being legit either doesn't work or isn't glamorous enough, then comes the rapping and drug dealing and crime.

[convulso]

of course there's something glamourous about being evil. that's the danger - it's hard to expect the uneducated to have the mental discipline to resist the allure, and they don't. therein lies the problem, imho.

aggression and power - and, in their absence, the appearance of these - are enticing, and it takes a measure of intellectual sophistication lacking in thugg life to see that these are antithetical to living in cooperative society.

[UptownNewOrleans]

I caught glimpses of the somewhat famous Baltimore video "Stop Snitchin", which at one point features Carmelo Anthony. Basically it's just one long spree about warning people not to talk to Baltimore Police about what goes on in the streets. And we all wonder why Baltimore has such a huge crime problem. The police there may as well just retract themselves to the better neighborhoods of town and let the ignorant hoodlums destroy themselves.

At least with The Sopranos, it shows consequences and emotions of what the crime family endures. Scarface, it shows the downfall of Tony Montana like a warning... don't be like greedy like him, don't get involved in the cocaine thing, it's not that glamorous cause you're going to pay dearly (likely with your life).

Meanwhile, inner city youth tend to ignore the consequences shown in The Sopranos and Scarface. They see the part where Tony Montana moves into this giant mansion in Miami Beach, has piles of cocaine to blow as he feels like it, millions of dollars, a posse protecting him. The world is yours, that's what everyone wants. Same thing with Sopranos, everyone wants the millions of dollars, the nice cars, the well-off house in North Jersey, mistresses, power and respect. But these kids in the cities just all ignore the downside, cause everyone greedy and crazy. Being legit either doesn't work or isn't glamorous enough, then comes the rapping and drug dealing and crime.

[JerseyBoy]

I actually enjoy watching The Sopranos because even through all the gore and worst elements of humans, it's interesting to comprehend each character on the show. These are people that have had bad upbringings in life and this is how they deal with it. It's fun to dissect their emotions and thoughts. Psychology plays an important role in this show and there's lots of hidden meanings in everything.

[jaxpalmer]

hahaha, you guys should come to philly, shirts like that are everywhere.

[runawayjim]

i think it's interesting that the sopranos was brought into this. there's a difference between the "code of ethics" on the street and the code that the crime family follows. the crime family is about protecting your family and has more to do with respect for your elders and superiors than it does with retaliation and not snitching. the code on the street basically becomes a free for all and has absolutely nothing to do with respect. you don't see the sopranos breaking stuff, vandalizing stuff, tagging stuff because it's fun or to mark their territory. while i don't agree that the mafia-type crime family is honorable, their code of ethics is many levels above the street code of "ethics", but yes, the show does glorify mafia life. frankly, if street thugs would strive to be more like tony soprano than tony montana, i think we'd have fewer problems. at least there'd be some level of respect.

[Lowerdeck]

i think it's interesting that the sopranos was brought into this. there's a difference between the "code of ethics" on the street and the code that the crime family follows. the crime family is about protecting your family and has more to do with respect for your elders and superiors than it does with retaliation and not snitching. the code on the street basically becomes a free for all and has absolutely nothing to do with respect. you don't see the sopranos breaking stuff, vandalizing stuff, tagging stuff because it's fun or to mark their territory. while i don't agree that the mafia-type crime family is honorable, their code of ethics is many levels above the street code of "ethics", but yes, the show does glorify mafia life. frankly, if street thugs would strive to be more like tony soprano than tony montana, i think we'd have fewer problems. at least there'd be some level of respect.