Why We Bang (2006 Video) User Reviews

Real depiction of Los Angeles Gangs

[urban_vodka · 14 February 2007]

I have never seen anything quite like it. The reality of that life is made pretty clear and you get the feeling that you are there first hand as the documentary develops, really opened my eyes on a lot of points I had just read about before.

You can tell that this was the first film for the film makers, however it was very well produced and the editing possible was so rude as to convey the crudeness of the subject and conditions of that life. I think this piece is just as good as anything out there in the documentary genre.

I think that a follow up piece needs to be done as the topic is so huge and changing, there is much more I would want to learn about what is going in with the gang problem in terms of what is being done to curtail it, and what impact is all of this having on the minds of the children who live in these areas.

Great piece of documentary film

[chadleydooright · 9/10 · 13 October 2007]

There is truth in this film. The unfortunate thing is that I don't believe it is what the producers and director were looking for. Watch closely and you'll see that the underlying message from nearly all of the interviewees is "it's not our fault", and it's a "conspiracy by the white man" to keep them in their place. Until any group (or person for that matter) accepts responsibility for their actions there can be no fixing of the problem. Healing can only begin when "blame" stops.

The logic is also backward; when the minister says that "big business built prisons and now needs to fill them", he's not accepting what is fact. There is so much overcrowding, new prisons need built...and yes, big business sees an opportunity to capitalize on it. That is capitalism by definition and how our country operates. No one is building prisons and then letting the police loose to fill them; they don't have to. When you murder someone and get caught, there is no conspiracy. This is simply bad behavior.

This film also depicts a sense that "the man" is just scooping up young black men and putting them in prison for no reason. Black, white, Hispanic, and Asian men who are in prison have committed crimes and been convicted by a jury of their peers, based on evidence. Is it a perfect system; no. Does the American justice system get it right most often; yes. To imply that these people in prison are innocent bystanders that somehow just ended up in prison is simply more ignorance to the facts.

To compare the modern day prison system to the horrendous situation the black slave had to endure is to minimize their suffering. Shame on the producers for leaving that in the film.

Keep making excuses for bad/illegal behavior and the prisons will continue to grow in population. Look to yourselves for the answer because no one else can help you.

One of the interviewees talks about "black on black love" and how that would be wonderful and help fix the problem. He is right. If only the young black male could see this as truth...