City Of God

1157 Words5 Pages
City of God Throughout the film City of God, the overarching theme is built around the poverty and violence that the protagonists are exposed to as a result of living in Rio de Jeneiro. The city itself is one which is characteristically violent, and without the proper education or opportunities to leave the effects of violence as they see them, many of the children that the movie centralize on are forced into the chaotic lifestyle and, as a result, meet their ends because of this. (Sanmartin, 2002) Due to poverty, crime and the overall nature of the favila itself, the outlook for many of these characters in this movie is realistically and characteristically bleak, as there is little opportunity to escape the exposure to these factors. Much…show more content…
Dealing drugs, killing rivals and forcing themselves on girls around the slums are all things that many of the characters tend to do. (Sanmartin, 2002) Even the characters such as Knockout Ned, who attempts to get back at Li'l Dice for raping his girlfriend, get involved deeply and find themselves entrenched for the wrong reasons. This is one of the main focal points in City of God, which uses this concept to reflect the chaotic tendencies of the favila, and the way in which people rise and fall. (Sanmartin, 2002) Almost everyone becomes engulfed in the violence, including the protagonist, Rocket, who attempts to avoid it entirely and become a photographer. (Sanmartin, 2002) Even in the movie's climax, when Rocket takes a picture of Lil Dice's demise to which he becomes famous for, the central factor in this rise and his subsequent rise is based around the violence to which he tried to…show more content…
(Sanmartin, 2002) Without the proper access to the necessary components of life or the ability to further remove themselves from the City of God, the children are led to believe that there condition is one which is essentially inescapable, and thus, they are left to their own devices in terms of their abilities to create better for themselves. (Maldonado, 2003) More often than not, this is shown to be done through violence or crime that only further degrades and corrupts the City of
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