Gangs of NY
"America was born in the streets," reads the cover of the Gangs of New York DVD. This "Historical" film was undoubtedly one of the most popular films of 2003. To cast Cameron Diaz, and Leonardo DiCaprio together in a ten-time academy award nominated film, Martin Scorsese must get credit for being a part of History, if not re-creating it. "Over one hundred and thirty-five of the top critics agreed that it was one of the year's top pictures," according to the DVD cover, but not all historical critics may have felt the same way. One in particular, a professor at Loyola University in Chicago, was very harshly critical. And in his Article, "Why Myth Matters," Timothy Gilfoyle makes some interesting points about why the movie was not as historically accurate as it could have been. While analyzing the factors that influence his skepticism, it is also important to take into consideration the point of view he is coming from as a historian, as well as the views of those that see Scorsese's version of the Gangs of New York as an accurate depiction. The film's thesis, put simply, is that pre-modern America was dangerously vicious, and through bloody warfare, Irish immigrants fought with protestants and oth
This should not be surprising: Gangs of New York is a moneymaking enterprise. " The popular press largely accepted Scorsese's whitewash of the Draft Riots. History textbooks can't take risks with race. Levels of servitiude and heroism were differentiated by this bloody warfare and street violence. The choice of the 1863 riots, however, allows Scorsese, (who Gilfoyle highlights claims himself to be a historian), to create a convenient fiction by exploiting a largely unrecognized fact in popular historical mythology: Many Northern whites opposed the Civil War as much as their Southern counterparts did. The trouble with this scenario, however, is that while Gangs is accurate in detail, it is distorted and mistaken in its larger characterizations and interpretation. That's a foolish simplification, a stereotype, and not the business of historians. I even found my self staunchly defending similar views to Gilfoyle while scolding my roommate's claims of the movies perfectly accurate depictions of early New York Gangs. In that sense, films have the potential to be important sources of historical thinking. During the movie, a random camera does zoom past a lynching, but too fast to determine its significance. But if it were purely accurate, then it would defeat the purpose of "stuff we would only see happen in the movies. Gangs of New York makes the attempt to re-create this history in a bloody, filthy, and slum historical setting of the Five Points district of Manhattan during the 1860s. To an extent, Scorsese wants to educate the public. After all, how sympathetic would the good guys be if they were even more intolerant and racist than the bad guys. One point that Gilfoyle very lightly touches on, is the fact that the film ignores the seething racism of Irish immigrants against African Americans, not to mention the horrific violence done to blacks during the riots.
Common topics in this essay:
Martin Scorsese's,
Gangs York,
Draft Riots,
War Southern,
War American,
Irish Americans,
Gangs Italy,
Martin Scorsese,
Timothy Gilfoyle,
York American,
gangs york,
draft riots,
irish immigrants,
history textbooks,
movie historically,
allows scorsese,
african americans,
racist natives,
historically accurate,
historical films,
|
Acceptance Essays
