Fame or Infamy

       After watching such movies as American Gangster, Public Enemies, and Lawless, I thought what is the difference between fame and infamy? I know that you get fame from doing something incredible or just doing something really well and infamy you get from doing incredible crimes or doing a crime really well. So what is to say that the something that I talked about for fame is not a crime? It use to be clear but now that the media is glorifying gangsters and other criminals it is truly hard to say. In this blog I will discuss the movies on gangsters, television shows on criminals, and its affect on America.
       The definition of "gangster" is a member of a gang of violent crimes. The word's definition is full of negative words so why is it glamorized more than most of the other historical lifestyles in America. In the movie America Gangster they showed much of the luxuries of being a top notch gangster. It showed how regular blue collar workers were not making enough money and with the given opportunity got into the drug dealing industry with no questions asked. This caused an immediate change in their life. They could afford better clothes, drive better cars, and live in better houses. The film also followed the gangster, Frank Lucas, life as he dated beautiful women, got invited to multiple exclusive events, and made many people around him happy. They continued to show off his cool persona making people and great since of style. Though they did depict a horrible ending to his spectacular lifestyle, they minimized the importance by shining most of the attention on the positives that came along with being a ganster.
       If the movies were not bad enough we even have television shows praising the gangster lifestyle. There are multiple shows based off of America's corrupt history. They are either based off of one person's life story or a combination of multiple gangster's lives or events in their lives. One television show that does this well is Boardwalk Empire that depicts gangster activities during the early development of the Atlantic City that America has grown to known. Outside of the occasional homicides, interrogations, and death
threats it seems as if most of the gangster live a glamorous luxurious life. They always drive the fastest cars, have the prettiest women, and obtain other unnecessary items while maintaining happiness.
       America has taken very little from these shows, but from what they did get from the media was not positive. The overall message obtained was to get money by any means necessary, which meant if you were not getting paid enough you should become a gangster. If you believe you should have more and corporate America is not providing you with what you want or need, then by all means you should rob, steal, and kill to get what you need. It also says you can have a lot of fun while doing it too. However, for these young females it has taught them to be seductive so that a man will go out and do these things in order to provide for you. The other part of the message obtained is do not get caught or you will end up dead or in jail. What they should have taken from that is that, if you don't do any of these things you can live a long time with out worrying about dying or going to jail.
       All in all the media glorifies the gangster life which is why others do as well and begin to immolate the most legendary gangsters rather they be fictional or non-fictional. Everyone wants to be rich and famous, to live the life of luxury and adrenaline, to do more in their 25-30 years of life then those who have live way pass the current life expectancy rate. Since it looks a lot harder to do it the right way people are already drawn to the criminal life but now that they know the can go down in history for it it is even more appealing. Audience now have the Tony Montana mind frame "In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women," this quotes motivates more gangsters than Ray Lewis speeches motivates football players.