CMT - The Warriors

What if you're alone in the big city? What if uncertainty was everywhere you looked? Maybe your neighbor will give good directions, or maybe they will send you into a trap. When lies are more common than the truth, normal interactions can be dangerous.

There is credible safety to be found in numbers. You can't control the outside world, but you can choose your friends. With enough guys that are watching your back, people will move on and pick easier targets. So gangbanging isn't about crime; gang members sign up to survive.

Your brother isn't going to set up your mugging. Your brother will have the guts, to tell it to you straight. Any fight with you involved is his fight too, and you can sleep peacefully with him around. If you decide to up and leave your brother one day, he won't hunt you down and shoot you in the face.

Classic Movie Trailers - The Warriors (1979)

In film, we see a lot of gang activity. There are plenty of drugs, plenty of crime and more than enough violence. I took a different impression away from "The Warriors", and it's the idea that gangs are constantly running. They flee the police and they flee bigger gangs, who both pose the biggest threats to their lifestyle.

Some groups are big enough to stay together in prison, but the institution is designed to break people up. If you can't wear your colors or throw your signs, you'll find that you're alone, in a dangerous situation. People segregate inside for a reason. They form groups they're comfortable with, until they can rejoin their own.

Of course, there's no guarantee they ever will. If they make it to the penitentiary, they're actually lucky to do so. Ironically, most of them would willingly die for their colors. It's a positive attitude, when you don't have a choice.

Let's think about the circumstances here. Without a group of people there is no gang. If everyone could walk away easily, the outfit wouldn't have any power. So they label them "traitors" and "deserters", to hide their fears and justify their actions.

A lot of them joined at a very young age, and their group is the only protection they know. If you were in danger of losing that security, how could you start over and trust someone else? Joining another gang is like joining another family. They're unproven, untested and untrustworthy.

Who is going to be there when you're slow on the draw? Who is going to battle when you're surrounded? They say that a gun is the best defense, but it just isn't enough in some neighborhoods.

I imagine the life to be one of terror. Everything you depend on is threatened every moment. There is some assurance about your safety at home, but it applies in your turf and nowhere else. Still, you can be free from betrayal and deception; all you need to do is surrender your freedom.


Trailer Here.

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See "The Warriors" on Netflix!

Next week: Al Pacino in "Scarface".