Bloods and the Crips free essay sample

One of the few aspects of the human race that differentiates us from other animals is our ability to show sympathy† As stated by a numerous well-respected philosophers. If you can connect to a person’s emotion, you can place a very strong influence on them. Documentaries employ this method when trying to convey an argument. This is as people are easier to convince when they are emotionally vulnerable. Stacy Peralta’s documentary, Crips and Bloods: Made in America, employs this technique. It does this by using the following methods, making the audience feel guilt, showing graphic images and interviewing certain members of the society that viewers feel sympathetic towards. Guilt is an emotion that can take over a person’s conscience and distort their perception. The Crips and Bloods: Made in America does this exceptionally well. It illustrates how white people excluded African Americans from society and took away their sense of self worth. We will write a custom essay sample on Bloods and the Crips or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page We are encouraged to view the white people as ourselves. This method is present through various points in the documentary. One of which is when African Americans were rejected from youth organizations such as the boy scouts, which were predominantly white. This caused African Americans to feel a lack of acceptance and encouraged them creating their own clubs and groups that were originally non-violent. Bird, an African American that tried to join a boy scouts and got rejected, stated that when he joined a gang â€Å"It made one feel like they had some status, an identity. The violence only began when they were restricted to staying in their own neighbour hood and police demonstrated brutality upon them. Another African American, who was rejected from the boy scouts, Kumasi stated, â€Å"we never called ourselves a gang, that was the description the city and the police gave us. † This encourages the viewer to feel as though he or she is responsible for their mistreatment. It is said, â€Å"a picture is worth a thousand words. † This adage highlights the effectiveness of images when conveying a message and connecting to the viewer. When the documentary, Crips and Bloods: Made in America, shows very graphic images of African Americans that are treated in a horrible manner, this provokes the audience to establish an emotional connection with the documentary. At one point in the documentary it shows white men hanging African American’s, this scene was constructed to evoke intense emotions from the audience. This scene is shown at the beginning of the show to draw the viewer in as soon as possible. Another scene in the documentary that employs this method is shown midway through the documentary. Kumasi states â€Å"part of the mechanics of oppressing people is to pervert them to the extent that they become the instruments of their own oppression. † This statement explains how police oppressed the African Americans, then shortly after they oppressed themselves through gang wars. Images of African Americans lying in a pool of blood after being shot are shown, some of which are people who weren’t part of gangs or violence. It is later explained that children were shot whilst walking to school just because they were part of a family of a rival gang. This slideshow of pictures is a good representation that images can be more effective than words in documentaries. One of the most emotional parts of the documentary, Crips and Bloods: Made in America, is when the mothers of African Americans that were shot are interviewed. Interviews give the documentary a strong sense of realism. Slow and sad music is played whilst the mothers explain how their sons are murdered. As the names of the people killed are displayed, the mothers begin to cry. When they are shown to be crying this can be very touching to the audience inducing sad emotions. Afterwards one of the mothers explains that crying is the only way she pulls through, this encourages the audience to believe that it is acceptable to cry increasing the emotional connection between the documentary and the audience. This scene in the documentary brings forward very deep emotions drawing the viewer into the documentary. In conclusion a number of documentaries use emotions to draw the viewer into the documentaries argument, one of which is the documentary, Crips and Bloods: Made in America. It does this by making the audience feel guilt, showing graphic images of murders causing the audience to be distraught and interviewing certain members of the society that viewers feel sympathetic towards.