CSUSM Youth Gang Membership Insights from American Me Essay

Your film of the week is American Me. You may find this film on Amazon, Netflix, Youtube, or other sites. This classic 1992 film examines the lives of several Chicanx gang members from the LA inner city and documents the historical dimensions of gang formations in the United States. Your responsibility is to view the film to generate ideas for you, the viewer, about the root causes of why young men and women join gangs. I don’t want a film report, but I want to hear from you directly about how the film tells audiences why youngsters join gangs. How do these depictions inform what you know or how the media has instilled in you the reasons people join gangs? What is gang membership really about? Is joining a gang about individual choices or systemic conditions that push people to become gang members? You will write a paper and tell me how this film becomes supplemental to what you are learning in the class.

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