Notorious??

Last night, I went to the cinema. While I was waiting for the movie to begin, I was reading a magazine that highlighted the films to be released in the month of January. One movie in particularly caught my attention, and left me with a bad taste.

Over the past few years, Hollywood has become a recycling plant, pumping out endless amounts of remakes. Regardless of whether the movie is a cinematic classic like the Day the Earth Stood Still or a relatively unknown horror film such as My Bloody Valentine. In a time where new ideas have become all but extinct, no movie is safe from a remake. Surprisingly, however, it wasn't the recent plethora of remakes that made me so upset. Rather it was the release of a particular biopic.

Like the endless remakes, biopics have become another one of Hollywoods attempts to fill the void of creativity. In fact, it has reached a point where a relatively unknown individual can have a movie made about them (see Milk). However, I would much rather watch a biographical film on a less than prolific individual, who provided some positive influence on society, than view a movie based on a more famous, but hardly reputable individual.

When scanning a movie website a few months back for new releases, I stumbled across the movie titled Notorious. My initial reaction was one of curiousity. Knowing Hollywoods love of remakes, I feared that this was an updated version of the famous Hitchcock film Notorious, starring the legendary Cary Grant. Imagining an updated version, with an undoubtably poor cast, I clicked the link to obtain more information. Much to my dismay, I discovered the movie was not a remake, but rather a biopic on the Notorious B.I.G. Upon realizing the subject matter of the movie, I immediately moved on to another preview and all but forgot about Notorious, until last night where upon reading a description of the movie, I was again filled with dismay.

While most people may not have heard of the movie Notorious, unfortunately, most people know of Notorious B.I.G. (aka Biggie Smalls). Granted, rap is hardly my favourite music genre, but it is not the reason for my destain for this film. Rather it is the fact that Notorious B.I.G was openly involved in a gang. In fact, he was so involved that it resulted in his death, when he was gunned down by a rival gang, whose members include 50 cent. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but last time I checked, gangs and there members were considered bad influences on society. So I have to ask the question, why is Hollywood continuing to make movies about less than reputable individuals, who provide no value to society?

Many of you will argue that Hollywood makes plenty of movies about far worse people than Biggie Smalls. I agree, to an extent. Movies such as Hostel definetly do their part in glorifying violence and toture for the enjoyment (?) of fans. However, unlike Notorious B.I.G, the characters in Hostel and other similarly reprehensible films, are neither real nor are they potrayed as folk heroes. Rather they are seen as deranged, evil individuals who commit there crimes without motive or reason.

In Notorious, however, Biggie will undoubtably be glorified as a talented, misunderstood individual who made the most of a difficult situation and became a legend. I am not familiar with any of Biggies music, so I cannot comment on his talents, but that still does not deny the fact that he comes from a violent background that plagued his entire career. Unlike other famous individuals, who at least made an effort to seperate themselves from their troubled past, Biggie reveled in it. Like so many other rappers, it became his identity. To be in a gang and to invoke violence is part of the bad boy image that helps make rappers famous. Those who try to distance themselves from the gangsta image, such as LL Cool J or Ice T, are seen as sell outs to their former fans.

I doubt at the end of Notorious, want to be gangsta's will walk away from the movie, throw away their baggie jumpsuits, straight beaked hats and gold chains and say that it's time to step away for the tough guy image and join normal society. Rather, they will likely continue to idealize Notorious B.I.G, and invision themselves as tough ass gangstas who don't back down but, unlike Biggie, they will get to their rivals, before they get to them.

Despite the poor message that Hollywood is sending by continuing to make these type of films, it is unlikely that Notorious will be the last. Instead, we may even see an influx. In the midst of a struggling economy, these type of biopics are relatively inexpensive to make and most importantly they sell tickets, especially to the coveted 18-24 year old audience, who continue to idealize Notorious B.I.G, 50 Cent and other questionable characters. If these movies continue to be successful, who knows, we may even see a few remakes.