Reviews
"This is one of the most powerful documentaries on the history of street gangs that I have ever watched. It is authentic and direct in presenting the history and foundation of these two violent street gangs in America. The film clearly shows what the root causes, fundamental ideology's and beliefs for the existence of street gangs. The film also shows the need for a Public Health approach vs a Criminal Justice approach to the reduction of violent street gangs and youth violence. Crips and Bloods also speaks to the need of addressing what is truly helpful to young people, especially young men of color. The film brings attention to the artificial pride that has been created based on the promotion of self-hatred. Therefore, I strongly recommend that this film be shown primarily to parents/especially fathers, elected politicians, the policy makers of this country, educators, mental health professionals and young people." Dr. Ulric Johnson, Assistant Dean, School of Human Services, Springfield
College-Boston Campus, Director and Founder of Teens Against Gang Violence
"A powerful film that gets to the root of a real problem that for many minority groups speaks volumes as to what invisibility and denial can do to people. Like any other form of oppression, the formation of these two gangs seems to be a reaction to invisibility, oppression and discrimination against poor African Americans in the Los Angeles area. Thus, this documentary helps those looking for an answer to a very complex and growing problem to find some keys that could result in getting a realistic solution to the gangs' problems not only in Los Angeles, but in other part of the United States as well. In conclusion, the documentary presents key elements of reactions to oppression and discrimination, which are important to know and understand in order to find solutions that can be long lasting and effective." Dr. Edil Torres Rivera, Professor, Department of Counselor Education, University of Florida
"Crips and Bloods captured the full attention of my students from beginning to end like no other documentary ever has. Everyone who sees this film will have a breakthrough in understanding the causes of gang violence and the people who inhabit the war zones of LA, people that most of us rarely if ever come into contact with, let alone engage in dialogue. The quality of the interviews of gang members and residents, interspersed with rarely seen contemporary and archival film, helps you feel the pain, anger and courage of the warriors, peacemakers and ordinary residents. The compelling stories they tell about their life experiences illustrate the evolution of inner city violence spanning many decades. Commentary by historians, social scientists and activists provide expert analysis." Paula Garb, Department of Anthropology, co-Director and co-Founder, Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, Univ. of California - Irvine
"More than merely a profile of L.A. gang violence, the program delves into murkier waters of self-esteem, single-parent households, guns, drugs, imprisonment, and survivors, including wrenching interviews with mothers of murdered gang members. This portrait of gang life is one of compassion and humanity - a rare feat achieved through intimate interviews and historic footage." Booklist
"I could not pull myself away from Stacy Peralta's riveting, revelatory, exhaustive examination of the 40-year history of gang warfare in South Central L.A." Rob Salem, TheStar.com
"Insightful and moving...Peralta masterfully presents both a historical primer and accounting of the self-perpetuating cycle of violence through study of social alienation, economic hardship, familial survival, drug use and institutional prejudice...This isn't an episode of The Wire, these are human beings, being unmade, daily, right here in America." Mike Raffensperger, Zoom In Online - Film & TV
"Amazing music selections match perfectly with the images. As ever with Peralta, it's as impossible to take in everything on a first viewing as it is to look away from the screen." Robert Koehler, Variety
"With the help of various talking heads culled from academia and from the mean streets, he manages to put a human face on a subject that tends to inspire inflamed debate and has produced calamitous laws and policies, along with a lot of pop culture." Manohla Dargis, New York Times
"Why is there so much violence in South L.A.? What are the historical roots of the Bloods and Crips? Stacy Peralta's documentary Made in America employs hip-hop beats and music video aesthetics (quick edits, slick cinematography, artful use of still photography) to answer those twined questions...It's a lot to take in, and Peralta does an admirable job cramming tons of history and insight into his reportage on how the 'hood' came to be." Ernest Hardy, Village Voice
"Heart-rending expose...The picture more importantly offers a serious discussion of exactly how the Crips and the Bloods came to be. It makes no bones about indicting a segregated L.A. culture which discouraged black boys from joining Cub Scout or Boy Scout troops located in lily-white communities, leaving the generally-fatherless African-American adolescents to fend for themselves in the ghetto." Kam Williams, AALBC.com
"A compelling portrait of how economic and social oppression have helped contribute to the Bloods and Crips' bloody civil war...With sober intelligence, he details the means by which a confluence of explosive interrelated factors -- the LAPD's authoritarian, racist tactics; geographic segregation; the absence of African-American fathers; and the disappearance of working-class industrial jobs -- helped set the stage for the 1965 Watts riots and, after the black power movement's assassination-assisted collapse, the gangs' genesis." Nick Schager, Slant Magazine
"You'll walk out both enlightened and dismayed." Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
"There are no easy answers to the devastating realities that the residents of South Central confront daily, but Made in America starts an important discussion that can lead to change." Jessica Mosby, TheWip.net
"Both striking and unnerving." Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times
"Patience paid off; the film shows some of the faces and personalities behind the headlines." G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
"Gripping...Does much to contextualize the origins of Los Angeles gangs within the city's African American history." Cheryl Eddy, San Francisco Bay Guardian
"Sobering...shows the battle lines behind which gang members have imprisoned themselves." The Oregonian
"Moving and damning....riveting." Portland Mercury
"Transcends the talking head, single-camera interview format to become something far more compelling, alive and real. The film draws up anger, sadness, compassion, but scholarly explores the history of South LA black culture with a fine-tooth comb. Crips and Bloods gives a human face to a vicious enemy we've long feared and hated." R.L. Shaffer, IGN.com
|
