America’s Mafia From Real Life to Big Screen And Back Again

America’s obsessions with the mafia and mafia-style films have existed for decades. The ability for an audience to connect on a deep level with a character of shady morals and seedy behavior is a requirement for gangster films to be successful. Hollywood has been able to successfully take real life mobsters and make them larger than life on the big screen. Though not all mafia films created are taken directly from real life, most movies have some essence of reality buried within the plot. To understand this obsession with the mafia, it is necessary to understand the beginning of the Mafia’s presence in America. The Great Depression and Prohibition helped usher in a new kind of violent criminal: The Mobster. Mostly of Italian†¦show more content†¦If Capone’s men went rogue into the Purple territory, Capone could expect it to be handled with only a word. This kind of connection of crime families would create system of crime that America had not perv iously seen and would make for some sensational stories later down the line. Hollywood’s first movies about these gangsters were oddly accepted by the public who could identify with men forced to use crime as a way to make a living. Movies such as Little Caesar (1932), Public Enemy (1931) and Scarface (1932) were a few of the great films of the period. After 1942, gangsters largely disappeared from news and media with the start of World War I when the villains of Hollywood were shifted from gangsters to Nazi’s and monsters. In 1950, a senate committee was set up to investigate organized crime in America. Thanks to the new invention of television, millions of viewers could watch the testimonies of these hearings in their homes. Senator Estes Kefauver proposed an investigation between organized crime and interstate commerce. Kefauver created a committee and was placed as its Chairman, despite his personal fear that â€Å"being a special group, the committee usually feels it has to justify its existence by doing something sensational.† Coined â€Å"the Kefauver Committee,† they were responsible for determining to what extent and manner of influence organized crime had on commerce andShow MoreRelatedThe Cold War Era1871 Words   |  8 Pagesother. Many events contributed to and were derived from the Cold War such as the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan, the Civil Rights movement, the Space Race, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy Assassination, and the hippie movement. Some of the most important questions that could be asked of these events are these: of what significance were they to the Cold War and where would the world be today if they had never happened? Lessons learned from the past affect everything about the future, and withoutRead MoreCold War Influences on American Culture, Politics, and Economics2221 Words   |  9 Pagesother. Many events contributed to and were derived from the Cold War such as the Truman Doctri ne and Marshall Plan, the Civil Rights movement, the Space Race, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy Assassination, and the hippie movement. Some of the most important questions that could be asked of these events are these: of what significance were they to the Cold War and where would the world be today if they had never happened? Lessons learned from the past affect everything about the future, and withoutRead MoreLessons Learned From The World War II1862 Words   |  8 Pagesother. Many events contributed to and were derived from the Cold War such as the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan, the Civil Rights movement, the Space Race, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy Assassination, and the hippie movement. Some of the most important questions that could be asked of these events are these, of what significance were they to the Cold War and where would the world be today if they had never happened? Lessons learned from the past affect everything about the future, and withoutRe ad MoreProject Mgmt296381 Words   |  1186 Pagesof Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Concepts to Text Topics Chapter 1 Modern Project Management Chapter 8 Scheduling resources and cost 1.2 Project defined 1.3 Project management defined 1.4 Projects and programs (.2) 2.1 The project life cycle (.2.3) App. G.1 The project manager App. G.7 Political and social environments F.1 Integration of project management processes [3.1] 6.5.2 Setting a schedule baseline [8.1.4] 6.5.3.1 Setting a resource schedule 6.5.2.4 Resource leveling 7.2 Setting