Killer of Sheep, Essay Example

Social culture has an impacting effect that creates a sense of direction on how one person faces the challenge to live a life that follows the culture he hopes to lead. The “Hood Culture” has been one among the most compelling presentations of what crime and culture have in common. Both elements affect the growth and the being of an individual and somehow, both elements seem to not leave the path of a person born into it. Family man Stan in the movie Killer of Sheep, intensifies the presentation fo such fact as he struggles to provide for his family while hoping that they could keep their family intact amidst the chaos the his community and other surrounding close individuals try to do otherwise. To some, the theme of the movie is rather common and already a social fact; nevertheless, the way it has been presented within the film creates a more distinct pattern of determination that basically identifies with the concept of challenge to the communities and the experts to follow a different pattern of understanding the situation; thus giving ample help to those who might need to get out of the “hood culture”. The books Black Arts West by Daniel Widener and Race Reform and Rebellion by Manning Marable provide  a well-constructed discussion on how the black community could be tied up to the culture of the hood and the  gangster lifestyle and how the members of the community lives with the situation. These reading materials also discuss some of the most important issues that the movie intends to tackle and cross reference the events to actual social researches as well as psychological studies that were designed to make a definite impact to how the individuals belonging to the hood culture could be understood and helped accordingly.

The family arrangement has long been bombarded by different issues confronting the capacity of parents to make sure that their children live under a protected roof while they are being guided to be better individuals of their own. These challenges extend towards the different parts of the world and are presented in different scenarios that challenge familial survival. In the movie Killer of Sheeps, Stan’s character is presented with such challenges which is successfully tackles at first. As a worker in a slaughter house in Watts, Los Angeles, his character was portrayed to have strongly been dedicated to doing what was best for his family. However, with the situation that was going on in his community, keeping an upright vision of his commitment as a father was not easy to take into account. Trying to earn good money through hard work was not simply the culture that he got to know even when he was a child. Born into the Black African community in Watts, he knew that there were other easier ways for him to get what he wants. Nevertheless, he knew that these ways would be a complete source of devastation, one that would impale his good goals and could later on destroy his dream of having a family and giving them the life that he knows they deserve.

Hence, the real challenge on Stan was when he was likely to take on the condition of his family into a better level than what he has been brought up to, but cannot get them out of the Watts community. Manning Marable’s writing points out that as a person hopes to live out of a situation but does not necessarily get out of the environment where the situation is prevalent and existing, the change is unlikely to happen (122). Relatively, this notes that the community where a person or a family lives in basically has a great impact on the kind of lifestyle that the family or the individual would be leading.

This factual indication of situations indeed crated pressure on Stan’s character in the movie. The slaughter house was in no way going to give him a chance to give what his family likes or desires to have. The community in Watts basically celebrates the wealth of the neighbors [regardless of how they were able to attain such wealth]. Noticeably, it could be realized that this pressure served Stan the challenge of remaining in the slaughter house while keeping his family satisfied or at least content with their lives. It was an almost impossible goal. It was almost unworkable. But then with proper determination, such situations could be won. Protecting the children and disciplining them in a proper way of life was one of the primary goals of parents living in such situations within such communities. In a way, when children are in the process of maturity, they could be brought up into a chaotic family, but later on, it would be their decision that matters; of whether or not they are going to live along or live apart from the social challenges of being good apart from being bad. Everything depends on personal choice (Widener, 67).

Hence, for Stan’s case, he needs to know and note that when it comes to his family’s situation, he needs to establish the values he wants them to take note of. It might be hard to live apart from what the community has been used to living in, but it does not mean that everything else would be impossible to attain. With full competence on his goals of being a god father and raising a good family, Stan would be able to engage in a much better form of distinct control towards his family’s welfare even when they are living in a chaotic community.

Overall, the movie Killer of Sheep presented a compelling issue that families living within the ‘hood culture’ face at present. The decision to provide for the family is a regular goal f fathers and even mothers; however, it is the process of attaining this goal that is being challenged when such communities tend to sip into the thinking and perception of the family members. Protection from such influences is then vital to keep the family connections intact. As related to what has been learned in class, the movie proves that social culture is indeed a strong element that pushes people to become what they ought to become; sometimes even challenging them to do otherwise. Nevertheless, with ample desire and firm determination, a person and his family [as shown in the movie] can live apart from social norms as wanted.

Works Cited

Widener, D. (2010). Black Arts West: Culture and Struggle in Postwar Los Angeles. Duke University Press.

Marable, M. (2007). Race, Reform, and Rebellion: The Second Reconstruction and Beyond in Black America, 1945-2006, Third Edition. University Press of Mississippi; 3 edition.