Gangs of NY essays

Gangs of NY essays "America was born in the streets," reads the cover of the Gangs of New York DVD. This Historical film was undoubtedly one of the most popular films of 2003. To cast Cameron Diaz, and Leonardo DiCaprio together in a ten-time academy award nominated film, Martin Scorsese must get credit for being a part of History, if not re-creating it. Over one hundred and thirty-five of the top critics agreed that it was one of the years top pictures, according to the DVD cover, but not all historical critics may have felt the same way. One in particular, a professor at Loyola University in Chicago, was very harshly critical. And in his Article, Why Myth Matters, Timothy Gilfoyle makes some interesting points about why the movie was not as historically accurate as it could have been. While analyzing the factors that influence his skepticism, it is also important to take into consideration the point of view he is coming from as a historian, as well as the views of those that see Scorseses version of the Gangs of New York as an accurate depiction. The film's thesis, put simply, is that pre-modern America was dangerously vicious, and through bloody warfare, Irish immigrants fought with protestants and other immigrants to find a place for themselves on the economic social ladder. Levels of servitiude and heroism were differentiated by this bloody warfare and street violence. Even during the Civil War, the great turning point in American history, the Union was hardly unified. Within that context, before the advent of professional police forces, social services, and housing codes, urban slum-dwellers led their lives in chaotic, desperate, sometimes violent circumstances. Gangs warred over territorial grounds competing with corrupt police and others that posed as a threat to the immigrant evolution in America. Gangs of New York makes the attempt to re-create this history in a bloody, filthy, and slum...