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Public Enemies, Public Heroes

     One of the main principles that gangster films had to uphold were that the gangster must die in the end. The "gutter to gutter" lifestyle of the gangster was a common storyline. In Scarface, Tony Montana came from the slums of Cuba eventually coming to America to live a better life. As his rise to power began to develop he soon became a feared man in Miami and a "drug lord". Further into Montana's career he started to become ruthless toward his business, his wife, his sister and his best friend Montana quickly began his downfall back to the gutter. At the end of Montana's life he began going crazy. Killing his best friend, disrespecting his wife and hurting his sister were the main reasons his success story ended in a downfall. Resulting in the behavior that Montana exhibited towards the ones that cared about him made it easy for him to be targeted and eventually killed. Munby explains in his book Public Enemies, Public Heroes, that in gangster films that gangster must return back to the gutter in which he came from or die. In Scarface, Montana doesn't deviate from the status quo of the gangster and also leans toward the psycho path role that Munby also speaks about.


    
  
       After WWII, The United States had to become more of a corporate system and less discriminatory. Because, gangster films before WWII showed the discrimination of different ethnic groups in the United States the story line behind the gangster had to be changed to not fit the role of a discriminated immigrant but a psycho. Although, Scarface does show discrimination, it is triumphed by the end of the movie. Montana sits in his office with a large amount of cocaine in front of him. He sticks his entire face into the cocaine and begins shooting the invaders which ultimately leads to him taking many gunshots in the process. Montana at this point believes that he is invincible and begins to talk back to the shooters. Only a psycho would believe that after getting shot many times he will be able to escape death.



Def Jam Presents Scarface: Origins of a Hip Hop Classic

P. Diddy, Eve, Russell Simmons, and many other Hip-Hop rappers reflect on the Scarface film and how it impacts Hip-Hops Culture.

     Scarface has been viewed as a "ghetto tale" for African American rappers. His rise or "come up" is admired by many of them because of the hard work, loyalty and honesty that he held onto throughout the film. As Tony Montana went from the refugee camps in Miami, Florida to a million dollar home by his hard work and dedication to the gangster lifestyle, many rappers related their lives to his by comparing the ghetto neighborhoods of New York to the fame and fortune they received after their hard work and dedication to the rap industry. As explained by many rappers, when you come from nothing and you get everything you want everyone to see it (cars, house, women, money). Scarface is an influential movie to Hip-Hop Culture because statistically in the 80's young black men would end up in jail or dead and the fact that Montana came from nothing gave them hope. Scarface is a heart felt movie about a man that comes from a place where nothing is expected and eventually obtains everything. He embodies power and respect and the true meaning of determination. 

More similar than you may think!

     

     Tony Montana is a Cuban who came to Miami on a Boat lift from Cuba. Montana initially tries to get his green card from being questioned by U.S. officials but got rejected because he was an assassin in prison. Montana eventually got his green card by working for someone else to obtain it.

     In Hip Hop culture, African Americans are the predominate ethnic group. Many African American relate to Tony Montana not only because Montana is considered ethnic, but because he endured many of the same struggles they had to. The unfortunate event of poverty has happened in almost every Hip Hop rapper's life. Many weren't able to obtain jobs because of the stereotype that African Americans were criminals, much like the tattoo on Montana identifying him as an assassin. His love of money and material things also related to the African American dream at that time.

"You got that yayo?"

     Drugs were a large part of the Scarface film. Montana's drug of interest was cocaine which was referred to as "yayo" in the film. In Hip Hop Culture many rappers adapted this term in their music. Rapper Tony Yayo even went as far as using the slang in his stage name. In the Hip Hop Culture during the 80's and 90's, many African American males resulted to gang banging and drug dealing because of the stereotypes associated with them. It was easy to result to drugs because it made them easy money and it was fast. 

      The phrase "The World is Yours" also "became a catchphrase that has shown up in all manner of hip hop artifact such as videos, album titles, and songs." Nas used the phrase as the title of his first album and a New York MC who labeled himself as Scarface in dedication of the movie" (Hip Hop America). The world is yours was so significant because Scarface was the face of the minority man's dream (getting money, women and power) so of course men would live by that motto. 

Tony Montana, Tony Montana

Tony Montana was a Cuban refugee in 1980. After arriving to Miami, Florida he was sent to a refugee camp along with a few of his close friends. Montana desperately hoped for more in his life by living the “American dream” and would do anything to get it. After getting involved with Frank Lopez, who was a wealthy drug dealer, Montana’s life to drugs and money had just begun. As he started working for Lopez he began to develop respect from other men in the gang and ultimately threatened Lopez with the power that he obtained. Montana got the money, material things, women and most importantly the respect and power that many men hoped for. 

Brian de Palma: Scarface

     Hip-hop culture has often collected many of its traditions from sources that wouldn't seem likely during the 80’s and 90’s. Rappers and Hip-Hop gurus such as Run DMC and LL Cool J garnered much of their inspiration from the dominant culture of that time which was predominately Caucasian music, by turning it around to fit into a cultural music that African Americans and lower class society could enjoy. Different films like Robocop and The Terminator were also used in hip-hop culture in comparison to unfair policemen that used their power in an inequitable manner.  However, “Scarface became a cult classic among hip hop artists --- embodying, as it did, the ambivalent relationship that so-called gangsters have with capitalism” (Dimitriadis 42). 

        This research paper studies Scarface’s plot including its demographic, ethnical references and gangster lifestyle. The vulgarity of Scarface related to the current Hip-Hop Culture in the 80’s and 90’s creating a new mix between the gangster and the Hip-Hop rapper. The film’s popularity was able to reach a generation of mostly young African American men who idolized the life and riches of Tony Montana. “Tony Montana was known to flaunt his money and riches he accrued from drug dealing, which fit an archetype of the tyrannical Ruler and an image that is prevalent among rap artists” (Hadley and Yancy, 66). 

        “How did Scarface influence Hip Hop Culture in the 80’s and 90’s?’ is the research question that I will address. Because Scarface was released in the early 80’s, examining this question will operatively connect the relationship and interest of Hip Hop to not only Tony Montana but the dynamics behind Scarface.

        It is important to study the different aspects in Scarface in comparison with Hip Hop culture in order to effectively analyze Hip Hop’s artists’ common goals, much like Tony Montana’s, and how ethnicity became an important factor in determining the larger tie between the two.  “It was not until the 1970's and early 1980's that the popular stereotype of the young Black man evolved in the eyes of many from a petty thief or rapist into that of an ominous criminal predator”(Mauer, 1999).Tony Montana was a criminal, which related to African American stereotype. 

       This research is important because society’s views on minorities had a large impact on the figures that Hip Hop culture symbolized and idolized. Because ethnicity plays a large role in society Hip Hop culture, which is predominately African American, related with the Scarface film aids in recognizing that the relationship between the two is deeper than the surface scratches.