I just saw the movie, City of God, last night. If you haven't seen it, it's a movie about kids living in a slum just outside of Rio. The story is about the thugs that run the slum, the drugs they deal, their robberies, murders, alliances and wars. It's a tough movie that ended up reminding me a little of Lord of the Flies in that the children, left to their own devices, turn into savages. The movie's key element tends to be a murder, typically a indescriminant pistol shot over such trivalities as annoyances, robberies and territorial disputes. There are so many murders in fact that I lost count about midway through. As I watched this movie some of the murders disturbed me, others had no effect and were minor plot pieces. If killing were not so shocking to us humans, I doubt this movie would have any appeal. In fact the children involved in this "true story" probably don't view killing the same way most of us do. To them this story would be uninteresting. Which I think is an interesting point and a point that the movie makes. There is one character who goes over to the dark side of thuggery, Knockout Ned. Ned at first requires that none of his fellow thugs kill innocent people. When a guard pulls a gun on Ned that guard is shot and it is stated that there is an exception to every rule. The exception on subsequent heists then becomes the rule and the thugs are impervious to feeling remorse for killing. We see the world through their eyes. The killing becomes commonplace, almost dull. Did the consequences of killing become less impactful? No, but the sentiment around it did. And if one runs their life by how they feel in relation to something they run the risk of commiting errors that have ramifications for all involved.
