Gang Representation in Sons of Anarchy Essay

Sons of insubordination is an American video caper created by Kurt Sutter that airs on FX mesh. The period of play serial publication, also cognise by its acronym SOA or SAMCRO, is centered around the culture of ride cliques and includes multiple doughnuts with oppositeiated racial makeups. The series is make up in current-day California in a fictional town c whollyed Charming. The town is modeled as a sm totally-town participation which has limited government interference commonly and lenient authori restricts. The chthonianstand cartridge holder flavour was impractical in 2008 and followed the lives of motorcycle gang members in the caucasian gang, called the Sons of anarchy. Other gangs included in the series were a nasty gang, called the star(a)-niners, and a Hispanic gang, called the Mayans. Each gang is culpable and commits various hatreds from murder to drug dealing.I am developmenting closer how FX network incorporates the sad actions of minority assemblages in the leaven. They argon al carriages placed opposite of the Sons of disorder and their criminal actions depend to be scrutinized to a greater extent than the criminal actions of the Sons of outlawry. The question I am trying to answer is What is the difference in the image of criminal activity ground on the racial group intricate? By foc exploitation on the racial roles in the visual aspect and how they comp atomic number 18 in relation to criminal activity I intrust to come to a polish on minority design that I can present to Kurt Sutter and FX Network. I chose to study this topic since I am an greedy viewer of this series and the topic of media representation of gang fierceness interests me. thither seems to be a disparity in the modality gang hatred is portrayed on unsandeds awaylets depending on the race of the group and I cherished to find out(p) if that disparity would be confusable in Sons of sedition. For example, do crimes by blacken grou ps face criticism than those by whiteness groups or is the reaction equal without regard to racial factors.I already knew from watching the show and following Kurt Sutters personal intercommunicate that the series has come under-fire before for utilise race and violence as a shock-factor sooner of using it for plot of land progression. Kurt Sutter is k instantern for his elapseling of profane language and support his show from critics by decreeing that they do non visualise the concepts. For example, in a up get under ones skin post he wrote close to a contest in which he and the unload would visit thewinners hometown, We will come essentially disrupt your neighborhood and piss score all your neighbors. Fuck those neighbors, I abominate those shitheads any(prenominal)how. (Sutter, Season 6) He seems to nurse no cargon for the hatred his manner of speaking incite.Other than his hatred of neighbors he has had to entertain himself before because of his use of race in the show. During season four of the show one of the members of Sons of mutiny named Juice was threatened by the constabulary with the race he was born. The sheriff, a middle-aged black manlike, had found out that he had in truth been born with a black father and threatened to secure the Sons of disorder that he was not the Latino label he had been hiding do-nothing his whole sprightliness. After three seasons it impress me the Sons of Anarchy seemed to take this new line up about not allowing blacks into the gang except latinos were fine to join. This disturbed me a myopic because the gang had no problems working with black gangs in the past and there did not seem to be any racial tension besides the racial slurs impel around by all the gangs.There seemed to be no major race-based violence inwardly Sons of Anarchy until this plot foreland was brought up. Sutter challenged the outcry to this plot point by saying, It was one of those odd, historical barriers that ive wanted to explore. The depth and weight of this territory varies from inn to club and this season we see how its handled by the Sons of Anarchy.(Sutter, sour) For the interest group of au indeedticity he felt that this must be included because they motorcycle clubs function within astructure that is built upon a form of segregation.(Sutter, BLACK) How the plot point finish though had me start my head wondering if Sutter had missed an luck to make a statement about race.In the end Juice admits to the chief(prenominal) character Jax, a young white male, that his father is indeed black. Instead of using this opportunity to show how outdated the rule is and that progress can be do against racial discrimination no matter how spacious the rule has been around Sutter stubborn to pay off another character again use race to blackmail Juice. I understand the need for authenticity exclusively I felt this scene was just reinforcing to all watching that it is shameful to be black and it can be used as threat. It was a weak way of demo how racism can effect psyche after all the build up during the season and concern for hislife. In a matter of one scene it was brushed off, there was no less(prenominal)on learned nor was there any receivedism in alleged(a) anti-Semite(a) actions of the gang. The ending was neither insightful nor authentic. It just seemed to end without any real conclusion.It had also seemed out of place in the story because during season two the Sons of Anarchy spent the whole season fight a white supremacist gang. During that season the gang seemed just as disturbed by the ideas of the white supremacist gang as more than as their threat to Sons of Anarchys control of Charming. It seemed to me that Sutter was using Juices race as a shock-factor. This was no surprise to me though as there are some(prenominal) off-hand racist jokes made during the show as swell that seem to have petty(a) value. For instance, in the pilot one member of the gang makes a re rate after decision two hispanic women burned alive, Goddamn, deep-fried and refried Clay says with little remorse. The show plays this racism as a fact of life that the gang cannot escape, control or overcome. It hides crumb trying to make the racism ridiculous like Clays line instead of video display it show racism how it actually exists, scrofulous and disturbing.After thinking grit on Juices plot point, which originally had me interested in studying and discussing this show for my study, I went back to re-watch the first-year season. I decided to start with the first season because it was Sutters first attempt at depicting the gangs and it would not be fresh in my head teacher since I had not seen it since last pass when I binge-watched all the seasons again. This time instead of just taking in the show for entertainment value I set up some guidelines for my viewing. I decided that I would make a duck which would include the three most orotund ga ngs Mayans, Sons of Anarchy, and ace-niners. Each column would represent one of the gangs and the rows would be the type of crimes act on the show. Whe neer a gang was involved in any crime I would mark down which category it was in and then what response it earned from the club and the authorities. These groups seemed to me most apt(predicate) to be unbiased when it came to criminal activity. incomplete necessarily should have any threaten in the violence besides scatty it to be eradicated. After collecting this discipline I would have a disruption of each gang how many crimes were pull, how many deaths were caused, were the actions deemed necessary or unwarranted, what kind of patrol action was taken. Gangon-gang action would be analyze in the very(prenominal) manner. The information I collected was then compared to see who was trusty for the most crime and which gang had the mop up repute. Assuming all things normal it would be the same gang. This show existence les s than a normal representation of clubhouse as it is a dramatic television series I did not forestall to find that the gang with the worst reputation had committed the most crimes.My expectations were the hispanic gang, Mayans, would garner the worst reputation dapple the Sons of Anarchy committed the most crime. These expectations came from my previous experience of the show and thevague feeling that the show might be a little more distasteful towards hispanics since it was set in California where race issues abound with the immigration of hispanics across the border. After watching the first season over these were the figures for each of the gangs.The figures ended up being somewhat similar to what was expected but I was strike by the amount of crimes that Sons of Anarchy had in the unwarranted column. When watching the show for pure entertainment the communities response seems heavily in favor of the crimes. The data tells a different story with only five of the thirty-fi ve crimes committed being deemed necessary. The crime numbers for Sons of Anarchy whitethorn have surprised me but the other gangs go the profile that I had expected. With thirty murders in just thirteen episodes the show is moreviolent than I remember. I portion this to murders being desensitized throughout the show by dark humorous remarks from characters and no consequences for those committing the crimes. Overall, the Sons of Anarchy committed the most crimes in season one by a tenacious shot with more than both Mayans and One-niners combined. This may have been attributed to them beingthe centerpiece of the show.What cannot be explained is the representation of each of these crimes. The Mayans and One-Niners never caught a break from the residential district and authorities but the Sons of Anarchy did. Five times, after being found guilty of committing the crime, the Sons of Anarchy were delineated as just doing what was necessary for Charming. iii of these crimes were mu rder, while the other two were assault. much(prenominal) violent crimes without an eyelash batted by the police. One of the assaults was even encouraged by the police who stood by and watched. On the other hand, any crime known about by the community and authorities that the other gangs committed was scrutinized and engage. These groups never received the blessing of Charming. even so though they committed less crimes than the Sons of Anarchy combined they were seen as the outlaws.I cogitate this originates from the Sons of Anarchy attempting to brainwash the town by telling them crime is needed to stay on worse crime out of the city. The Sons of Anarchy continue to tell the white community they live in that their town necessitate to be protected from invasion. I commit there is more too it than that though. piece watching I also unbroken tabs on the racial makeup of the town. I could count the amount of black and hispanic people not in a gang on one hand and thats the who le seasons worth of episodes. It seems to me that according to Sons of Anarchy if you are colored then you are a gang member. Even the atrociousness of the crimes is more dramatized with regards to the other gangs. The crimesalways seem done out of haste and are unplanned. It gives the rival gangs a sense of madness that they cannot control their actions or make a plan.In conclusion, it seems that Kurt Sutter seems biased towards the Sons of Anarchy when it comes to representation of crime. They are seen more as a police force by the community than a gang. While they are pursued for various crimes during the season they are never actually charged with anything. Even when all the evidence comes together they end up getting away. This is extraordinarily annoying as it just perpetuates that a crime committed by a white male compared to a black male is any different. There are no repercussions for their actions while the One-Niners are hunted down for drug charges unceasingly.I beli eve the FX network and Kurt Sutter could do more to better represent the crime equally. It might be better to actually put one of the Sons of Anarchy quarter bars for once. Instead of them continually getting away they could show the real-life struggle of having members constantly going to jail. It would be both more realistic and more equal criminal representation. Kurt Sutter could also spend more time discussing the problems both the Mayans and One-Niners have. It could be a way to combine all three gangs under one banner. Im sure enough it would not be too tall(prenominal) to discuss why those groups may be committing crimes like Sutter does with the Sons of Anarchy. It would add an emotional tie to the characters in those gangs. They could be seen in the same light as the Sons of Anarchy a group of troubled people with require and no way they see contain to satisfy them except crime. Right now those minority gangs are just a group of hooligans committing crimes with no mot ive, no morals, no reason. If Kurt Sutter were to make these changes it would add a new dimension to the show and also displume a more diverse audience. My hope is the show takes a more immaterial stand as it enters its last season.SourcesSutter, Kurt. BLACK AND WHITE OF MCS. Sutterlink.blogspot.com. N.p., 24 Sept. 2011. Web. 12 May 2014.Sutter, Kurt. Season 6 Viewership Challenge. sutterlink.blogspot.com. N.p., 30 Aug. 2013. Web. 13 May 2014.Sutter, Kurt. Sons of Anarchy. Sons of Anarchy, Season One. FX Network. 3 Sept. 2008. Television.