I saw Hustle and Flow and as a Memphian I was happy that the movie got such great reviews because it promoted Memphis music (3-6 Mafia won an Oscar!) and brought interest to the city. But, I don't think the movie really has any positive ramifications. While the main character did become a success, he was in jail--which is acutally the case for a few great Memphis rappers--and that real-life "DJ" usually ends up getting out of jail, having some money, but still promoting that "hood" lifestyle--as a form of "keeping it real." And the movie would be fine, if it wasn't so sadly true. 3-6 mafia, since winning their oscar, are heroes here--and rightfully so, they've acheived something amazing. BUT, when Memphis homicide levels are higher than ever and I see these guys--wealthy, successful, on MTV riding around Memphis with MTV host Sway in his Phantom and a gun in his lap, riding around where he grew up saying "a sitting duck always gets plucked...the only difference from when i grew up in this neighborhood years ago is that people is more broker now." It annoys me that we don't see them providing some type of service to these underpriviledged neighborhoods--they know better than anyone else the conditions, yet when these people support them for years--directly by purchasing their underground tapes before they won Oscars and indirectly by proving the very material they rap about--they do not provide any support for them. And no, they're not responsible for the conditons, but it just seems like they would want these people to have some way to come up, like they have. But, at the same time, if they make a way for everyone to come up, then coming up wouldn't be so much of a position of priviledge. So, Hustle n Flow is a good movie, but the people whose harsh real-life stories provide that good hour and a half of our viewing pleasure are actually living that and while the movie makers are capitalizing on telling that story, the people who live it are under attack with crime in their neighborhoods, but as long as their heroes (people who made it out) champion that life they'll be none the wiser to change things up in a positive way. No, you don't have to be a pimp--you could, but you don't have to. As long as that's what's seen, it'll be glorified. Honestly, since that movie, I've seen more of that prostitution here. I saw it many times before the movie, but afterwards, it's seen as much cooler to people who don't have to "hustle" that way. So it's a bittersweet deal--the movie was entertaining, but the people whose real lives provide the entertainment are still in bad conditions and have not benefitted at all from their story being told to the masses.
