Why do black men associate themselves with non black people/characters?

[femmenoire]

Why do brothas relate to Scarface, Tony Soprano and Gotti?

And why associate yourself with a gangster anyway?

Is MLK, Marcus Garvey or Malcolm X overdone or boring?

 

[BS2011]

Why do brothas relate to Scarface, Tony Soprano and Gotti?

And why associate yourself with a gangster anyway?

Is MLK, Marcus Garvey or Malcolm X overdone or boring?

I guess the above represent some hypermasculine criminal element that a lot of dudes can relate to. Scarface, Tony Sporano, and Gotti are all cultural icons.
You also got to keep in mind that niggas in general don't give a fuck about their history. Outside of "I have a dream" a lot of people don't really know what brother Martin was about. And outside of "By any means necessary" not too many people know what brother Malcolm stood far. And unless you truely are curious and are interested in you history damn near nobody knows who Marcus Garvey is. They don't teach shit about those three brothers in school.

 

[harlem1nyc]

It represents being part of the "lower-class" that gets fuck the system. It also represents the lack of self knowledge and the result of too much TV!! Most of our people (not just brothers), never heard of Eli Whitney or Fredrick Douglas! Ironically, some of them probably went to Fredrick Douglas Academy....ROFLMBAO..

 

[thismybgolname]

Good question that I can't answer.

I thought that scarface was over rated and how anyone can attempt to model their lives is beyond me.

The man lost everything he had and was murdered at the end.

How people aspire to be that man is beyond me.

As far as wanting to be MLK, X or Garvey I've never done that.

I figure that I can influence and inspire more people with wealth.

 

[geechiedan]

don't speak to soon..there is a porn star named nat turner do you REALLY want to see malcolm XXX???

but harlem has a good point tho.

 

[Temujin]

Being a black male in American society you are always viewed as the bad guy. You are the guy most likely to be violent deviant or criminal. In a sick sort of way many black men cope with this social stigma by psychologically accepting the societal role as the bad man. In that vein they want to identify themselves with other outcasts that somehow have iconic status.

Why white characters?

There aren't any black superheros. And the black badguys in movies never have heroic ends. It's hard to find a black counterculture icon that exudes strength in popular media. I think that's why many choose these white characters.

The infatuation with white mafia characters is all from godfather. If they never made that movie black people wouldn't have gave two shits about the mob.

Funny shit is I have a cousin that goes by Capone. In his late 30's and you better not call him by his Government name if you are not related to him. He's been going by that name since a teenager so now that he is grown I don't think he really even thinks about the white man behind the name. He claims it now so I guess he's Capone as much as Al.

 

[Costanza]

Why do brothas relate to Scarface, Tony Soprano and Gotti?

And why associate yourself with a gangster anyway?

Is MLK, Marcus Garvey or Malcolm X overdone or boring?

I can't speak for the gangster part personally, but I don't think associating yourself with a non-black character means disassociating yourself from all black characters.

As for the specific names you mentioned, political figures just aren't as easily appealing as ficitional characters or dramatized events. To get excited about MLK/Garvey/X, you have to understand and care about the movements they were a part of. A two hour movie doesn't take the same commitment to get excited about.

I picked this Costanza name about four or five years ago now. I'd never seen "Seinfeld" during its original run but I started really enjoying reruns of the series around the time I registered. George Costanza was by far my favorite character on the show and I have some Larry David/Costanzian personality traits. Plus, the character's ineptness with females made him particularly familiar to me in those late high school years; my best friend and I had a running joke about how I was Costanza and he was Jerry.

For me, it'd be more of a question of why people confine themselves to associations with characters strictly like them.

 

[femmenoire]

Being a black male in American society you are always viewed as the bad guy. You are the guy most likely to be violent deviant or criminal. In a sick sort of way many black men cope with this social stigma by psychologically accepting the societal role as the bad man. In that vein they want to identify themselves with other outcasts that somehow have iconic status.

Why white characters?

There aren't any black superheros. And the black badguys in movies never have heroic ends. It's hard to find a black counterculture icon that exudes strength in popular media. I think that's why many choose these white characters.

The infatuation with white mafia characters is all from godfather. If they never made that movie black people wouldn't have gave two shits about the mob.

Funny shit is I have a cousin that goes by Capone. In his late 30's and you better not call him by his Government name if you are not related to him. He's been going by that name since a teenager so now that he is grown I don't think he really even thinks about the white man behind the name. He claims it now so I guess he's Capone as much as Al.

Tony Soprano is considered a white superhero?

 

[dictator]

I believe it has less to do with their races but what they represented in their roles. The behind-the-eightball-making-it role, that a lot of young blacks feel they are in. Sure they could model and name themselves for the struggles of true leaders MLK or Ghandhi, etc. but who ever does that? That is a huge responsibility and most would rather compare themselves to fictional characters they can pretend to be or not to be whenever the time comes.

 

[Harvard Blu]

Why do brothas relate to Scarface, Tony Soprano and Gotti?

And why associate yourself with a gangster anyway?

Is MLK, Marcus Garvey or Malcolm X overdone or boring?

There isn't an intelligent answer to support doing it Femm...not the way you worded it anyway.

 

[frankimme]

I dont know if your chioces for examples are coincidence or not but us old piasones always say... there are two types of people maybe three in the world, Italians and those that want to be and the third being the women that want to be with one...

 

[elchoccolatte]

I revert to S.E.L.F., But i don't ignore what my people, both women/men have gone thru for my people today...

 

[mc2]

Why do brothas relate to Scarface, Tony Soprano and Gotti?

And why associate yourself with a gangster anyway?

Is MLK, Marcus Garvey or Malcolm X overdone or boring?

Its because these gangsters have been embraced and promoted by popular culture. Pop culture (hiphop) is facinated with gangsters and the people you mentioned are legendary gangsters..

I believe if there was more music about black leaderse like Malcolm X, Farrakhan, MLK, Huey Newton, etc. they would also be embraced. Its a shame that Tupac is dead, because often talked about black leaders like Malcolm X, Huey Newton and Geronimo Pratt which drives people to find out more about them.

Tupac - White Mans World
[flash]http://www.youtube.com/v/7ISUfeOVT-o&rel=1[/flash]

 

[MartinAsante]

Why do brothas relate to Scarface, Tony Soprano and Gotti?

And why associate yourself with a gangster anyway?

Is MLK, Marcus Garvey or Malcolm X overdone or boring?

Why do Black women have weaves and wigs with the texture of White women? Why do they get blonde highlights like White women? Why can't they keep it natural?

Because that's what is promoted in mainstream society.

 

[Harbinger]

Because these are glamorous dangerous manly men who take what they want and get respect.

With the thinking that avenues to men getting these things through education and hard work not being that plentiful, these are the figures they resort to. Not too many black characters like this.

This is where all the bling, cars, houses, ect come from.

Oh yeah, did I mention they get LOTS of women?

 

[Rudey]

Check my avi...

Italians don't even like Blacks.Cubans don't even consider themselves as Caribbean ppl they rather label themselves as latinos/latinas.

 

[Nevsky]

Why do brothas relate to Scarface, Tony Soprano and Gotti?

And why associate yourself with a gangster anyway?

Is MLK, Marcus Garvey or Malcolm X overdone or boring?

I always thought the people that were crazy over these icons were just fans. With that new american gangster film I'm sure people will just add him to their lists also. MLK and the others don't have that pop icon like appeal. More political minded individuals probably wouldnt want to commercialize their image anyway.

For me it isnt so much about the race of these characters. It's the fact that they represent crime and murder. It's one thing to be a fan but people need to leave it at that. Alot of people try to make fantasy into reality and thats more scary to me.

 

[DMXtreem]

Why do brothas relate to Scarface, Tony Soprano and Gotti?

And why associate yourself with a gangster anyway?

Is MLK, Marcus Garvey or Malcolm X overdone or boring?

Simple, in order for brotha's to relate to or emulate Martin, Marcus, or Malcolm requires them to first attain, develop, and always be in search of the mastery of self. This on its surface to them involves to much work. Muhammad Ali use to say "the will must be greater than the skill." These men were great because they developed a superior attitude and character.

 

[APOPHIS]

Well, usually educated brothas with real responsibilities do not associate themselves with these characters. It all bears down to economic & social status in the poor Black community. They wish to to tie themselves to something that is greater than they are but at the same can relate to via the gangster image.

And also, Blacks folks generally love to associate themselves with non-black images in order to feel superior. It's a problem that affects women to. Look at how many Black women alter their natural appearence in order to feel "purty."

I have yet to meet a Black lawyer, doctor, and/or engineer who goes around impersonating Scarface or any other fictional movie character. I, myself, for example enjoy mafia films, but you would never catch imating such behavior or wanting to be like them.

 

[femmenoire]

Thanks everyone for your answers.

 

[kjxxxx]

Why do brothas relate to Scarface, Tony Soprano and Gotti?

And why associate yourself with a gangster anyway?

Is MLK, Marcus Garvey or Malcolm X overdone or boring?

You generalized. The people you pay attention to I guess relate to them. I don't. I and most of the people around me don't.

What's up with the generalization. You do know that there are lots of brothers who don't know anything about street life, drug dealing, gangs, violence, poverty, lower class, hoodlum or whatever lead you to generalize.

 

[femmenoire]

You generalized. The people you pay attention to I guess relate to them. I don't. I and most of the people around me don't.

What's up with the generalization. You do know that there are lots of brothers who don't know anything about street life, drug dealing, gangs, violence, poverty, lower class, hoodlum or whatever lead you to generalize.

Oh I was just following suit of a boardmember who likes to make the same types of threads, only about women.

 

[DAHITMAN]

They have low self esteem issues, maybe they have lost their true sense of worth and they think it is cool. Or they are trying to fill that void if they were abused in their past or if they didn't have a father figure to relate to. So they substitute to fill that void and put up this mask to hide their insecurities, so they won't be hurt. They use that as a crutch to compensate what they lack.

If I had to choice I rather pick my father as a role model but certainly not something that is fabricated.