Daniel O’Neil
Professor Greene
Film 301/314
July 06, 2008
Conflict Between Cultures
Midterm: Question #1
Martin Scorsese depicts New York in the mid-nineteenth century as a melting pot for all races and ethnicities in his film Gangs of New York. Clearly all the races and ethnicities do not get along. Also it is very clear that there is more thane one dominating race that is prevalent in New York during this period. Scorsese show’s us during this period that you have Irish immigrants still coming into the United States, African Americans who have made their way north primarily into New York, and many other European-Americans who call themselves native-born American because they were born in the United States. Yet, despite the vast amount of different racial and ethnic back rounds coming together in New York at this time, Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York the main conflict is not one of color (black/white) as it may be viewed today, but rather cultural heritage, conflicts between native-born Americans and Irish-American immigrants. Through the use of the setting, stereotyping in the entertainment/media industry, and political corruption, Martin Scorsese depicts a multi-racial mid-nineteenth century New York that emphasizes cultural conflict as apposed to color conflict to cotemporary viewers.
In the film, the setting is used to give more importance to one group of characters than the other. Scorsese focused on the 5 Points, which is now known as Manhattan. He primarily focused on the native-born Americans and the Irish Americans, but he did show that were African-American and Asian Americans who made up the 5 Points.
The native-born Americans were presumably of British back round. They controlled 5 Points, and had the most influence though out. The native-born Americans were very territorial and scrutinized any other race or ethnicity to maintain their power. They did this by harassing, heckling, belittling and sometimes killing other races or ethnicities. Within the movie, the native-born Americans occupied such spaces as; political offices, taverns, theaters or cinemas and many other establishments that drew in money or power. By occupying all this space, it gave them a tremendous advantage over any other race or ethnicity in the 5 Points.
In the main square of 5 Points most of the people depicted here have white skin and there are not many people of color, showing that color was not the main issue. Their biggest issue was the Irish Americans.
The Irish Americans were constantly coming to the United States in mass numbers weekly. Immediately after they arrived, they signed the documentation which made them Americans citizens. *Scorsese showed the Irish Americans as desperate for new life, which can be seen in this clip of the coffins that were being unloaded onto the harbor next to the incoming immigrants. In the film the Irish could be seen all over5 Points doing the hard labor jobs that no one else wanted to do, or seeking refuge in the Catholic Church.
The Church gave the Irish hope and helped them keep their determination strong through there arduous struggle of gaining acceptance as an American. They were compared to the blacks by the native-born Americans and used as negative entertainment purposes throughout 5 Points. An interesting quote form “The Wages of Whiteness Irish-American Workers and White Racial Forman” by David Roediger was, “ The evil ‘race’ that plagued the Irish Catholic immigration was white and British, not black and African.” This quote shows that the conflict was of cultural differences, not that of race or ethnicity. Although different ethnicities are seen in the film, the main settings take place in spaces that are primarily occupied by native-born Americans and Irish Americans.
Scorsese shows us how the media and entertainment industry played a role in keeping the separation amongst all cultures in the 5 Points area, but primarily with the Irish and native-born Americans. The theatre or cinema was run by native-born Americans. This is clear in, Gangs of New York when all the natives are amused by the belittling acting’s on stage toward the Irish and blacks. Scorsese uses the theater to show viewers that it only added fuel to the fire for native-born Americans to hate the Irish.
Another way in which the entertainment industry shows that there is separation amongst the cultures is the newspaper. I’m referring to the part in the movie where William Cutting takes his gang to confront Amsterdam has a mob of his own. They meet in front of the Irish Catholic church. The seen is captured and publicized by the local newspaper. With this picture in the newspaper, it shows the division amongst the two cultures and may have been a contributing factor in the conflict as well. In “Scorsese on Scorsese” Martin Scorsese mentions a seen toward the end of the movie where, “ the rioters tried killing the newspaperman, Horace Greely.” I think the rioters were sick and tired of the newspaper commenting about what was going on in 5 Points as well as other news such as the war.
The last entity of the entertainment or media that contributed to the conflict amongst the two cultures is billboards and or posters. A specific poster of billboard that I am referring to is the one that is hanging on the wall of William Cutting’s tavern which reads “Native Americans beware of foreign Influence.” This sign could also be seen at the sheriff elections. The slogan used here by the native-born Americans is rather ironic because the true Native Americans could be saying the same thing. The message is clearly promoting anti-Irish, in this case. It adds and perpetuates the division amongst the two cultures.
The last contributing factor to the two cultures conflict is politics within 5 Points. Immediately after arriving to New York, you see Democratic politicians perusing the Irish immigrants for a vote. The politicians used them because they needed more votes and nobody of color was allowed to vote. Irish Americans were not seen as colored so they automatically reaped some benefits for being white.
In Thomas A. Guglielmo’s article, “No Color Barrier” he basically says that Italians whiteness gave them countless advantages over “nonwhites” in housing, jobs, schools, politics and every other meaningful area of life. The same goes for the Irish during this time period. The only thing they had working against them was their culture. While taking advantage of their color they used it to run for political positions or voted for those politicians who would help their cause. This drew more conflict from the native-born Americans because they felt like they were losing control and power. Eventually both cultures come to some sort of an understanding, which you do not see in the movie, but is know through common knowledge.
Martin Scorsese definitely showed us the conflict between the Irish and the native-born Americans. Through the setting it was clear who was the dominating race and the opposing race. I think the Irish were the more opposing race, simply because of their skin color. There was already one dominating white race in this city of 5 Points. Then all of a sudden another European culture comes along to reside in the same city. The natives may have felt a little threatened. They tried to down the Irish anyway they could through the entertainment industry or just by word of mouth. Their downfall, if you would like to call it that came when the Irish got more involved in politics. The Irish had the exact same rights as they did so it was only a matter of time before things leveled out.
Professor Greene
Film 301/314
July 06, 2008
Conflict Between Cultures
Midterm: Question #1
Martin Scorsese depicts New York in the mid-nineteenth century as a melting pot for all races and ethnicities in his film Gangs of New York. Clearly all the races and ethnicities do not get along. Also it is very clear that there is more thane one dominating race that is prevalent in New York during this period. Scorsese show’s us during this period that you have Irish immigrants still coming into the United States, African Americans who have made their way north primarily into New York, and many other European-Americans who call themselves native-born American because they were born in the United States. Yet, despite the vast amount of different racial and ethnic back rounds coming together in New York at this time, Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York the main conflict is not one of color (black/white) as it may be viewed today, but rather cultural heritage, conflicts between native-born Americans and Irish-American immigrants. Through the use of the setting, stereotyping in the entertainment/media industry, and political corruption, Martin Scorsese depicts a multi-racial mid-nineteenth century New York that emphasizes cultural conflict as apposed to color conflict to cotemporary viewers.
In the film, the setting is used to give more importance to one group of characters than the other. Scorsese focused on the 5 Points, which is now known as Manhattan. He primarily focused on the native-born Americans and the Irish Americans, but he did show that were African-American and Asian Americans who made up the 5 Points.
The native-born Americans were presumably of British back round. They controlled 5 Points, and had the most influence though out. The native-born Americans were very territorial and scrutinized any other race or ethnicity to maintain their power. They did this by harassing, heckling, belittling and sometimes killing other races or ethnicities. Within the movie, the native-born Americans occupied such spaces as; political offices, taverns, theaters or cinemas and many other establishments that drew in money or power. By occupying all this space, it gave them a tremendous advantage over any other race or ethnicity in the 5 Points.
In the main square of 5 Points most of the people depicted here have white skin and there are not many people of color, showing that color was not the main issue. Their biggest issue was the Irish Americans.The Irish Americans were constantly coming to the United States in mass numbers weekly. Immediately after they arrived, they signed the documentation which made them Americans citizens. *Scorsese showed the Irish Americans as desperate for new life, which can be seen in this clip of the coffins that were being unloaded onto the harbor next to the incoming immigrants. In the film the Irish could be seen all over5 Points doing the hard labor jobs that no one else wanted to do, or seeking refuge in the Catholic Church.
The Church gave the Irish hope and helped them keep their determination strong through there arduous struggle of gaining acceptance as an American. They were compared to the blacks by the native-born Americans and used as negative entertainment purposes throughout 5 Points. An interesting quote form “The Wages of Whiteness Irish-American Workers and White Racial Forman” by David Roediger was, “ The evil ‘race’ that plagued the Irish Catholic immigration was white and British, not black and African.” This quote shows that the conflict was of cultural differences, not that of race or ethnicity. Although different ethnicities are seen in the film, the main settings take place in spaces that are primarily occupied by native-born Americans and Irish Americans.Scorsese shows us how the media and entertainment industry played a role in keeping the separation amongst all cultures in the 5 Points area, but primarily with the Irish and native-born Americans. The theatre or cinema was run by native-born Americans. This is clear in, Gangs of New York when all the natives are amused by the belittling acting’s on stage toward the Irish and blacks. Scorsese uses the theater to show viewers that it only added fuel to the fire for native-born Americans to hate the Irish.
Another way in which the entertainment industry shows that there is separation amongst the cultures is the newspaper. I’m referring to the part in the movie where William Cutting takes his gang to confront Amsterdam has a mob of his own. They meet in front of the Irish Catholic church. The seen is captured and publicized by the local newspaper. With this picture in the newspaper, it shows the division amongst the two cultures and may have been a contributing factor in the conflict as well. In “Scorsese on Scorsese” Martin Scorsese mentions a seen toward the end of the movie where, “ the rioters tried killing the newspaperman, Horace Greely.” I think the rioters were sick and tired of the newspaper commenting about what was going on in 5 Points as well as other news such as the war.
The last entity of the entertainment or media that contributed to the conflict amongst the two cultures is billboards and or posters. A specific poster of billboard that I am referring to is the one that is hanging on the wall of William Cutting’s tavern which reads “Native Americans beware of foreign Influence.” This sign could also be seen at the sheriff elections. The slogan used here by the native-born Americans is rather ironic because the true Native Americans could be saying the same thing. The message is clearly promoting anti-Irish, in this case. It adds and perpetuates the division amongst the two cultures.
The last contributing factor to the two cultures conflict is politics within 5 Points. Immediately after arriving to New York, you see Democratic politicians perusing the Irish immigrants for a vote. The politicians used them because they needed more votes and nobody of color was allowed to vote. Irish Americans were not seen as colored so they automatically reaped some benefits for being white.
In Thomas A. Guglielmo’s article, “No Color Barrier” he basically says that Italians whiteness gave them countless advantages over “nonwhites” in housing, jobs, schools, politics and every other meaningful area of life. The same goes for the Irish during this time period. The only thing they had working against them was their culture. While taking advantage of their color they used it to run for political positions or voted for those politicians who would help their cause. This drew more conflict from the native-born Americans because they felt like they were losing control and power. Eventually both cultures come to some sort of an understanding, which you do not see in the movie, but is know through common knowledge.Martin Scorsese definitely showed us the conflict between the Irish and the native-born Americans. Through the setting it was clear who was the dominating race and the opposing race. I think the Irish were the more opposing race, simply because of their skin color. There was already one dominating white race in this city of 5 Points. Then all of a sudden another European culture comes along to reside in the same city. The natives may have felt a little threatened. They tried to down the Irish anyway they could through the entertainment industry or just by word of mouth. Their downfall, if you would like to call it that came when the Irish got more involved in politics. The Irish had the exact same rights as they did so it was only a matter of time before things leveled out.
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