What's with the Hip-Hop cultures fascination with Scarface/Tony Montana?

[-..__...]

"Say hello to my little frein"...

Seems like every mall I've been has at least one kiosk or clothing store that sells some sort of "Scarface" related merchandise... posters, t-shirts, tacky black velvet type paintings, etc.



(I wonder what Al Pacino thinks about the phenomena?)

[soothsayer]

1. he's a bad ass? a poor man made good, er, rich? dunno,but everyone

has one in their MTV crib (well, everyone of color pretty much)

[LittleOne]

2. He thinks Ca-ching

[ComerPerro]

3. what's with redneck hicks and Elvis?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

4. Because it's a good movie and he's really cool?

:shrug:

[YOY]

5. He's a tough street hood self made man who still has a conscience

He has a tacky over sized house with tacky decorations and is larger than life.

Gangsta rich before "bling-bling" gangsta rich was invented.

I prefer a "bing bing" lifestyle...minus the alcoholism and wife beating...

[HughBeaumont]

6. Cocaine + Guns + Drug Dealing = heroic!

Bad = good.

Like he said - America loves the bad guy. Counterculture raises fictional pieces of shit like Tony Montana to unprecedented heights of worship. They love that lifestyle.

Nobody likes nice guys.

It's the same with all mafia worship. White kids would shit their pants if they ever confronted a REAL mob member's doings, especially those from other countries. It's badass escapism. We give Oscars to guys who portray the worst sort of lowlifes just as much as we give to sympathetic characters. Goodfellas, all the Godfathers, most Tarantino films . . . people eat that shit up like Christmas cookies. We're a culture that thrives on violence. It's indoctrinated in us from toddler age (army men, toy guns, etc).

America loves the bad guy.

Until he gets too bad.

Then only delusional whack-a-doos love him.

[MrSlayer]

7. I love Scarface.

Tony Montana is one of the greatest characters ever. It's been a cult favorite for years, it's not just the hip-hop community.

[monmouth]

8. I love Al...

[Connie_Corleone]

9. Maybe it's the same way that Wall Street thugs see Gordon Gekko as a hero.

I think it's a requirement to have one anniversary edition DVD of Scarface in order to be on MTV Cribs.

Disclaimer: I love Scarface and Wall Street. The Godfather is okay too.

[edhopper]

10. I'm not sure about "The Godfather"

It insists upon itself.*



*To those who don't get it. It's a Family Guy shout out.

[BadgerLaw2010]

11. Up from the street to a kingpin by his balls and his gun, and fears no man.

Not to mention taking dozens of gunshots while hammering you enemies with a fully automatic piece with a grenade launcher, with about a pound of coke in your system.

[ecstatic]

12. My guess is a huge imagination combined with poverty and a feeling of powerlessness

Pacino's film did a lot more to further violence than any rap song ever could.