A 'Gangster' Dilemma

Oy! November 1. That means I'm already behind on my Christmas shopping, according to our personal finance guy Alvin Hall.

But at least we are AHEAD on a couple of things -- the elections this Monday in Trinidad and Tobago, and we give you a taste of this fall's current obsession with black gangsters.

Can I just tell you? ... Moral dilemma with that segment. My underlying view is this: you invite people to come to a program because you believe they have something to say that your listeners might want to hear, that there is of some benefit to whart's being discussed. With so many black gangster film and television projects in the works right now, it seemed logical to talk about a couple of them; we chose the documentaries (we talked to Ruby Dee about the feature film, American Gangster, for Wednesday's program).

...But how do you deal with the fact that these films could be seen as glamorizing the destructive, dangerous, anti-social behavior demonstrated by the subjects of these films? Because, don't get it twisted, the subjects of these movies are drug dealers. They sold heroin and coke, and by extention, aided and abetted addiction and death, mostly among their own communities, for no reason other than money. These aren't freedom fighters, people. They have no cause other than lining their pockets.

So what do you do? Do you blast the filmmakers for making the films? Or, appreciate the work as a window into a world we need to understand?

I remember, when I was at Nightline, the program aired a segment with the Chechen rebel leader believed to have planned the taking of hostages in Beslan, one of the most depraved terrorist acts of recent memory. Hundreds of school children and their mothers were killed or wounded after having been held for days in deplorable conditions. A Russian journalist was able to obtain an exclusive interview with the rebel leader (who was later killed, but that's another story). Nightline's decision to air the documentary caused outrage in Russia and a diplomatic dressing-down of the U.S. ambassador.

To me airing the interview was a no-brainer; we needed to know what would make a human being do that to other people's children. How could he possibly justify it? There was no possible way you could consider the report "glamorizing" or justifying the behavior. But the Russians didn't see it that way. They saw it as offering a platform to a murderous, amoral terrorist.

So what about us? What about Nicky Barnes and Frank Lucas, two of the most notorious drug kingpins of the 70s in NY? Why give them any shine at all?

I asked the filmmakers in today's conversation that very question.

I'll leave it to you to decide whether you think they -- and we -- did the right thing by talking about their work at all.

On another note, I hope you noticed our ongoing commitment to international news. The Caribbean is not just a vacation location, it's a region with exciting and dynamic politics. Can't wait to see what happens in elections there next week.

And, I thought the interview with the former president of Mozambique was very exciting. How often do you get to call up a former president, especially one who has just won a $5 million prize, for good governance?

Michel Martin

3:05 PM ET | 11- 1-2007 | permalink

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3:05 PM ET | 11- 1-2007 | permalink