Thugs Life.

It's a thugs life.

A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters. Gangs provide a level of organization and resources that support much larger and more complex criminal transactions than an individual criminal could achieve. Gangsters have been active for many years in countries around the world. Some gangsters, perhaps most notably Al Capone, have become famous. Gangsters are the subject of many movies, particularly from the period between 1930 and 1960. The term "Gangster" is now used for members of street gangs.

Gangs have long been the subject of movies. In fact, the first feature length movie ever produced was The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), an Australian production that traced the life of the outlaw Ned Kelly (1855–1880). The United States has profoundly influenced the genre, but other cultures have contributed distinctive and often excellent gangster movies.

The classic gangster movie ranks with the Western as one of the most successful creations of the American movie industry. The "classic" form of gangster movie, rarely produced in recent years, tells of a gangster working his way up through his enterprise and daring, until his organization collapses while he is at the peak of his powers. Although the ending is presented as a moral outcome, it is usually seen as no more than an accidental failure. The gangster is typically articulate, although at times lonely and depressed, and his wordly wisdom and defiance of social norms has a strong appeal, particularly to adolescents.

The stereotypical image and myth of the American gangster is closely associated with organized crime during the Prohibition era of the 1920s and 1930s. 1931 and 1932 saw the genre produce three classics: Warner Bros. Little Caesar and The Public Enemy, which made screen icons out of Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney, and Howard Hawks' Scarface starring Paul Muni, which offered a dark psychological analysis of a fictionalized Al Capone.These films chronicle the quick rise, and equally quick downfall, of three young, violent criminals, and represent the genre in its purest form before moral pressure would force it to change and evolve. Though the gangster in each film would face a violent downfall which was designed to remind the viewers of the consequences of crime, audiences were often able to identify with the charismatic anti-hero. Those suffering from the Depression were able to relate to the gangster character who worked hard to earn his place and success in the world, only to have it all taken away from him. More recently, gangsters have been depicted in American popular culture in films such as The Godfather, War, Hell Up in Harlem, and Goodfellas, and in television shows such as The Sopranos).

The influence of Gangsters in popular culture and their depiction of power has led into the formation of subcultural "gangs" within society. These groups show the same level of organisation and lust for money as the original gangsters that arose in the early 1900's.

By Peter Hughes