"Ghett'a Life" film review

"Ghett'a Life" (2011)

Drama/action

Directed by Chris Browne

1. Who was your favorite character (s) from the film? Why?

My favorite characters of the film were Derrick and his mom Dawn Thompson. Derrick it's a well developed character that had to face very complex problems to accomplish his objective, win the championship of boxing. In this process Derrick lives a transformation from being a simple kid to a professional boxing athlete involved in a violent geopolitical conflict. This transformation is caused in its majority by a situational conflict, because Derrick is son of a politician that's friend of a gangster. He's enemy of the gang that lives in the hood where the boxing gym is. So Derrick is involved in a world with gang-ruled politics. 
Dawn Thompson is the most important female character in the movie. She helps Derrick to pursuit his dream, and fights for him with his husband that disagree with Derrick interest in boxing, and hides Derrick from the gang that wants to kill him. She is a great mother, that always supports his son and is super proud of him. Also, the big spin of the movie happens when the gang shots Dawn and Derrick, super angry, "trys" to kill the gang. 

2. How do we see the political conflict portrayed in the film?

The principal device used to show the political conflict in the movie is the TV. In the news the characters and the spectators can see the conflict between People's National Party (PNP) and the Jamaican Labour Party (JLP). We can hear the people claims about violence, crime and their demands on a violent neoliberal context.
In the reality of the movie, we are spectators of gang-ruled Jamaican politics and their violent concecuences. In this world this presented as a territory in conflict, divided by gangs and patrolled by the army. 

3. How are woman portrayed in this film? Is it a little or big advancement compared to The Harder They Come?

I think that this movie has a good advancement about the roll of the woman in society from the movie The Harder They come. In that movie, all the important characters were men and they were the only ones that had voice. In Ghett'a Life, Dawn is super important in the story of the movie, as it's role in society and as a mom. 
The movie is still being in a male chauvinist Jamaica, but in this case, Dawn make important decisions that affect the hole spin of the movie and the principal character. She even argue agaist his husband making him shut up, all trying to protect his son. By the other side, Carmella that's like the lover of Derrick, falls in the typical estereotipe as the lover of the protagonist. But she is important in the argument, because she is who convinced the coach to accept Derrick at the gym and that lead to all the events that happend after.