By T\JREKA TURK
Michl n Cltlz.n
The genre of gan ta film
evolv d from th tough ino
Brown most Black peopl go
u ed to ver sine "New Jack
. City", which educed i audi
ence with almost elegant drug
cartel surroundings, ttl' iv
good guys and bad guy and
enough oap box monologu
with cute clich to make them
all memorable. And th t w
Hollywood.
Today is a new day and age
and independent filmmaker Al
lison Anders (with the help of
HBO Pictures) has created an
other look at gangsta life with
her second film "M i Vida Loca:
My Crazy Life".
Anders decided to tell the
• story of Latinas in a fictional
I West Coast city, Echo Park, (one
. that closely res mbl the infa
I mous South Central) and does so
'in such a way that you almost
forget that' there are gangs,
drugs and violence.
Anders creates the story of
Sad Girl and Mousie, two' best
friends who get pregnant by the
same .drug dealer, Ernesto, and
almost loose their friendship.
But the film goes d per than
that.
WHILE AMERICA always
h 1'8 about the Bloods nd the
Crypts arid Generation (easy
information to ob in thanks to
publications 'like Newsweek),
rarely do they make the connec
tion that, thes labels d cribe
people who go through the arne.
things every one el do .
"Mi Vida Loca" dives into the
emotional world of girl gangs and
uncov rs every f ling of love,
betrayal and growing pain imag
inable. The audience is seduced
this time, not by the soap box
monologues or famous faces, but
by observing the journey the Lat
inas go through in realizing that
their men will grow up to be
"dead or crippled".
Anders makes this journey
ting wonderful
Angel Aviles
love" that makes this film some
thingnew and refr hing.
At first glance, it could be said
that Anders is boarding on a
"feminist" movie because the
apex of the film is the female
bondin (and also becau the
drug d lsr in common, Ern
, 1 ,t u�c:terde-
veloped character in the film).
But looking deeper, it i the
trained eye that realizes that
th re are trong male figures in
the film as well.
NOT LE VING OUT the
OGs (old gangstas), Anders in
cludes male OGs in the film, all
grown up with kids and facing
grown up pr bletns. Although
their h rt i with the gang, they
realize th .ir time hal come to be
adult.
And, for the first time, Anders
allow us the view into a female
OG's life, Giggl ,who just gets
out of pri on and is determined
to rna lif for h I' daughter
who hardly kno h 1'.
"Computers", he tell the
anxio group of young Loti
who waited her rel from
prison for guidance in organizing
t ir gang, "Compute are th
future. "eedl to Y they are
disappointed nd put her out to
gangsta pasture until Giggl re
aliz ,with a record, he' tuck.
between a rock nd a hard place.
"I promi m If 1 ould
never rely on nobody no more,"
she tells another OG, who has
offered to her all that he h .
Giggles soon realizes that it is
her homies that sh must rely on
becau they need her the most.
And with the label of "ex-con",
that's the only direction she can
go.
Giggles has to give guidance
to girls like Whisper, a smart,
calculating and enterprising
young Latina who knows more
about the drug bu in than her
homeboys; Sad Girl, a young Lat
ina loved by her family no matter
what but almost looses the love
of her best friend; and Mousie,
kicked out of her house by her
father (special appearance by
Kid F t) when he learned of
her pregnancy.
"SAD GIRL � as my friend,"
Mousie says to Erne to after
m ing 10 I" nd of
I '
, '
Ernesto is a limited non-for
givingly stupid you g man who
hasn't decided who he wants and
cares only abou his truck.
He has been called adorable in
his ignorance but he is actually a
stereotype of what America sees
as its drug dealer: living for the
day, unintelligent, and a men
ace. But Anders surprises the
audience by giving Ernesto a
monologue to remember.
While teaching Whisper the
ropes of the "bu iness" he de
scribes his feeling of the white
people coming into his neighbor
hood to buy drugs from him. He.
counting how easy it is for white
"Mi Vida Loca" i ni li tIe
packag that shouldn't
in' ed - visually nor audio.
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