11 Brilliantly Controversial Martin Scorsese Moments
6. Gangs Of New York - Rampant Racism In 19th Century America
How do you explore the culture of Nineteenth Century New York, a city coalescing into a union despite violence, anger, and oppression? Scorsese set out to answer this question with his opus Gangs of New York. The film focuses on the struggle of Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) as he seeks to avenge the death of his father at the hands of notorious gang leader Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day-Lewis). Vallon uses deception, cunning, and a callous disregard for the law in order to rid the Five Points of the Butcher. Rather than shy way from the realities of New York at the time, Scorsese embraced them to create a more authentic portrait. As a result, White men fling the "N-word" and the "C-word" (when referring to Chinese immigrants) liberally and often. Bill's gang, the Federation of American Natives, is a particularly racist group, throwing abuse towards Black Americans, Chinese immigrants, and especially the Irish. In spite of that, the racism flows casually even from the heroes of the story. Vallon, on more than one occasion, speaks of the Chinese in racial slurs, and the Union soldiers being shipped off to fight degrade Black men and women. Despite the difficulty of viewing some of the racially charged situations that take place, Gangs of New York ultimately represents one of Scorsese's boldest moments, as he chose to portray society with honesty rather than through the lens of an apologist. He accepts the racism as a reality of the Civil War period. Hiding that truth would lead to a disingenuous historical portrayal, which would not allow Scorsese to make his larger point that, despite the violent squabbles of its citizens, the city of New York survived the ugliness by coming together. True, New York can still be a difficult place to live, but through a painstakingly constructed portrait like Gangs of New York, Scorsese shows audiences how far we've come while leaving room for even greater understanding.
