Social Disorganization Theory in Cinema

Flashcards covering the application of social disorganization theory to films like Taxi Driver, Boyz n the Hood, and The Brave One.

In the 1976 film Taxi Driver, director __________ uses elements of social disorganization in city life to accentuate Travis's alienation.

Martin Scorsese

Travis Bickle, played by Robert De Niro, stands out in the red-light district of New York City as __________ lonely man.

God's

Signs of one-way streets, tow zones, and porn theaters in Taxi Driver capture the chronic __________ that characterizes Travis's existence.

normlessness

Travis explores the city with __________ detail, mimicking the methods of social disorganization theory by taking notes in his journal.

ethnographic

Robert E. Park recommended that researchers get their __________ to properly observe human nature, a method Travis follows by immersing himself in troubled zones.

pants dirty

The character __________, a child prostitute played by Jodie Foster, echoes Chicago school themes of delinquency as a product of broken conventional norms.

Iris

Chicago school theorists argue that opportunities for delinquency begin early and become more __________ and durable as individuals age.

persistent

Travis acts like the __________ reformers of late nineteenth-century Chicago by seeking to return Iris to her parents.

child-saving

Travis Bickle's social perspective is shaped by his history as a __________ veteran returning to radical changes in the U.S.

Vietnam War

The slogan __________ for the Palantine campaign further exacerbates the emptiness of Travis's existence.

We the People

John Singleton's 1991 film __________ was the first to examine how black youths are defined by drugs, gangs, and violence in South Central Los Angeles.

Boyz n the Hood

The hero of Boyz n the Hood is seventeen-year-old __________, whose parents try to insulate him from gang life.

Tre Styles

Films such as New Jack City (1991), Menace II Society (1993), and __________ (1995) chronicle the criminogenic crisis caused by the war on drugs.

Clockers

In Neil Jordan's 2007 film The Brave One, Jodie Foster plays successful radio show host __________.

Erica Bain

The film Death Wish (1974) starred __________ as a New Yorker who engages in vigilante killings.

Charles Bronson

In The Brave One, Erica is brutally beaten and her fiancé is murdered at __________, an entrance to Central Park.

Stranger's Gate

Erica Bain's vigilante acts are eventually covered up and reconstructed by the police as __________ in the film's conclusion.

self-defense