Racism in Ghost Dog

To begin lets first define racism, racism is the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, so to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.  In the film Ghost Dog The Way Of The Samurai many sides of American culture are shown.  Part of its focus is on the issue of race relations and trivializing cultures.  Ghost Dog is a recognition of a checkered past, with a hint to a new multicultural generation taking over.  In this film the white Mafioso’s represent the white power structure combined with an early attitude of racism.  There are numerous scenes which show the racist and even sexist nature of the mobsters.  An example of this is the scene where two of the mob members break down the door to a farmer’s place and have an argument on the ethnicity of the farmer.  One almost wants to kill the farmer because he say's something like “indian or nigger, same thing”; he is applying that there is no difference in their skin color. This then prompts the farmer to shout out “you stupid fucking white man.”.  In addition there is another scene where Louie and an injured mobster are pulled over by a female state trooper.  The mobster who is wounded and dying then shoots the trooper, we then see that even Louie looks shocked by his behavior.   One of the strongest scenes in the film that highlights the race theme is where Ghost Dog comes upon a pair of bear hunters.  In an earlier scene Raymond compared Ghost Dog to a bear, and seeing it tied up with rope could be interpreted as imagery to mob killings.  One of the hunters then says that they killed it because they don’t see many of the “big black fuckers” around and the other notes that there are not many “colored folks” in the area also while threatening Ghost Dog with a shotgun he just picked up.  The race and sex dynamic is played out better in the representations of both cultures.  The white mob which at one time represented power and a ruling culture, is now run by a group of washed up retirees who can’t even pay their rent.  African Americans are young, fresh and vibrant with their culture and music permeating the entire film.  Ghost Dog is almost the idea of that and his strength and skills allow him to defeat his enemies.  I would rate this movie an 8.5/10.

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