IMOW - Living in the Shadow of Scarface

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Living in the Shadow of Scarface
Curtis Stephen

United States

GALLERY

CONVERSATION

In those days our television diet consisted of three broadcast networks and a handful of other local stations.

That night, however, Mike and I were about to watch the movie “Scarface.” It was the edited version of the ultra-violent blockbuster film. As a result, we missed most of the incessant cursing, rampant gun-slinging, gratuitous bloodletting, and grand depictions of the cocaine trade. Yet “Scarface” re-aired often enough for us to eventually put the pieces together. For us, it wasn’t as thrilling as, say, “Return of the Jedi.” It was just another movie.

Directed by Brian de Palma and written by Oliver Stone, “Scarface” hit cinemas nationwide in 1983. The film, which starred the iconic actor Al Pacino as a fictional Cuban refugee who adopted the moniker Tony Montana and emerged as the head of an international drug cartel, sparked controversy from its very inception and was panned by leading film critics. Yet “Scarface” proved a box-office hit for Universal Pictures and steadily built a cult following ever since.

If you take a stroll through the streets of predominantly Black neighborhoods from New York to Los Angeles and you will undoubtedly find someone proudly sporting a T-shirt depicting Tony Montana brandishing an M-16 assault rifle. Multiple retail shops in those areas also prominently display posters for the DVD while ads in hip-hop magazines tout Montana figurines.

The marketing franchise behind “Scarface,” which now includes a best-selling video game, has become a lucrative enterprise in recent years, concentrating on African-Americans. When a commemorative DVD was released in 2003 to mark the 20th anniversary of “Scarface,” the companion soundtrack was produced by Def Jam Recordings and contained twenty-three songs, all of which were from popular rap artists.
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