City of God, by Fernando Meirelles and Pixote, by Hector...

The innocence of Brazilian lower class children are lost in both films ,City of God directed by Fernando Meirelles, and in Pixote directed by Hector Bebenco. In both of these films the loss of innocence stems from a lack of authoritative power and most importantly the lack of a familial structure. This lack of innocence derives from the lower class socio-economic status the youth are born into. The children and teenagers are able to gain an astonishing amount of power when introduced to violent lifestyle of the streets . While both films comment upon the different causes and effects of Brazilian street culture, both films clearly exhibit how lack of authority and lack of a structure leads to the demise and death of many young street†¦show more content†¦This section is shown with a hazy golden tone to symbolize innocence (Diken 3). The children should and scream to this behavior( why don’t they) and the rest of the gang members remind him about the gas truck they are about to rob. Right off the bat the film suggests that children link violent activities with fun activities violence and fun as a combined activity. These characters are the role models the children of the slums look up to, they are even narrated as â€Å"legendary† (City of God 2002) to the viewers. By calling the gang â€Å"legendary† even the narrator, Rocket who isn’t a part of the gang suggests that he wants to be a part of this culture. (Link it to the bible) ( Sodom and Gomorrah the Cities god destroyed) The City of God is not what it sounds like, most of the residence there are homeless and without power, the children become power hungry and are forced to commit crimes. â€Å"City of God ‘has nothing to do with the Rio you see in the postcards’. It is a 1960s-style housing project that, in tandem with increasing drug dealing, became, already by the 1980s, one of the most dangerous places in Rio. It is a place abandoned by God and justice, where police hardly ever come and where residents’ life expectancy does not considerably exceed the twenties†EXPAND (Diken 2). â€Å"City of God ironically is a â€Å"city without god† but because it is truly a ‘sacred’: a situation of being abandoned, a state of