Battling to Carve Out a Sliver of A Niche

The amazing thing about film is that, if done right, they can transport you to a place that you have never been before and can never go, even if you dared. It is this innate ability to make us see, feel, smell and taste a land that we can only imagine. In Scorsese's Gangs of New York, set in 1860's immigrant infested Five Points, the gritty daily life of New York's poorest comes into shimmering detail.
      From the first drum beat to the last breath of the movie, you are transported into this world filled with death, corruption, chaos, hope, fear and deplorably wretched circumstances. One cannot help but feel for Amsterdam, Jenny, The Butcher and even the whores and thieves that scurry underfoot. There is simply such a poor quality of life for these immigrants, mainly Irish, that they are forced to do things that they would have never even considered in another place, another time, a better time. Scorsese works his magic by creating this world that sucks you in, making you smell the stench of the people, not being able to bathe for however long it must have been, the wafting of the rotting sewage in the streets or the sweet smell of the hot blood after a massive gang fight. He allows us to see the glory and honor in a battle between men, fighting with just the clothes on their backs and their pride in their hearts and little else. We can see their vulnerability as they are bludgeoned to death by a stronger opponent. We see the pride, the sorrow, the pain and the helplessness.Yet we also see the vision and the steadfast courage to hold their heads high, no matter the cost. 
       This country was founded on the blood and the backs of those who stood their ground in the promises of a better future. Gangs of New York illustrates the ugly truth that no one wants to see. We all want to forget that good, strong people died to make this country what i is today and give us the freedoms that we have. We like history to be tied up in a neat little package, easy to digest, pretty to look at. The reality is that history, the shaping of America and Her many great cities, was harsh and gritty and raw. It was violent and tumultuous and vile. It was covered in the blood of thousands of people, immigrants and natives who all wanted a piece of this great land. I think this is what Scorsese was trying to show in Gangs of New York, that we are all a part of this great nation just as we are all immigrants, and we should take a long hard look at the sacrifices of those who came before us to give us the freedoms that we have today.