Angels or devils

Angels or Devils (based on characters from a movie and an memoir)


Which are we meant to be? Was Batman and the Joker born into good or evil, or did their environment and upbringing make them that way. Some theorists say that we are born one way of another, and nothing will change you. While others say we are born with inherent qualities of both, and our upbringing ultimately makes us who we are.
A third theory is a combination of birth (nature,) environment and upbringing, (nurture,) and personal choice. From everything I have read, and my own experience in life, I tend to agree with this train of thought. By looking at characters from the film “City of God”, and the memoir “Child of the Dark,” we can examine this last theory.  Let’s look at some of the main characters from the two; Lil Ze, Rocket, and Carolina. All three were born into the same type of neighborhood of Brazil, the favela.  We do not see or learn much about their parents, but can only assume they grew up in the same environment or neighborhood. They all faced the same hardships, and environment. The main difference between them was the final outcome of their lives. Lil Ze turned out to be pure evil incarnate, whereas Rocket and Carolina were able to rise about their environment and move on to a better life.


Lil Ze began his plunge into the dark side when he hung with a trio of gangsters. He advises the trio on how to make more money, and pretty much seals his fate by riding along with them on that fateful night. When he commits his first murder and uses a gun for the first time, the devil within him is released and there is no turning back. He seems to have an innately born thug mentality, that he cannot ignore, nor does he choose to. He sees what he wants and he takes it. For example, he is attracted to a beautiful girl. When she ignores his advances, he embarrasses her boyfriend and almost kills him. His passion was discovered when he picks up a gun and kills for the very first time. As for motivation, Lil Ze is motivated purely by power, pure and simple. He wanted to be in total control, no matter what it took. He tried taking control, the only way he knew how, by killing off his completion, one at a time. In the end he ended up being dealt with the same way he dealt with his enemies. 
Rocket began his journey as the brother of one of the trio that Lil Ze befriended. However, thanks to his brother, he has drive and ambition, which he follows rather than traveling down his brother’s path. Unlike Lil Ze, who has a passion for guns and violence, Rocket discovers his passion when he is given a camera. This gift changes his life for the better. Lil Ze even notices his passion when his pictures are published in the paper. He then tries to use him to help promote him and his gang. Rocket had many opportunities to turn to the dark side, like when he almost robbed the restaurant or the man who gave him a ride. But he stayed on the straight and narrow.  His motivations were twofold, besides survival, he wanted to lift himself out of the favela. This was the exact opposite of Lil Ze, who wanted to control and have power over the favela. He was also motivated by fear, the fear of being shot like his brother, as well as the fear of ending up a poor fisherman, like his father.


Carolina started out in the same type favela, but maybe because of her age, went down a totally different path. Of the three, she is the one I have the most respect for. I also see a lot of her in me and my life. Carolina could have travelled down the same path as a lot of the women in her town, but she chose not to. She did what she had to do with selling herself or being with a man she did not love. She also had a powerful passion, the passion for writing. She used it to get a temporary escape from her environment and a relief from her stressful existence. In a way her passion for writing kept her sane. But she had the strongest motivation of all of them….her children and her love for them. Everything she did, she did for them. All of her choices and decisions were made with them in mind. They were her entire motivation for living. 


This brings us back to the beginning question, were we born angels or demons, good or evil. Does our environment make us who we are, or do we choose our own destiny. We have three separate characters, all from the same environment, but all three have different outcomes in life. Which makes me wonder if there is a correct answer to the question of nature vs. nurture? Or is it a mixture all nature, nurture and personal choice. Like Anakin, Lil Ze chooses the path towards the dark side, and became the favela version of Darth Vader; whereas Rocket and Carolina moved in the opposite direction and lifted their lives out of the gutter.  


So choice does make a big part in how we turn out, I am a good example of this. I almost went down the same road as Lil Ze; I got involved with drugs and prostitution and almost ended up dead like him.  But a very rude awakening shocked me out of it and forced me to make a big decision turned my life in the direction of Carolina. This is the reason I have so much respect for her, as she reminds me so much of myself.  Like her, my passion has turned out to be writing, and my motivation is to help others get the help, I could not get when I needed it.