FILM MAY ONLY SPUR YOUTH TO DIE TRYIN'

Pittsburgh generally trails the rest of the country when it comes to
pop culture trends, but we're leading the way when it comes to
hip-hop related violence.

Last week, a gunman fatally shot Shelton Flowers, 30, of Wilkinsburg,
inside the Loews Theater at the Waterfront in Homestead. Flowers was
there to watch the movie "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," a fable about
fabled gangster and rap music icon Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson. So had a
trio of other young black men, with whom Flowers got into an argument.

Their beef, aired in front of the theater's concession stand, easily
could have resulted in more deaths. Wisely, the theater chain pulled
the movie from its schedule immediately afterward, and 50 Cent
expressed remorse for what happened the day after the murder.

Although it's clear most of the blame for this incident lies with the
men who think loaded handguns are something you take to the movies
out of necessity, like a box of candy, it's hard to grant a free pass
to the filmmakers who brought this story to the screen in the first place.

I saw the film before it was denied to local audiences. It's
basically a rags-to-riches story about a ghetto drug dealer who gets
shot nine times on his way to the top. Inspired by 50 Cent's real
life of crime, it's probably the bloodiest drama to hit the screen
since the war epic "Black Hawk Down."

After watching the movie, I remember thinking it would take a miracle
for certain impressionable young folks not to be inspired to emulate
what they would see on-screen.

And why not? The rapper is portrayed as a man driven to succeed
despite horrendous obstacles, and the depictions of gun violence --
which pop up every few minutes -- were applauded by nearly every
young man in the theater.

With neighborhood rivalries causing folks to pull guns all over the
city, it's easy to foresee people with existing beefs converging at a
screening of "Get Rich" where, despite such a public venue, the game
would be on.

On the way to the lobby, I spoke with DeMarcus Young, 46, of
Homestead, who came to judge whether his own teenagers would be
permitted to see a screening. They wouldn't, he said firmly.

"He (50 Cent) may be a fine rapper," Young said, "but I don't see why
they have to make a hero out of somebody who sold crack and shot at people."

Unfortunately, if responsible men like Young want their kids to catch
a more positive portrayal of black manhood in the movies, they are out of luck.

Hollywood's power brokers wouldn't turn a profit giving black
audiences films with titles such as "Get An Education or Die A
Janitor," or "Get Rich By Working A Legitimate Job," especially when
the same, tired old stereotypes about guns, drugs and crime are so popular.