IN-PERSON: The Elderwise classroom at the Vineyard Church
Gangster Stories: The Portrayal of Organized Crime
Thanks to a trio of early 1930s gangster movies: Little Caesar, The Public Enemy, and Scarface, Americans have developed a love-hate affair with bad guys. More recently, gangsters like The Godfather’s Michael Corleone, The Sopranos’ Tony Soprano, and Breaking Bad’s Walter White, have become household names. During this class David Geherin will examine some of the reasons why this is so by taking a look at several of the most popular novels, movies, and TV shows about organized crime, especially the Mafia (both in Italy and the U.S) and the violent Mexican drug cartels. We will also examine how the portrayal of these bad guys ranges from the romantic to the realistic, and sometimes even to the humorous. David Geherin is Professor Emeritus of English at Eastern Michigan University. He is the author of ten books on crime and mystery fiction, three of which were finalists for the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Allan Poe Award. David’s current book project is titled, The Portrayal of Organized Crime in Fiction, Films, and TV.
