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This paper outlines several aspects in the film ‘Gone Baby Gone’ that has been directed by Ben Affleck. It highlights various issues that relate to urban planning as captured by the film. It discusses the themes of family structure, limited mobility in urban areas, urban crime, morality and the social networks that exist in urban neighborhoods.
Family Structure
The film’s setting in Boston brings out several issues that affect the residents of a big urban settlement. The kidnapping of Amanda, a four year old girl, from an apartment where she lives with her mother shows the struggles various parents have to go through to raise their children in an urban neighborhood.
The neighborhood which Amanda calls home is ridden with crime and its working class residents have to contend with its rough nature on a daily basis. Amanda’s abduction shows the insecurity that exists in most urban areas, which poses a great risk to the families that live in such places (Prince, 2008, pp.1-2).
The tough neighborhood in which the girl is kidnapped is portrayed as an area with many social vices that make life difficult for the residents. Beatrice McGready, Amanda’s aunt, seeks the help of two detectives who are familiar with the neighborhood to help uncover the mystery behind her niece’s kidnapping. Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro are a couple that works as private detectives in the neighborhood, specializing in cases of missing persons (Prince, 2008, pp.1-2).
Amanda’s aunt gets involved in the search for the kidnapped girl unlike her sister whose activities leave a lot of unanswered questions. Helene, Amanda’s mother, steals money from drug dealers and this is suspected to be the major reason behind the abduction of her daughter. Negligent parents in tough urban suburbs as shown in the film expose their children to the several hazards that exist in such environments.
Limited Mobility
The nature of the urban settlement in which the film is set obstructs effective mobility for the residents. The residents have to contend with high crime rates that make it dangerous for them to move freely in the area (Robledo, 2008, pp.1-2).
The residents of the area are also suspicious that the police are not honest in their dealings and this makes it difficult for the two detectives to resolve Amanda’s abduction. This distrust motivates Beatrice to hire Patrick and Angie to investigate the crime. Their excellent knowledge of the area also gives her the hope of getting Amanda back.
Dorchester in Boston as shown in the movie is a terrible neighborhood that has a lot of problems that the residents have to struggle with each day. The neighborhood has menacing streets full of dangerous individuals who can stop at nothing to cause harm to passersby.
At first, this makes the two detectives reluctant to pursue the case because they are aware of the hardships that they are likely to face as they try to bring Amanda and her family’s problems to an end. The vicious criminal acts that go on in the neighborhood discourage even the law enforcement officers from investigating criminal activities (Robledo, 2008, pp. 1-2).
Urban Crime
The neighborhood is full of criminals of all kind who terrorize residents even in broad daylight. This is typified through the kidnappings, drug deals and murder incidents that occur in the area. Helene, Amanda’s mother, is not only a victim but also a participant in the ferocious criminal activities that the neighborhood is accustomed to.
Helene’s role in the theft of drug money endanger the life of her daughter who gets punished for her fault (Calamari, 2012, pp.1-2). The kidnappers use the girl as leverage to make her mother pay back the money she steals from them.
The kidnappers are part of a gang headed by a drug dealing lord who seeks to get back at Helene’s mother for stealing part of his money. The life of Amanda hangs in a balance and only the timely intervention of the chosen detectives can help in bringing her back home safely. Patrick and Angie with the help of two law enforcement officers, Nick and Remy, embark on a long investigation to resolve the kidnapping of Amanda.
Similar kidnappings take place in the course of their investigations and some of the victims, most of whom are children, die in the hands of the criminals. It later emerges that the police are also part of the web of criminal activities in the area (Calamari, 2012, pp.1-2). The kidnapping is found to have been stage-managed by Remy and Captain Doyle, who are police officers, for the purpose of getting money from Helene.
Morality
As depicted in the film, morality is out of question in Dorchester. Helene does not take her parental responsibilities seriously because of her addiction to drugs. This makes her daughter a victim of drug related crime (Calamari, 2012, pp.1-2).
Other evil activities such as child molestation are also prevalent in the area; as a result, the neighborhood is not only a dangerous place but also full of immorality. Immorality and crime in the area makes it difficult for the weak and vulnerable to survive. The activities that take place in Dorchester are a dark reminder of the poor morals that prevail in the neighborhood.
The people who are charged with the responsibility of maintaining law and order collude with criminals to make life in Dorchester unbearable.
Remy and Captain Doyle stage a fake kidnapping for the purpose of making themselves rich from ill gotten money. This gets the society trapped in a vicious cycle of crime that thrives because of the weak law enforcement and the poor moral standards that exist in the area.
Ironically, Amanda’s uncle by the name Lionel also conspires with the police to stage a false kidnapping to enrich himself and free the girl from her negligent mother who is also a drug addict (Calamari, 2012, pp.1-2). These occurrences demonstrate that most Dorchester residents have hardly any moral standards.
Social Networks
Beatrice realizes the importance of using Patrick and Angie in resolving the abduction of her niece Amanda. The two detectives have adequate knowledge of Dorchester and this makes Beatrice believe that the neighborhood residents would be more willing to share information with the two.
This shows the level of mistrust and apprehension that residents of such neighborhoods have toward the police. The police are portrayed as corrupt; they pretend to have a blind eye to criminal activities because they get a share from ill-gotten wealth.
Lionel represents the parents and guardians who are ready to endanger the lives of their children for personal gain. The social networks in the Dorchester neighborhood make criminal activities thrive in the area (Snyder, 2012, pp.1-2). The movie is a good manifestation of the social networks that exist in dysfunctional urban societies.
References
Calamari, A. (2012). Gone baby gone. Web.
Prince, C. (2008). Review: ‘Gone baby gone’ revisits classic question of nature vs. nurture. Web.
Robledo, S.J. (2008). Gone baby gone. Web.
Snyder, M. (2012). Cinematronic. Web.
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