{"id":1441,"date":"2016-03-23T16:15:44","date_gmt":"2016-03-23T16:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arielsheen.com\/?p=1441"},"modified":"2016-03-23T16:15:44","modified_gmt":"2016-03-23T16:15:44","slug":"1441","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arielsheen.com\/index.php\/2016\/03\/23\/1441\/","title":{"rendered":"Unpacking Happy's Chapter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ever since I was a little kid I\u2019ve loved gangsta movies. I\u2019d set up fake Colombia House accounts in order to get free VHS tapes of films like Menace II Society<\/a>, Boyz \u2018n the Hood<\/a>, New Jack City<\/a>, Juice<\/a>, Paid In Full<\/a>, and Deep Cover<\/a> and watch them over and over again.
\nWhereas Jesse\u2019s chapter is stylized after Spanish picaresque and German Bildungsroman literature, Happy\u2019s is based on these films as well as a number of original documents<\/a> and documentaries.\u00a01<\/a>, 2, <\/a>3<\/a><\/sub><\/p>\n

Rather than merely replicate these narratives, however, I wanted to inverse a number of the tropes that are found in these gangster films\/reality to depict a gang that is crypto-socialist, truly consensual work relations rather than that which is strictly primitive-capitalist and based on force.
\nNow presuming that you\u2019re familiar with the above listed movies, so I don\u2019t have to cite each, here are some of those narrative tropes that I mentioned\/inverted.
\n1. The leader of a group got due to his ruthless violence or a chance encounter with a plug rather than his intellect.
\n2. The leader of the group stays in power based upon loyalty out of fear and not of love (unless relations are also familial).
\n3. The capture of power foreshadows similar machinations on the part of someone else within the organization that similarly wants to take over.
\n4. Wealth created from the criminal venture predominantly accumulates in the hands of those at the top.
\n5. This wealth created goes primarily towards the administrator\u2019s consumption, which leads to organizational degeneration in some fashion.
\n6. Money spent is primarily upon luxury goods that are flaunted.
\n7. This leads to general envy\/viewing the criminal enterprise as the best provider for income and entices those willing to do whatever to get it, but this makes community relations poor.
\nMaking an analogy to larger institutions of political economy, as I would like my readers to so, I can say in short hand that the typically depicted criminal association is more akin to an absolute monarchy.
\nThis passage shows Happy\u2019s organization is significantly different and touches upon a number of the problems that will be delved into later in the chapter. Specifically what is the Project; the impact that the investigation into Officer Daniels illegal dealings; who the other person is that Happy is getting information from in the police department; their relationship to the Zoe Pounds; the possibility that some conflict might transpire should a power vacuum be created from several Zoe Pounds members finding themselves arraigned; who are these important people in Atlanta that requires Happy to have to meet them in person, etc.
\nI\u2019ve still got a lot to write about for this chapter to near completion \u2013 but I hope this explanation of a portion of my project and the small section of the chapter convinces you that my serial novel project is worth getting into and you buy Book 1 of Unraveling<\/a><\/b>!<\/p>\n