one of the best shows on TV (that you’re not watching)

15Apr09

Gang Nation with Ross Kemp

At first glance, it’s a mini-documentary effort, wherein Ross Kemp travels into the heart of gang activity around the world, and gains access to some of the most ruthless and loathsome criminals ever to be caught on camera.

However, this show is so much more than just another reality crime drama.  First and foremost, Kemp’s style allows for insights that the usual television treatment can’t deliver; he gains access and trust that is still ripe with risk.  He allows the gang members to answer his direct questions in their own words, sometimes at length, revealing elements of their humanity that many viewers might rather ignore.  These hooligans, violent criminals, men trapped in societies without opportunity, young boys carried along in cultural currents of drugs and guns – they very quickly become visible and human like the rest of us, and they express many of the same hopes and fears that the most law-abiding citizens share.

Kemp does not shy away from the underlying causes of gang activity either.  He is quite frank about the historical, economic and cultural circumstances that may have minor variations from country to country, but are common threads in the ongoing narrative of violence begetting violence.  Most episodes gradually reveal that the horrors of gang activity in many countries are tolerated by the status quo, for whom the distraction and danger of such insidious criminal activity serves a purpose.

The victims are heard as well, and it becomes apparent that these situations, while rendered black and white by the usual media treatments, are far from simple.  Kemp touches on opportunities for change, but he does not strive to create silver linings where there are none to be found.  While this is not an uplifting hour of television, it is riveting, and deeply revealing.  It would be the perfect material to use at the core of a high school or college level social studies class, where criminal activity and the growth of gangs incubated by a blend of circumstances reveals the importance of fundamental social structures and opportunities.

You may not think that this is your cup of tea, but if you’ve ever found yourself drawn to the subjects of social justice or economic empowerment, or if you are wrestling to understand gangs in your own context, give this show a try.

Filed under: citizen earth, listening/watching notes, political perspectives   |  1 Comment
Tags: documentary, Gang Nation, gangs, Ross Kemp, social justice, television