The 1988 film Colors directed by Dennis Hopper depicts gang culture and police response in Los Angeles. The movie follows new LAPD officers Hodges and McGavin as they patrol gang-ridden neighborhoods. Colors aimed for an authentic representation of the real issues facing LA at the time. The filmmakers consulted with gang members and police to inform their approach. Upon release, Colors received praise for its gritty realism and criticism for glorifying gang violence. Looking back over 30 years later, how accurately did Colors capture the gang situation in late 80s LA? Let’s examine key aspects of the film for realism.
Gang Culture Portrayal
Colors focuses heavily on the Bloods and Crips, two rival African American street gangs in LA. The movie shows the gangs wearing red and blue clothing and bandanas to represent their allegiance. Gang members are depicted engaging in violent crime, drug dealing, and deadly turf wars. To evaluate if this was a realistic portrayal, we need to understand the actual history and culture of LA gangs in the 1980s.
The Crips formed in LA in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Bloods emerged shortly after as a rival gang. By the 1980s, there were over 30,000 Crips and Bloods members across hundreds of different sets in LA county. The sets were based on neighborhoods and housing projects. Gang violence surged in the 80s driven by the crack cocaine trade and easy access to guns. The LAPD reported over 1,000 gang-related homicides in LA in 1988 alone.
Gang identifiers like colors and clothing were authentic details in Colors. Crime statistics verify the violent reality of LA gangs at that time. While certainly dramatized for the screen, the core gang culture depicted in Colors aligned with the real situation on the streets. The filmmakers succeeded in portraying the dangerous territorial nature of LA gang rivalries in the 1980s.
Police Response
In Colors, the new partner cops Hodges and McGavin struggle to effectively serve their precinct amid resistant attitudes from gang members and sometimes their own colleagues. Their methods range from building rapport with gang leaders to enacting harsh crackdowns. The film shows both corruption and discrimination within the LAPD’s ranks.
To evaluate this part of the film, we need to examine the historical relationship between police and minority communities in LA. The Watts Riots of 1965 demonstrated early tensions, as did allegations of excessive force throughout the 1970s. By the late 1980s, various reforms were underway but mistrust remained high.
The LAPD launched its first gang units in the 1970s. Operation Hammer in 1988 saw mass arrests and suppression tactics. CRASH units also relied on aggressive policing focused on gangs. While Colors didn’t depict specific specialized units, the overall reactive police response felt credible for the environment at that time. Allegations of racism and brutality within the LAPD were also well-documented throughout LA’s history.
The complex dynamics between the LAPD and gang-impacted neighborhoods portrayed in Colors captured real-world frustrations and mirrored actual conditions on the streets of LA.
Everyday Life in Gang Neighborhoods
Colors frequently depicts the experience of residents living in Crip and Blood controlled neighborhoods. Gang members are shown hanging out on streets, in parking lots, and around housing projects throughout the film. Non-gang residents are portrayed as constantly wary and exposed to danger and criminal activity. Parents attempt to shelter their children from the surrounding threats.
To determine accuracy, we need to understand daily life for law-abiding residents in high-crime neighborhoods in 1980s LA. South Central LA saw increasing poverty and crime rates as gang violence peaked in the area. Innocent people were often caught in the crossfire. Youth recruitment soared as the crack epidemic hit. Many residents felt ignored and unsafe in their own communities.
Colors brought attention to the plight of ordinary residents impacted by gang violence. The film gave faces to the Good Samaritans just trying to get by while stuck in the middle of dangerous turf wars. Critics praised Colors for humanizing typically demonized communities. The depiction of neighbors banding together and parents struggling to protect their children evoked the real despair and perseverance of people living through the crisis.
Conclusion
In reviewing key aspects like gang culture, police-community relations, and neighborhood life, Colors holds up as a largely realistic portrait of late-1980s Los Angeles. The film benefited greatly from director Dennis Hopper’s insistence on authenticity throughout production. Details were extensively researched and many scenes were shot on location in actual Crips and Bloods neighborhoods for true accuracy.
The gritty hyper-realism of Colors understandably translated to higher violence and action typical of Hollywood compared to everyday reality. However, the core foundations of characters, settings, and themes reflected the real LA gang crisis. As critic Roger Ebert wrote in his contemporary review, “Colors is a realistic, convincing depiction of how the LAPD responds to gang violence.” While an imperfect time capsule, Colors remains a compelling snapshot of a pivotal era in LA’s history.
