GhettoPhysics documentary is unusual but effective

I had a free afternoon today so I went to see GhettoPhysics: Will the Real Pimps and Hos Please Stand Up!

With a title like that, I didn’t know what to expect even though I watched the trailer and read the press releases to prepare myself.

As advertised, it is a socio-political documentary film that uses the characteristics of pimps and hos to describe capitalism and how we all play the role of a pimp or a ho, or both, in our everyday life.

I was curious how this concept was going to work and went in with an open mind although I really expected to be disturbed by the pimp and ho thing. But the longer the movie played, the more it made sense. 

There was a lot going on but the core of the movie takes place in a college classroom where the professor takes an entire semester to help his class understand how society works and how to prepare for the ups and downs they are bound to face by design. Between classes, there are numerous people commenting on the current classroom topics before we go back to the classroom for more knowledge.

The classroom cast of students were actors and the real life interviewers playing themselves were of all races.  In my opinion, the concept the movie delivers will probably be best received by the 18-30 year old crowd regardless of color. 

KRS-One was the most frequent person interviewed and had the most to say. Besides KRS-One (who I’ve always enjoyed for his political and social conscious rap), Dr. Cornell West, Cynthia McKinney, Norman Lear, Ice-T and Ishmael Tetteh were my favorites. 

One of the students in the classroom wasn’t feeling the pimp/ho lectures but later found herself in an unanticipated situation and referred to the lectures to understand, cope and respond to what had happened to her. This technique cleverly helped me understand what the movie was attempting to address.

Needless to say, the documentary was different. It was targeted for the young adult hip-hop generation and was quite effective in teaching capitalism in a very unique way. As much as I’d love for every high schoolers to embrace the knowledge, I’m not so sure anyone younger than a high school senior would begin to grasp the knowledge. 

The documentary was heady, funny, unusual, stupid in parts, but had a ton of sound bites that you have to either take notes or see it over and over again to catch them all.

With only me and another brother in the theater, I doubt if it will be around for long but look for it on video. It’s worth sharing with older teens trying to figure out how to function in this complex society.