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Critical Reading and Writing I

Student’s name

Institution

Course

Professor’s name

Date
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Critical Reading and Writing I

Societal systems.

Society today faces many challenges mostly perpetrated by media outlets. Social problems

like racism, gender discrimination, and orientation to drugs and substance abuse are common

social problems in today’s society. Discussed below is the series Power, and how through it,

harmful ideologies are spread in society.

Power is a series set on the hard life of young black Americans, born in poverty and their

endless struggle to survive. It also shows how much life challenges affect one's priorities and the

consequences of such choices. In the series, many characters, especially James St. Patrick alias

Ghost, the main character, are forced by circumstances to make several choices that end up

having long-term effects on their lives. It is through the choices and circumstances in the series

that harmful ideologies such as racism, crime, and substance abuse are spread in society.

Ghost the main character of the movie is born in a poor family that struggles to make ends

meet. As a result, he tries his best to survive by selling cocaine, first as a delivery boy then as a

feared and a ruthless drug lord. From his continued act of drug trafficking, he grows to become a

rich and respected man with many businesses across New York. Truth, his club, is the major

investment that he used to launder dirty money. By selling drugs and becoming successful in

life, the movie depicts crime as a shortcut to succeeding in life. (Travers, 2014)

Tommy Eagan, Ghost’s best friend, and business partner also succeeds in business. By

helping Ghost run his drug empire, he ends up owning many shares in Ghost’s business. Tommy

is not only a right-hand person but also the hands-on in their drug empire. Ghost and Tommy
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were initiated into the drug business by Kanan who is considered an old legend and is

imprisoned because of his acts.

Selling drugs is the main economic activity in the series and it attracts many young folks who

end up losing focus on their destiny. Tariq, Ghost’s son suffers the most. He is so attracted to his

father’s business that he does not see the value of education despite his father’s heavy investment

in his education. Tariq is passionate to become a drug dealer and he hates his father because he

forbids him to engage in any criminal activities. He does not understand why his father won’t let

him follow in his footsteps. (Lowry, 2014)

He befriends his father’s rival Kanan who is just out of prison and is trying his best to hurt

Ghost. He believes Ghost got him into prison and took over his business. Kanan sees Tariq as a

good opportunity to hurt Ghost hence he agrees to induct him into the world of crime and drug

trafficking activities. Tariq gets involved in the business resulting in his continuous dwindling

grades in school and his tendency to hide his activities including his sister Raina.

His continuous involvement in drug trafficking makes him see himself as an equal with his

father whom he hates not only for denying him the right to get involved with his business but

also for engaging in a romantic affair with AUSA Angela Valdez, a relationship that destroys

their home. Tariq’s illegal activities land him in trouble as he is in constant arguments with his

father. His activities also cause the murder of his twin sister, Raina, who becomes collateral

damage because of his involvement with criminals. (Lowry, 2014)

The movie depicts drug trafficking as a sure way of making things work in life. It portrays it

as the only option left for innocent poor black children living in the streets of New York. The

theme song of the movie states how these New York children desire to live a comfortable having
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all their needs met. Ghost, Tommy, and Tasha manage to live comfortably by indulging in

criminal activities. Ghost becomes a respected man and Tommy is not only respected but also

feared. Many youths desire to become like them hence they end up taking part in selling drugs at

the expense of their own lives and freedom.

Racism is another harmful stereotype perpetuated in the Movie. Blacks hate the whites and

they detest any involvement with them. They believe that white people always have a biased

judgment of them even when they are not. When a traffic officer stops Lakeisha Grant, she

immediately starts yelling that she did not steal the car not knowing she was on the wrong. This

strongly depicts how the blacks view white people, as biased oppressors. (Lowry, 2014)

Racism is also depicted in that majority of the criminals in the movie are blacks while most of

the law enforcers are whites. Angela Valdez, Gregory Saxe, and other high-ranking officials in

the law enforcement team are whites. Most of the regular police officers are also white. Other

than Eagan, Ghost’s team is largely composed of blacks such as Dre are blacks. Most of the

prisoners are also blacks and the prison wardens are whites.

In relationships, racism is seen in that majority of whites marry fellow whites and the blacks

majorly involve themselves in romantic relationships with fellow whites. The only special cases

are Lakeisha and Tommy, and Ghost and Valdez. Ghost’s love for Valdez originates back from

their childhood life. Tommy loves Lakeisha but Lakeisha has doubts as to whether Tommy’s

love is real not only because of his involvement with drug trafficking but also because of his

race, he is white. (Travers, 2014)

Through the roles of its characters, the movie depicts black people as criminals whose focus is

looking for the shortest ways to make ends meet. The whites are portrayed as cool people who
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are powerful and only get involved in legal businesses. They also seem to often take advantage

of the blacks. Simon Stern is a jealous and rival club owner who does his best to take over

Ghost’s business. Throughout the movie, Simon tries endless times to take over Ghost’s club by

taking advantage of Ghost’s weak moments. (Los Angeles Times, 2020)

Through the movie, the black society is seen as a society full of crime and illegal activities.

They are portrayed as a group of people who are lazy and do not like taking legal ways to make

meaningful life achievements. They are also portrayed as people who hate the whites and do not

want anything to do with whites. This spreads racism as an average person watching the movie

may end up concluding that all black folks are drug dealers and hard-core criminals. One may

also conclude that blacks are full of bitterness and hatred for the whites.

The series portrays whites as superior people charged with investigating punishing

lawbreakers. They also decide the fate of the black criminals, as most of the judges are whites. In

the series, very few whites are involved in criminal activities and their color puts them in a

superior position in society. The act of portraying black people as hardcore lazy criminals and

whites as law enforcers spread racial prejudice in society.

Violence is also a key social injustice issue widely seen in the movie. Many conflicts are

solved through torture and murder. Ghost, Tommy, and Tasha silence their rivals, competitors,

and snitches by killing them. Ghost kills Silver for engaging in a romantic affair with his wife.

Tommy is a hardcore murder who does not relent to silence any threats by killing anyone in his

way. Weapons are easily accessible to criminals thus; they are used to silence enemies and rivals.

Raina is shot when she tries to involve herself with her brother’s affairs. Felipe Lobos, a

notorious and rich drug dealer, is well a connected man who does not relent to kill police officers
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who are against him. He is the boss and supplier of drugs to Ghost and Tommy. Many people

who work under him fear him because they all know his capability. Lobos becomes a huge

problem to both Ghost and Tommy when he tries to take full control of both them and their

business. To survive, they cooperate and eliminate him as he tries to escape prison. (Goodman,

2014)

Violence and murder are critical to surviving in a world where selling drugs is the order of the

day. Laces and Jae Shin also die when they try to indulge get in Ghost and Tommy Eagan’s

ways. Tasha gets her son involved in the death of Kanan, their rival when they trap with and

Tariq pretends that he was kidnapped. Tasha kills Lakeisha when she becomes a threat. Angela

Valdez dies as collateral damage as Tommy tries to kill Ghost because of their continuous

disagreement. In the end, Tariq’s hatred for his father, greatly fueled by his mother compels him

to kill his father Ghost whom he views as a very evil person who wants him to suffer for the rest

of his life.

The movie depicts violence as an easy way to solve conflicts. All the murders that happen are

a result of conflicts among characters in the series. The bullet is the order of the day. The ease of

accessibility of these murder weapons supports the frequent murders. The slow pace at which

justice is administered gives room for crime perpetrators to clean up their footsteps hence killing

more people. (Los Angeles Times, 2020)

Tommy Eagan is a serial killer who kills many characters in the movies starting with his

enemies to his girlfriend. He even kills his lawyer when he starts working against him. Despite

all this, Tommy is never brought to justice for his crimes. Ghost, who also kills many people

including Lobos is never brought to justice but instead is cleared to vie for a gubernatorial seat.

He is viewed as an icon in society.

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Delayed justice and continued murder justify violence in society. The series tends to inform

society that the shortest way to solve conflicts is through killing enemies and rivals. It also

informs society to do their best to clean up their footsteps whenever they are involved in crime.

This is passing the wrong information to the society as it will encourage violence among the

youth and consequently lead to increased cases of murder. (Goodman, 2014)

Corruption is another social justice issue widely seen in the series. Corruption not only delays

justice but is also destroys the trust between citizens and law enforcement. Corruption is the

enemy of equality as it denies many people what they would have gotten if justice had prevailed.

In the series, corruption is widely spread in various ways. Ghost, just as his name, is always

nowhere to be found. He commits several crimes but is never caught because of corruption.

Angela Valdez cleans up for him, in return, she is loved and taken good care of. Angela has easy

access to critical information that may easily lead to Ghost’s prosecution. She however cleans

everything up in an attempt to cover up for her lover. She confiscates everything to ensure the

investigation team does not find any tangible evidence to bring Ghost to justice.

Corruption is also prevalent when Tasha St. Patrick engages in a love affair with Silver. Silver

does everything including breaking the law just to please Tasha. She is frustrated by the

relationship between Ghost and Angela and will everything she can to ensure they suffer

including betraying her husband. She hires Silver to do the job for her. Silver on several accounts

breaks the law as he tries to prove Tasha is innocent and Ghost is a criminal. The affair

eventually leads to his death as Ghost kills him because of jealousy. (Goodman, 2014)

Cooper Saxe is also a very corrupt law enforcer who uses dubious means to get work done his

way. He is willing to bend the law countless times just to prove a point. In his quest to arrest
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James, he goes to the extent of intimidating witnesses or even sleeping with them just to get the

information he wants. He is also willing to do anything to keep his job. On several occasions,

Saxe obtains several pieces of evidence that he may use to arrest Ghost but fails to use them

because the methods he used to obtain them were illegal thus proving his corrupt nature.

Corruption is evident in the justice system when Ghost is vying for a political position

through the Democratic Party. The party is powerful and can easily alter the fate of high-ranking

government officials, especially in the law enforcement sector. The party officials will do

anything to protect the reputation of their party as well as the interest of their candidates. They

are willing to break the law and interfere with the justice system as long as their interests remain

protected. (Los Angeles Times, 2020)

Ghost is a hardcore criminal who decides to run for a political position to protect his wealth,

family, and reputation. When the justice system tries to stop him and expose his evil deeds to the

public, the Democratic Party interferes thus derailing justice. Any official trying to go against the

party’s will is not only punished but also transferred to worse working conditions. As the party

uses its might to bully the justice system it is also derailing justice thus perpetuating corruption

in the society.

Throughout the movie, corruption is depicted as a shortcut to getting justice. Characters in the

movies do everything possible to derail justice and protect self-interest. In this manner, the series

sends society the message that it is okay to participate in crime as long as one can find a way of

bribing law enforcement officials. It also sends the message that bribery does not necessarily

need to be in the form of cash but one has to ensure the interest of the other party is well

protected. Though this the series encourages corruption in society.

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References

Goodman, T. (2014, June 6). 'Power': TV review. The Hollywood

Reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/power-tv-review-709874

Los Angeles Times. (2020, February 6). 'Power' created a Black TV antihero. It wasn't

equipped to handle the consequences. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-

arts/tv/story/2020-02-06/starz-power-finale-omari-hardwick-courtney-kemp

Lowry, B. (2014, June 4). TV review: ‘Power’. Variety. https://variety.com/2014/tv/reviews/tv-

review-power-1201207398/

Travers, B. (2014, June 7). Review: ‘Power’ is the best TV show ever produced by 50 cent (and

the worst). IndieWire. https://www.indiewire.com/2014/06/review-power-is-the-best-tv-

show-ever-produced-by-50-cent-and-the-worst-25655/
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