Man Killed At 50 Cent Flick

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midnight stars are the prettiest
holy crap...i'm really surprised that something like this would happen...i really dont understand why they would pull a movie just because the victim watched it...did they say whether or not the ppl who killed him watched it as well? even so, i dont think the movie necessarily had much to do with it...if that is the case, however, that's a really sad fact for the movie industry, to make a movie so realistic that it would be the cause of a murder. i can understand being sucked into a movie and feeling like its real, and i appreciate the caution the movie theater had, but i think they could be over-blowing the reason behind the murder. it could all just be coincidence.
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That's so sad! I was told about the shooting today. It's crazy how many influences entertainment has on people.. who's to say, ya know???

I had the opportunity to watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in a special community screening. I have never seen any of the HP films nor have I read the books. So, I was kind of going into the movie not knowing what was going on but it wasn't exactly impossible to follow. Those HP fans are very passionate about that film. It was interesting to see how everyone responded to it!



Originally Posted by Dazed&Confused
Friday - November 11, 2005 by Dark Kent

Though it has only been in theaters three days, 50 Cent's new movie Get Rich or Die Tryin' has been pulled from a theater where a man was fatally shot.

Shelton Flowers, 30, had just watched the film Wednesday (November 9) when he got into a confrontation with three men in the bathroom. A fight ensued and spilled out into the concessions area, where Flowers was shot, police said.

Authorities are looking for witnesses, and no suspects were immediately arrested.

While officials do not know whether the film was a factor in the slaying, the Loews Corp. decided to stop showing 50's big screen debut from that theater while authorities conduct their investigation, Loews vice president of marketing John McCauley told The Associated Press.

"We're unclear whether there is a direct connection," McCauley added.

He said the company is doing all it can to make sure patrons are safe at the 22-screen multiplex in a popular entertainment-and-shopping complex just east of Pittsburgh.

At press time, there is no word as to whether Loews will be pulling the film from its other 130 theaters across the United States



ObiWanShinobi's Avatar
District B13
Originally Posted by Austruck
Last night on our local news there was a story about more violence surrounding this movie in another city (Providence, R.I., I believe). I did a quick Google search and found over ten Google *pages* of articles about cities pulling advertising and billboards and posters for this movie due to concerns about inciting violence. It was a nationwide concern, apparently. There were also numerous other articles about other times when 50 Cent concerts and publicity were in some fashion connected to fan violence..
All media over hype. A black man named 50 Cent can't hold a weapon on a movie poster although Will Smith certainly can. This is just another example of the media "creating news".

As far as Clear Cut examples of people wanting movie posters to be taken down. Go no further than your local TV evangelist and see if he would have anything but Veggie Tales and Passion posters up. Everyone has an opinion, and it would take millions of these opinions to earn validity.
Originally Posted by Austruck
Whether or not the people in Pittsburgh played into that fear when they shot is not my point. Whether or not most people can see this movie and not shoot someone is also not my point.

My point was simply that there could easily have been a connection of some sort. I'm not anti-rap or anti-anything-else for saying so. I'm merely making a *statisical* connection that apparently is not far-fetched. And, I am not alone in thinking this. I am not saying 50 Cent is responsible for this shooting, either. I was merely making a point that it could easily have been no coincidence that it was this movie (and not the others showing at the theater -- who said anything about Caligula or Sin City, both of which weren't playing there on Friday?) that surrounded the shooting.
..
Look, I'm sure this movie could've been the springboard for any sort of culturually indecent act. However, I find it hard to believe that this movie was the cause of any violence in itself. It may have been the medium that was expressed, but it certainly isn't the problem. If people went there with agendas it certainly wasn't the movie's fault. And, unless 50 cent decided that the root of all evil were middle aged illegal immigrants (bad example), this movie most likely wasn't the cause of anything.

Also, you haven't seen the movie, so you can't say that it's violence was good or bad by moral standards personally. You only have to go by what the media tells you.

And just like what the media tells us about videogames, the next armaggeddon (sp), and what the media thought of novels 200 years ago. It most likely isn't that big of a deal.

If anyone is reading too much into this, it's you, for falling into the media causes violence trap that is being created by a consortium of biased liberal and conservative media obstructers. Remember, anything but local news is about as trustworthy as my bowels on nacho night.

Then again, it could be the cause. I'm not ruling this out, just merely stating the easily observable media faux and sensationlism to sell invalid facts.
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Standing in the Sunlight, Laughing
Originally Posted by Piddzilla
...Anyway, the reason to why I have a problem with the film being pulled is because of the larger picture. There is a myth of the dangerous black man which is nurtured by media and society's fear of this myth. And 50 Cent is of course making money off this myth as well - which is a pity since it only contributes to further and wider segregation and misconceptions about different groups of people. The way I see it, pulling this film is only contributing to making this fear greater and the myth more real. Instead of isolating violent people from non-violent people this kind of action rather stereotypes people further. There simply must be places more attractive to violence and dangerous people than this movie theater. But I really don't think it's the violent itself that is the problem but the fact that the violence is entering an arena where it isn't supposed to be according to the norms of society.
If I could chime in here... I understand your point about the Myth of the Violent Black Man. Unfortunately, there are waaaaay too many black men who believe that myth and as you already said, 50 Cent makes his living selling that myth. So to draw the connection that people (regardless of color) who buy into that myth will go see this film is only logical. If you want an apple, you go where apples are sold, no?

Also, the shooting didn't just happen near the theater where the film was showing, it happened in the same building, right outside the theater where it's pretty clear that everyone involved was at the theater that night on account of that film.

It's unfortunate that this becomes news because it conforms to the myth. No doubt there has been violence elsewhere at other films, between other people or other races. But for there to be any violence in a theater's lobby suggests that there's a problem, and I think it was an appropriate step to pull the film. The safety of the audience is directly connected to the profits, so to separate those things as motive is really guesswork about theater owners we don't know. At theend of the day, there isn't a film I want to see badly enough to risk getting shot to see it, and avoiding dangerous places is part of avoiding getting shot.
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A 50 cent movie??? Man, I paid 10 bucks last time I went. What a gyp!!
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ObiWanShinobi's Avatar
District B13
Originally Posted by SamsoniteDelilah
If I could chime in here... I understand your point about the Myth of the Violent Black Man. Unfortunately, there are waaaaay too many black men who believe that myth and as you already said, 50 Cent makes his living selling that myth. So to draw the connection that people (regardless of color) who buy into that myth will go see this film is only logical. If you want an apple, you go where apples are sold, no?
I agree with this to an extent. I haven't seen the movie, so as I said, i can't say if it condones violence or dismisses it. But, just because this movie attracts movie goers of the ilk of what the media fairly/unfairly portrays 50 cent as, doesn't mean the movie itself will cause the damage. It means the people that accept the lifestyle that the media has rightly/unjustly fed about 50 cent. And, if they go there with an agenda, it is not the movie's fault. But I can certainly understand if the medai's outlook on what 50 cent is then that could be the cause of the violence.

But I refuse to believe that a movie about 50 cent caused violence. Unless he directly pointed a finger at some sort of percieved evil and declared violence the appropo and started a riot. Otherwise, it wasn't his fault. It was the media's romantic/dissonant portrayal of a figure in culture and some angry people who need something to blame their problems on.

But again, I reiterate my point that this is the media over hyping news. We would much rather here a story about a dirty cop than the thousands of police officers that do their job every day and get no more than their social security ripped from them.



Standing in the Sunlight, Laughing
Originally Posted by ObiWanShinobi
I agree with this to an extent. I haven't seen the movie, so as I said, i can't say if it condones violence or dismisses it. But, just because this movie attracts movie goers of the ilk of what the media fairly/unfairly portrays 50 cent as, doesn't mean the movie itself will cause the damage. It means the people that accept the lifestyle that the media has rightly/unjustly fed about 50 cent. And, if they go there with an agenda, it is not the movie's fault. But I can certainly understand if the medai's outlook on what 50 cent is then that could be the cause of the violence.

But I refuse to believe that a movie about 50 cent caused violence. Unless he directly pointed a finger at some sort of percieved evil and declared violence the appropo and started a riot. Otherwise, it wasn't his fault.
This point has been made repeatedly in this thread, and yet not a soul has asserted that the violence was the fault of 50 Cent, nor that it was inspired by the film.

It was the media's romantic/dissonant portrayal of a figure in culture and some angry people who need something to blame their problems on.

But again, I reiterate my point that this is the media over hyping news. We would much rather here a story about a dirty cop than the thousands of police officers that do their job every day and get no more than their social security ripped from them.
This plays into it, as well as Piddy's point that generalizations and stereotyping magnify the fears in play. The magnification doesn't negate the valid source of the fear of getting shot at a 50 Cent event, however. The proof of that is easy: people keep getting shot at 50 Cent stuff.

Also, you really can't pin 50 Cent's rep on the media. Here is a sample of his lyrics from the Get Rich Or Die Tryin' disc:
If there's beef, cock it and dump it, the drama really means nothin
To me I'll ride by and blow ya brains out (brains out)
There's no time to cock it, no way you can stop it
When niggas run up on you wit them thangs out (thangs out)
I do what I gotta do I don't care I if get caught
The DA can play this mother****in tape in court
I'll kill you - I ain't playin, hear what I'm sayin, homie I ain't playin
Catch you slippin, I'ma kill you - I ain't playin, hear what I'm sayin,
homie I ain't playin



ObiWanShinobi's Avatar
District B13
Originally Posted by SamsoniteDelilah
Also, you really can't pin 50 Cent's rep on the media. Here is a sample of his lyrics from the Get Rich Or Die Tryin' disc:
If there's beef, cock it and dump it, the drama really means nothin
To me I'll ride by and blow ya brains out (brains out)
There's no time to cock it, no way you can stop it
When niggas run up on you wit them thangs out (thangs out)
I do what I gotta do I don't care I if get caught
The DA can play this mother****in tape in court
I'll kill you - I ain't playin, hear what I'm sayin, homie I ain't playin
Catch you slippin, I'ma kill you - I ain't playin, hear what I'm sayin,
homie I ain't playin
Does that make people violent, no. But it would attract those who approve of the violence, or are in need of the excuse to use violence. Or, if a person were to be so easily rendered capable of violence, that would suffice. I guess I see the point, but that was the piont I was trying to make all along, I guess there are no reasons for arguing.

As my final plea: The media sucks.



I am having a nervous breakdance
Ok. My point is this. There was a killing, a type of killing that surely occurs every day on different locations. But this time the type of location was different. The media makes a story of the fact, not that it happened in a movie complex, but that it happened, as they say, in direct connection to a 50 Cent movie. The film is being pulled because it is thought to attract the wrong type of crowd for this complex. Gang members, that is. Meanwhile, as Austruck has allready pointed out, it's still ok for those who want to see this film to go to any other theater in Pittsburgh to see it. Problem solved. Because the problem wasn't that someone was killed. The problem was that the one who was killed was someone who really should not come to this particular theater. And even if the investigation will find that the movie has nothing to do with the killing, which it will of course, it will not matter much. The media has made a story of the fact that "MAN KILLED AFTER HAVING SEEN 50 CENT MOVIE!". If the same persons had been involved in the killing but without 50 Cent's movie playing there, media would have said "MAN KILLED IN MOVIE COMPLEX!".

I just wonder.... Why isn't the whole complex shut down? You know, the perpetrator returns to the crime scene and all that. The reason is that the fact that the victim had seen the 50 Cent film (and god knows which other films) which gives the owners of the complex a perfect opportunity to minimize financial damages. Thanks to that, they don't have to close down the whole complex. Thanks to that they have a specific movie to blame this misfortune on. Thanks to that they can narrow down their financial losses (and I certainly don't blame them for doing so).

I just wonder, if the movie is being shown all over Pittsburgh. Why do these gang bangers, who apparently never go to this movie complex otherwise, leave their holes for this single occasion - a showing of Get Rich or Die Tryin'? Why don't they stay in their home area and watch the movie there instead? And I don't know if you're saying that this film isn't interesting to anyone besides this certain target group, I think someone was suggesting that with moms in minivans not goint to see this film etcetera. But if that's the case, and knowing the risks of showing the film, why are they putting it up in the first place? They could just leave it to theaters where not that many middle class families go to watch movies.

The truth is that the financial potential this film actually has overshadowed all other risks and questionmarks. It is fact that the biggest group of buyers of hip hop CDs is not "black kids in the hood" but white, middle class surburban teenage boys. The risk of missing out on the golden opportunity, that a 50 Cent movie is, wheighs a lot heavier than the risk of someone getting shot in the theater.

The film is not the problem, it's a scapegoat. If you at least give me that, I'll accept that the film was pulled for as long as the investigation of the film's "involvement in the shooting" is going on.
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ObiWanShinobi's Avatar
District B13
Originally Posted by Piddzilla
The film is not the problem, it's a scapegoat. If you at least give me that, I'll accept that the film was pulled for as long as the investigation of the film's "involvement in the shooting" is going on.
That's the bottomline. The media's entrance into the matter.

If this was Disney, we would hear it from Faldwell.



Standing in the Sunlight, Laughing
Originally Posted by Piddzilla
Ok. My point is this. There was a killing, a type of killing that surely occurs every day on different locations. But this time the type of location was different. The media makes a story of the fact, not that it happened in a movie complex, but that it happened, as they say, in direct connection to a 50 Cent movie. The film is being pulled because it is thought to attract the wrong type of crowd for this complex. Gang members, that is. Meanwhile, as Austruck has allready pointed out, it's still ok for those who want to see this film to go to any other theater in Pittsburgh to see it. Problem solved. Because the problem wasn't that someone was killed. The problem was that the one who was killed was someone who really should not come to this particular theater. And even if the investigation will find that the movie has nothing to do with the killing, which it will of course, it will not matter much. The media has made a story of the fact that "MAN KILLED AFTER HAVING SEEN 50 CENT MOVIE!". If the same persons had been involved in the killing but without 50 Cent's movie playing there, media would have said "MAN KILLED IN MOVIE COMPLEX!".

I just wonder.... Why isn't the whole complex shut down? You know, the perpetrator returns to the crime scene and all that. The reason is that the fact that the victim had seen the 50 Cent film (and god knows which other films) which gives the owners of the complex a perfect opportunity to minimize financial damages. Thanks to that, they don't have to close down the whole complex. Thanks to that they have a specific movie to blame this misfortune on. Thanks to that they can narrow down their financial losses (and I certainly don't blame them for doing so).

I just wonder, if the movie is being shown all over Pittsburgh. Why do these gang bangers, who apparently never go to this movie complex otherwise, leave their holes for this single occasion - a showing of Get Rich or Die Tryin'? Why don't they stay in their home area and watch the movie there instead? And I don't know if you're saying that this film isn't interesting to anyone besides this certain target group, I think someone was suggesting that with moms in minivans not goint to see this film etcetera. But if that's the case, and knowing the risks of showing the film, why are they putting it up in the first place? They could just leave it to theaters where not that many middle class families go to watch movies.

The truth is that the financial potential this film actually has overshadowed all other risks and questionmarks. It is fact that the biggest group of buyers of hip hop CDs is not "black kids in the hood" but white, middle class surburban teenage boys. The risk of missing out on the golden opportunity, that a 50 Cent movie is, wheighs a lot heavier than the risk of someone getting shot in the theater.

The film is not the problem, it's a scapegoat. If you at least give me that, I'll accept that the film was pulled for as long as the investigation of the film's "involvement in the shooting" is going on.
In answer to the red question: to make money. And to assume in advance that someone would get shot would be racist. It's a bit of a paradox.
Great post though, I see your point. It's a situation with no easy answer.



The Adventure Starts Here!
I can't understand why you're so convinced that there *is* no connection ... as if my position is just totally untenable.

FWIW, the area where this theater complex sits is surrounded by a more rundown area called Homestead. The whole Waterfront area is new (relatively speaking) and it's one of several places around the city where huge renovations like this have been taking place. (Another is Station Square, downtown.) The theater isn't set among upper class neighborhoods or anything. So, the Waterfront showing this movie wasn't out of character for the general neighborhood. But, it's such a huge complex and so nicely laid out that people come from quite far away to shop there, eat there, and hang out.

I still think you don't get the subtle distinction I'm making. I'm not saying that the film caused the violence. I'm saying the film's existence gave people of like mind a place to congregate, and, in this particular case, the violence erupted while they were in the theater complex.

I still don't know what color the perpetrators are. They could be white, middle-class boys who buy hip-hop music. I don't really CARE what color they are. It's the mindset I'm talking about, no matter what age, color, or gender.

I think if you could stop pushing so hard to defend your assertion that the movie is totally irrelevant here, I could agree with you on some of the more subtle points between us. But, it's foolhardy not to see the *possibility* of a connection, in terms of place, time, and opportunity.

Also, as far as theaters showing it at all ... I am in no way saying that this film WILL incite violence or statistically makes anyone nearby in much more danger. I am not arguing out from the specific incident to a general statement about how safe everyone is at every theater that plays this movie. I am making statements ONLY about THIS incident and its causes, based on everything we know about the people involved, about 50 Cent's prior concert violence incidents, etc. I am trying to find causes for this incident.

So, for a theater to play the movie in the first place isn't necessarily irresponsible. If absolutely no violence had occurred anywhere in the U.S. during the entire run of this movie, then this thread wouldn't be here. But, as a local resident, I am concerned to find out why this happened -- if only to determine if the Waterfront is safe. If I'm convinced the problem occurred at this time and place because these perpetrators had a place to go, then I'll go back to the Waterfront when it is not playing movies like this and feel perfectly safe.

But, if I am convinced that the problem is the Waterfront itself being in a certain area of town or being otherwise unprotected by policemen, let's say ... then I will avoid the place all the time, no matter what is playing.

I happen to believe the first explanation of this case, based on what I know of the area (having been there many times myself) and what I know about the circumstances.

To say my theory isn't even a possibility doesn't seem very open-minded. It's not that far-fetched.



ObiWanShinobi's Avatar
District B13
Originally Posted by Austruck
I still think you don't get the subtle distinction I'm making. I'm not saying that the film caused the violence. I'm saying the film's existence gave people of like mind a place to congregate, and, in this particular case, the violence erupted while they were in the theater complex.
"People of like mind". I do not agree with this statement. It seems to me that you are assuming that everyone who likes 50 cent and his music are thugs who do what his music says. Also, you are saying that someone who does not listen to his music is "a person like that." Discounting general movie goers in need of a movie, movie critics, and friends of those who wish to see it.

I know alot of people who listen to 50 cent, and as much as everyone here would want to pin the black gangsta, "***** I got yo' face!" attitude on those who enjoy his music, it simply isn't correct.

I know many people who enjoy his music for his beats, and find the lyrics histerical. Just as I know many people who play grand theft auto, and coincidentally, they don't steal cars.

Now, discounting the possibility that real gangsters that listen to his music attended that theater, I seriously doubt the movie was anything more than a media scapegoat.

Because he is a show, his lyrics, his attitude. It is a show for the media to give him or deny him rep to sell his records. It's eminem, it's guns n roses, it's any performing artist, it's anything that makes money.

I do accept your idea that bad people who listen literally to his music could've been the perpetrators. But I do know that you stereotyped people who listen to his music and you stereotyped those who would see the movie.

In fact, I would go as far as to say that you are basing your percentage on a micro minute percentage of people that the media would have you believe other than what the truth really is. Possible, but very highly unlikely.

If the movie was a hate speech, which I've no indication of, then that's another matter.

Another plausible theory is that the movie was part of a build-up of things that sent the people that caused the violence in an outrage. It wasn't the factor, but a very minor aggression change that is part of a much bigger picture.

Most likely, however, the theatre owners took the down the movie because a coordinated attack from Faldwell and Liberal agitators scared him into doing so.

Given the massive percentage of people who saw the movie, a micro miniscule percentage could be a decent sum, however.



The Adventure Starts Here!
FWIW, I am getting my info on this from local news. I live here.

I doubt we will agree on this. You are positive that I am saying that the movie *caused* the violence, and I keep telling you I'm not. You are positive that there absolutely cannot be any connection whatsoever with the fact that the movie was there -- that, I suppose, these same people would have shown up to see Chicken Little and started shooting if there were no such thing as the 50 Cent movie to attend.

I am not letting the national media influence my thoughts on this. I am making decisions on it based on very local news, and also trying to determine for my own future safety what has happened here. That's all there is to it for me. I cited national media sources ONLY after you repeatedly stated that it was impossible for there to be any connection between 50 Cent and violence. I was proving a generic point. I didn't read any of those articles in depth because I don't need that info to make my safety decisions in this matter.

Sorry that we disagree on this.



Originally Posted by ObiWanShinobi
"People of like mind". I do not agree with this statement. It seems to me that you are assuming that everyone who likes 50 cent and his music are thugs who do what his music says. Also, you are saying that someone who does not listen to his music is "a person like that." Discounting general movie goers in need of a movie, movie critics, and friends of those who wish to see it.
Anyone who is reading Austruck's posts can see that she isn't saying either of these things at all. In fact, she's gone far out of her way to make it clear that she isn't. I suggest you read her posts again, because I'm fairly certain you're arguing with a straw man here.



The Adventure Starts Here!
PS. to your last post. Please don't read into my statements anything more than what I wrote. I am not assuming that all 50 Cent listeners are thugs or that people who don't listen to him cannot be thugs. Where did I say that? By saying "people of like mind," I meant -- hate to say it -- people who don't mind seeing violence on screen. I, for one, do mind and don't subject myself to such movies (not music/rap movies, but most any kind of violence). I think you can become desensitized to it. So, it's a broader violence issue here, not a rap music issue. Heck, my daughter has an Eminem poster in her room. I even have a few of his songs on my MP3 player. And some Outkast and other stuff that might surprise you for my age and gender, etc.

But, please don't say "it seems to me you're saying this" if I didn't actually say it. I can't keep participating in this thread. I keep repeating myself but no one wants to believe I mean what I say and no more than that.

Ciao, folks.



ObiWanShinobi's Avatar
District B13
Originally Posted by Austruck
PS. to your last post. Please don't read into my statements anything more than what I wrote. I am not assuming that all 50 Cent listeners are thugs or that people who don't listen to him cannot be thugs. Where did I say that? By saying "people of like mind," I meant -- hate to say it -- people who don't mind seeing violence on screen. I, for one, do mind and don't subject myself to such movies (not music/rap movies, but most any kind of violence). I think you can become desensitized to it. So, it's a broader violence issue here, not a rap music issue. Heck, my daughter has an Eminem poster in her room. I even have a few of his songs on my MP3 player. And some Outkast and other stuff that might surprise you for my age and gender, etc.
For some reason, although I've read every single one of your posts I could not draw this from that. I apologize to you for not understanding.

But I still disagree that the desensitization caused this to an extent other than a minor factor.

Your point is now understood.



The Adventure Starts Here!
Well, here's something to ask then: If there was absolutely no connection with the fact that this movie was playing there and the likely patrons it would bring in, then why did this happen?

In other words, if my possible explanation can't be right, then what is the reason this happened where and when and how it did?



Standing in the Sunlight, Laughing
Originally Posted by ObiWanShinobi
"People of like mind". I do not agree with this statement.
Sure you agree with it. You said so here:
Originally Posted by ObiWan
But, just because this movie attracts movie goers of the ilk of what the media fairly/unfairly portrays 50 cent as...
and here:
Originally Posted by Obi
But it would attract those who approve of the violence, or are in need of the excuse to use violence. Or, if a person were to be so easily rendered capable of violence, that would suffice.
Are you the only person using that account?