Stream it now American Pimp 1999

 

There is only so much to be gained from colorful profanity and chauvinism without glorifying it. American Pimp is quite obviously glorifying these criminal professionals and makes all intelligent observations during the first thirty minutes. These self-congratulatory men are subjects of humanization, and it almost works until you see their objectification and depravity in action. But, good thing the charisma and rhythmic language of the subjects never stops being entertaining. In fact, it's often funny, and I can't deny that there is something enviable about a pimp. To spare yourself from the brunt of its offensiveness, buy the soundtrack. It's exquisite and has excerpts from several of the interviews.

First of all, is this movie called American Pimp or American Prostitute? That's right, it's called American Pimp. This is a survey on the AMERICAN PIMP, not the pimp's product. This movie is exactly what it intended to be. It is not up to the movie to expose the underworld of pimping, it's to introduce the American pimp. Why is society so determined to lay judgment on every fucking thing?

This movie is hilarious and informative. Who better to tell the story of American pimps than the pimps themselves? This is an opportunity to take a look into an inaccessible world. Leave your moral qualms at the door please.

American Pimp is an interesting documentary that almost celebrates the pimp but does not get deep enough into the core of the pimp and how they think. By the end, you have yourself wondering if you have been celebrating the pimp for 90 minutes and the characters are almost charming, even though they are pimps. The documentary shows a softer side of pimps, showing that they do not just beat women but manage their money and get them on the right track. This is not necessarily true all the time, but an interesting, unique perspective on the "game" of pimping. The pimps in this movie are interesting and getting a look at their side of this story is fun to see. The movie glamorizes the pimp too far though and does not get into their head for the viewer to see what makes them tick. Overall, the Hughes brothers do a decent job with "American Pimp", but glamorize the pimp lifestyle a little too far.

Smack My Bitch Up

American Pimp was the third movie in the Hughes Brothers self-called Black Trilogy. The first two movies being Menace II Society and Dead Presidents. They've since gone on to direct the under-appreciated From Hell. It's nice to see that today's filmmakers are able to move between small indie documentaries and big budget Johnny Depp films. It once was that a filmmaker could be one or the other, there wasn't much back and forth.

The Hughes Brothers came up with American Pimp while trying to put together a feature version of the novel Pimp: The Story of My Life by Iceberg Slim. It would have been a big expensive film, a project that they would find very tough to get off the ground. So they decided against it and moved into working on the documentary in their spare time. With their cameras in tow, the Hughes hit the streets, meeting with pimps from Hawaii to Washington DC. And who better to hear about the lives of pimps from, than the pimps themselves?



The biggest problem I had with American Pimp is that it glamorizes the profession too much. But that may have a lot to do with who I am and where I come from. As a white kid from a small town, the little I knew about these guys, gave me the impression they were nothing but scum. The Hughes Brothers even address this at the beginning of the film, having a mostly white perspective from people on the street, saying just that. But if you grew up in the ghetto, these were guys to look up too. They had the money, the clothes, the cars and the girls. So it's easy to understand why they would be idolized.

The film doesn't give much time to the prostitute's view of their line of work. Nearly everything we learn about them, comes from the pimps. And of course they make it sound like these girls couldn't live without them. I was shocked to find out that not one of these guys shares a cent of the money these girls earn with the girls themselves. They take care of them, feed them, clothe them, keep a roof over their head, pay their bail when needed, but they don't trust these girls to keep the money longer than it takes to hand over to them.

American Pimp will teach you just about everything that you could ever want to know about the pimping game. The film gives a nice overview of its history, how it came to be and where it is now. It's an entertaining film, with a definite style to it. The film is shot on a variety of stocks and cut together with some panache, mixed with a rock'n soundtrack, that keeps it moving along at a quick pace. If pimping is a subject you have any interested in, you couldn't find a much better way to explore it.

It was an interesting documentary for what it was. I would have liked to have seen more perspective from the prostitutes. It certainly just gives a tiny glimpse of reality, with flamboyant pimps very much in their role of talking themselves up.

I didn't really get much more of an understanding of why the women work for them. The film showed the pimps getting all the money and the women basically being their mostly willing slaves.

It was strange and left me more confused.

(***)

Even though it's from 1999 American Pimp is still a great doco into the lives of Pimps in the USA. I'd love to see how this has changed in 2005.

If your fascinated by guys wearing fur coats, funny hats and bling bling then this is worth a rental. Some of the stories are interesting the others engrossing. Here's a list of things I learnt

1: Hoes give 100% of their money to the pimp
2: If you have Alligator shoes you have made it
3: Pimps don't know how to save money
4: There are 2 white pimps alive today: Hugh Hefner and Dennis Hoff and they are more famous than all the other black pimps. Why is that?
5: If you wear a fur coat, lime green suit or Elton John glasses your not stupid looking your a Pimp.
6: You must always refer to women as bitches
7: Squares are people in normal relationships

Definitely worth a watch I had to borrow the VHS version so I'm not sure on the DVD extras. It's not as well put together as Spellbound or Some Kind of Monster but it's such an interesting subject you cant help but enjoy.

Final Rating: 72%