Semiotics of the Gangster Film Genre...

            What’s up gangsters? Welcome back to yet another edition of Gangsters Paradise! In this post we are covering semiotics, so why are we wasting any time?

            Semiotics is the analytical study of signs and the social production of meaning. Semiotics can be defined as the analysis of anything that represents and provides meaning for something else. As Em Griffin (2009) explains, signs sometimes carry “ideological baggage” or connotations with them wherever they go. A quick example of this idea would be the image of a red octagon. Obviously, a stop sign should come to mind, along with the feeling of stopping. This idea that a red octagon is immediately associated with a stop sign and evokes a stopping feeling is considered a socially constructed meaning for the trio because society has designated that shape and color combination as the signifier to the meaning that we have to stop when we arrive at one of these (the signified). The signifier is the physical form, or in this case the object, that we associate with the signified, which is the associated meaning, in this case, stopping. The signifier and the signified are “in each other's pocket” per se, meaning that they are indissoluble linked together and united, they make up the sign (Griffin, 2009).

            In this film communication criticism, we can utilize semiotics to analyze how the gangster film genre reinforces meanings from existing ideology in American society. One of these meanings from society that get reinforced by the gangster film genre quite often is the pursuit of the American dream. The American dream was a success story of becoming wealthy, influential, and having everything you need by working hard, and taking risks. These rags to riches stories have been disseminated through out the public over time, and have been absorbed into the American culture. Along with our culture, it has been absorbed into our films. Great examples of the American dream being depicted in gangster films are: Once Upon a Time in America (1984) and The Godfather part II (1974). Before we continue any further, there is something that needs to be addressed. These films illustrate poor immigrants who did what was necessary to survive in the ghettos (Once Upon a Time in America), and what was necessary to put food on the table for their families (The Godfather part II). That being said, we can use these gangster films to continue our semiotic analysis using a component of the American dream as the sign and breaking down the sign into its two components, the signifier and the signified.

Depiction of young Once Upon a Time in America characters 

            The component of the American dream that we will be breaking into parts and analyzing as the sign is: the main characters in the genre films who explicitly become wealthy. The signifier, for this sign, is the way the characters go about obtaining their wealth. In this genre, the way the characters go about developing and obtaining their wealth is usually through violence, drug distribution, and/or robbery. Next, the signified, or associated meaning related to the sign, is that America’s very existence makes opportunities available for the characters in the gangster film to obtain the wealth. If we unite these concepts together, we can paint a clearer picture of the whole.

Depiction of Once Upon a Time in America characters grown and wealthy

            As you may have guessed, becoming wealthy is not the only aspect of the American dream, nor is it the most important. Within the gangster film genre however, if we asked some of the characters from the films, they would surely say otherwise. The signifier for this sign is essentially how the characters physically make their money, and the signified aspect is the fact that America, being a democracy and the land of opportunity, provides the characters in the gangster films with the capability to obtain the wealth that they did. Combined, the signifier and the signified create the sign that we see in gangster films. This ties back into what was discussed previously about the gangster film genre reinforcing meanings from socially constructed ideologies, namely, the American dream. The gangster film genre reinforces the idea of the American dream, and the socially constructed meanings that are considered “ideological baggage” because of the explicit correlation that characters physically making money in America, and becoming wealthy by working hard and taking risks has with the socially developed concept of the American dream. All this meaning resonates when we watch gangster films and observe these characters that participate in the stated analysis. 

             Next time, we will be discussing gender in the gangster film genre. Until next time folks, keep your heads up.

Griffin, E. (2009). Chapter 25: Semiotics of Roland Barthes. A First Look at Communication Theory (7th ed., pp. 323-325). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.