Blog 2: Growing up in a different culture

Tyler Kuch

Blog #2

            It’s pretty well-known that cultures are different all across the world.  There are certain moments in each child’s life that might be specific to the culture they were raised in.  It seems there are different cultures in every country you visit.  But what we don’t always realize is that there are most definitely multiple cultures within even a single country.  Here in the United States, the West Coast is a lot different from the East Coast, and both differ from the culture in the Midwest.  What I am going to discuss is the experience growing up in the Boston area, as seen in the movie, The Departed.

            For those who have seen the movie, The Departed does not really focus on the childhood of the characters except for during the first few scenes.  But I do think it is a good example for answering the questions about adolescence in a different culture.  The movie starts out showing us Matt Damon’s character, Colin Sullivan, as a boy, about 12 or 13 years old.  While he’s in the grocery store, he is approached by the known head of organized crime in the area, Frank Costello, played by Jack Nicholson.  Colin has been growing up without his parents and living with his grandmother, (which Costello knows), and Costello tells him if he ever wants to earn some extra money to come see him.  Costello later tells Colin and the other boys he recruited about what it’s like growing up in the Boston area, saying “No one gives it to you, you have to take it.”  Costello also mentions that growing up, adults told him you could either be a cop or a criminal, but he retorts, “I say, when you’re facing a loaded gun, what’s the difference?”

            This ideology of having to make your own way and not count on anybody to provide for you was the way it was like for Costello growing up in Boston, and in turn, what it is now like for Colin.  Now although this is in the United States, I say it still differs from many other parts of the country.  In upper-class parts of America, other people will most certainly be providing for you.  You see the parents buying their kids everything they want, and as a result, the kids become somewhat soft and dependent.  The way it worked for Costello, he had to do whatever it took to survive.  If that meant stealing or killing, so be it, and he worked his way all the way to the top.  This type of lifestyle is referenced in the masculinity reading, “Making Men Out of Them” when the author wrote, “A boy is not expected to reach out---to his family, his friends, his counselors, or coaches---for help, comfort, understanding, and support.”  The way this culture goes, the boy is expected to solve all his problems himself, by any means necessary.

            One other similarity between the culture that Colin grew up in was referenced in Raby’s essay, “Across a Great Gulf”.  She talked about children identifying with the “least-adult”.  In this case, Costello was the “least-adult”.  He clearly wasn’t playing by society’s rules and knew what was important to a young kid like Colin.  In that way, he was not like most adults in society (mainly cops), and that allowed Colin to identify with him a little more.

            The Boston culture, although in the United States, is different from many of the other cultures in this country.  According to the movie, at least, women are seen as loyal sidekicks, and anyone who is not a white male has a harder life.  “You’re a black guy in Boston, you don’t need my help to be completely f----d”, says Billy Costigan, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character.  A few aspects of this culture can be seen elsewhere, but to me, the way it was shown is pretty unique.  It’s a little easier to appreciate the good parts of my culture, having seen this movie.  People I know don’t regularly get shot, and I can depend on my family to be there for me.  But others aren’t as lucky, and that’s what we need to realize.

Works Cited

Raby, Rebecca.  “Across a Great Gulf”.  “Representing Youth: Methodological Issues in Critical Youth Studies” New York: New York University Press. 2007. Print.

Cohen, Theodore.  “Making Men Out of Them: Male Socialization in Childhood and Adolescence”  “Men and Masculinity: A Text Reader, 1^st Edition”. 2001.

The Departed.  Scorsese, Martin, Monahan, William.  Film.  Warner Bros.  2006.