The Legacy of Scarface vs. The Legacy of Frank Lucas

The Legacy of Scarface vs. The Legacy of Frank Lucas Frank Lucas Vs. Scarface By: Jonathan Long

Ridley Scott's biopic on Frank Lucas entitled "American Gangster," was one of the most anticipated gangster tales since Oliver Stone's cult classic "Scarface." And while the Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington starred movie has garnered a lot of attention and praise from moviegoers across the United States its popularity will eventually die down. Ten years from now Frank Lucas will be an after thought; nothing more so than apiece of movie trivia. Yet, Tony Montana (played by Al Pacino) will live on as the most celebrated gangster of all time. While both characters displayed a similar demeanor in the way that they handled business, the way in which they lived their lives were as different as rappers from the south and out west. Scarface's mucho-machismo style made him a household icon. His outlandish need to live young, fly, and fresh to death transcended an entire culture of people growing up in the mid-to-late 1980's. The effects of which, we are still seeing today through rappers and other celebrities. From the shrine that Trick Daddy has devoted in his Miami home to the Cuban Drug Lord or the thousands of rap lyrics that bear the mention of the fictional gangster. Even Jay-Z who in his own words is "more Frank Lucas than Ludacris," and was so inspired by "American Gangster," that he recorded an album with the same name states in the song "Ignorant Shit," that "Scarface the movie did more than Scarface the rapper to me." And it's not just rappers or celebrities. College students as well as other young adults marvel and look up to Pachino's character. Visit any collegiate poster sale or framing shop. Mixed in with posters of former Playboy models, dead rappers, and other musicians are bigger than life photo's of the character usually of him sitting in a Jacuzzi or brandishing his machine gun from the infamous scene where he spouts, "say hello to my little friend." In comparison, Frank Lucas is none of that. Lucas's life was more suited for a Wall Street investment banker than a big-time drug lord. Lucas wore tailored business suits. He played the background like the wallpaper on a computer. Unlike his rival at the time Nicky Barnes, Lucas despised the spotlight. In the movie, Lucas sees his brother Huey (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) to the back of a club and talks to him about his flamboyant ensemble. He asks him, "What's with this outfit? You know what it says? You wanna know what it says? Arrest me." Later on in the movie it shows where Frank burns a chinchilla mink coat that his wife bought for him and he wore against his better judgment that would eventually lead to his downfall. The biggest reason that "American Gangster" will not live forever as in "Scarface" is in the difference in endings in our two protagonists. In one of his songs, rapper Jadakiss spits, "you wanna be Scarface, but did you see the end of the movie?" After failing to take care of an agreement that would have violated his moral beliefs, Montana is ambushed by a group of soldiers sent after him by a drug supplier. Outnumbered he grabs his gun and attempts to fight off the soldiers, very successfully, until one sneaks behind him and ends his life. That ending that was well suited for the character as his lifestyle choices gave a vibe that he'd rather die enormous than live dormant. And in the way that many of today's drug cases end, is the answer to the aforementioned lyric. Dating all the way back to tales of Greek and Roman myths it's always been guts and glory. The soldier is supposed to go down in battle. The Captain goes down with the ship. That's the hero ending. And Tony Montana is seen as a hero in the eyes of our culture because of his demise. Lucas's ending however was nowhere near as dramatic as the bold and cinematic ending of Montana. In the movie Lucas is coming out of Church with his mother and wife where the cops have him surrounded. He complies with the police's demands and surrenders. He eventually serves his jail time – that was reduced do to his cooperation in turning in corrupt cops – and walks out of jail with nothing. As stated before within the drug culture, it is more popular to die with it all than it is to live with nothing. As "American Gangster" ends there's a shot of an aged Lucas standing on the New York streets with bewilderment and shock on his face. What he had known as New York was no longer. It was a somewhat somber moment. It's that moment of vulnerability that will cause Lucas to be remembered more as another drug dealer that got caught instead of the Icon that he might in actuality be.