How did I come up with this as a subject? Last night in flipping channels I noticed a documentary on Starz called "American Pimp" which followed and interviewed 12 self described, self employed pimps.
I have some understanding of the world of the hustler from descriptions in Gang Leader for a Day but this documentary peeled a few more layers off the onion. There are plenty of resources, easily accessible through the internet on the life and times of the modern pimp. The subject is glorified ad nauseum in pop culture (listen to your favorite Snoop Dogg album and see how many pimping references you can find), but the causal gangsta rap listener rarely goes beyond the superficial.
To support the theory that you can pick anything, and I mean anything, as your focus and still earn an advanced degree in certain academic disciplines, I give you an article from Time Magazine, circa 1971, "The Pimping Game". I thought getting college credit in a mythology class for building a temple to Dionysus out of beer cans and pizza boxes was funny.
If I had to state a preference, I'd go with the older pimps like Fillmore Slim who showed a much classier side. Take a moment to read this article from SFWeekly.com. He makes it much easier to hate the proverbial game instead of the player.
At the end of it all, all I can say is, "Uhhh, wow." If you get bored enough, rent American Pimp. You too can alternate between shaking your head, laughing, and pushing your jaw back up into its normal position from the astounding depths it will drop.
1 comment:
"American Pimp" is a great, great documentary. Just unreal, and a must watch.
And of course, my favorite spoof on it, The Player Haters Ball.
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