Black Mass Sociology

Black Mass, directed by Scott Cooper, tells the true story of James “Whitey” Bulger, an organized crime boss of the Boston Irish Mob crew known as the Winter Hill Gang. Following the story from the New York Times best-selling book by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill, the movie recounts the events from 1975 when Whitey was a small-time gangster, up to his eventual capture in 2011, ending his 12 year streak on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. The movie stars Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger and follows Whitey as his hold over South Boston becomes more and more firm. Forming a deal with FBI agent and childhood friend, John Connolly (Joel Edgerton), Whitey is protected from being investigated by the bureau in return for information on other criminal gangs in the city of Boston. This allows Whitey to continue his criminal spree of murder, drug trafficking, extortion and other manners of the like. On top of this, it also allows Whitey to gain greater power in the city as much of his competition is put down by the FBI. Everything seems to be working out for Whitey until Fred Wyshak is appointed as the new U.S. Attorney. He demands that Whitey be taken down and begins to investigate his suspicious record further, unveiling many unforeseen secrets. …show more content…
Black Mass specifically heightened my interests due to its setting in Boston and my family providing me with personal accounts on the matter. I went into the film already knowing a thing or two about the Bulger brothers and John Connolly, although I was still not an expert on the subject. Seeing this film allowed me to get a better perspective on what really happened with Whitey Bulger and his accomplices. For myself, noticing familiar locations in Boston filmed in the movie was also quite