BBOY FOR LIFE (review)

Review by Morayo Sayles

BBoy For Life portrays the lives of young Guatemalan men desperately trying to avoid the fatal life plan that appeared the only way for them – Prison or Death.

The film shows the stark reality of what life is like in this small section of Guatemala. BBoy Gato and BBoy Cheez are the two leading members of The Poker Crew – a break dance group that competes across the region.

While the documentary focuses on Cheez and Gato, the crew is actually about five people strong. 

In addition to the two leads, there are BBoy Penguin, BBoy Dwarf, & BBgirl Bunny.  No ages are given, but the crew appears to be between the ages of 18 and 21 with Gato and Cheez being the older two. 

The crew lives in Zone 6, one of the most dangerous areas in Guatemala by the account of a policewoman. So dangerous in fact, there is very little police presence in this little section of Guatemala stationed to protect the inhabitants.

The crew dances because there is not much else to do – other than join a gang. With over 700 thousand gangs in Central America and the Guatemala having the highest number of them per capita, there is little left for the youth of Guatemala to do.

While telling the story of the struggle for the BBoys, the film also tells the story of the men and women who fell prey to the path of prison. 

We see Leidy, a former female gangster, released from prison after a three-year stint trying to change her ways and live a different life for her sons.  We also meet gangsters in prison, sentenced for the heinous crimes they have committed, destined to spend most of their lives behind bars.  The eyes of the imprisoned men are gaunt and bereft of hope.

As they describe for the filmmakers, their most evil deeds, their regret and shame is palpable. They are unable to look directly into the camera, I believe for fear that they would see you the viewers horror and judgment – a sight they could not face. 

These men are haunted by nightmares, their punishment they believe for the crimes they have committed, but more symptomatic of untreated trauma and the desperate need for counseling.

There is not much that you cannot immediately relatable to in BBoys for life if you are remotely familiar with the inner city struggle of urban youths in America. Quite frankly, take away the Spanish dialects and heavily accented broken English, I might as well have been watching a story get deep in the heartland of Detroit, Chicago, Watts or any place where drug wars rage.

This familiarity is what makes this film so disconcerting. It is like the two main exports of the US hip-hop culture to the men of Guatemala had terra formed the cityscape. There was gang paraphernalia, deuces in the air, oversized baseball caps, wife beaters singlets and tattoos everywhere. All that was missing was a nefarious drug lord that called the shots.  However, it all felt like a caricature, forced and ill fitting on the natives of the land.

What was blatantly missing in the film was the presence of alternatives or supports for families.

Whether this was by design or a depiction of the true reality of the situation is not clear.  We as viewers briefly visit Cheez’s home and its ramshackle appearance was not surprising, but still very sobering.  Later on in the film, after loosing a dance battle, Cheez laments the loss of income simply because he has to pay the water bill. Given the state of his home, it is almost laughable that the municipalities have the audacity to charge a water fee. Almost laughable, but not quite. At least he has running water.

However, the absence of guiding adults is glaring. Gato has three younger brothers he cares for.  Are his parent’s dead? In jail? Moreover, when the BBoys are not dancing, what do they do?  Is dancing on the street really their only income?  What about school? Church? All the extra curricular activities we take for granted in our western world?

This film was inspiring and depressing all at once. 

With such little apparent social support and fighting to stay out of the crosshairs of the thousands of local gangs, the outlook looked grim for the BBoys. 

Nevertheless, where there is hope, there is a way and the boys of The Poker Crew seemed quite determined to find their way.