A city is essentially made up of its people. Yes, the buildings and infrastructure are important. But at its core, a city is nothing without innovativeness and human interaction. Another way to say this is to describe the social networks among cities. Namely, greed, human interaction, and the fact that even if it is through six degrees of separation, everyone is connected to everyone. With greed specifically, it can be perceived as a negative trait, but it can also have its upsides. When dealing with social networks of a city, greed can be crucial in propelling the city to do great things. To push beyond what its limits were. With human interaction, it is important that the transfer of knowledge is initiated between members of cities, in order to create new ways and update old ways. The fact that everyone knows everyone, proves how many groups can be formed that can be helpful or hurtful to the progressiveness of the city. Social networks were crucial in the creation of the violence and change of Rio de Janeiro. The dynamic of the city was in a constant state of change because the power was always switching up into a different organization or gang. The individual people showcase the different aspects of a social network.
The first character that demonstrates arguably the most, was Lil’ Dice, who turned to Lil’ Zé. Lil’ Dice was obsessed with the idea of becoming the most powerful, and had so much desire to have the most, that he would do whatever to reach his maximum potential. Including murdering, raping and stealing. In this way, Lil’ Dice was a terrible, terrible person, who took pleasure from ruining the lives of other people. The only reason that he was able to keep the peace of the city for so long, was because of his partner Benny, who had the opposite kind of greed. Benny’s greed pushed him to discover his will of being friends with everyone and sharing his wealth with the people below him. This partnership is very interesting when considering how it relates to Geoff West’s idea of cities and how they are actually run. West states that “without the motive of self-interest, our entrepreneurial free market economy would collapse.” This same idea applies To the partnership of Lil’ Dice and Benny. Without Lil Dice’s need for power, and Benny’s wish for popularity, their gang would have never gotten to the “top dog” position of the city. Under Lil Dice and Benny’s control, the city seemed more safe than it had ever been. However, when someone slipped up, and did something that was not to Lil’ Dice’s liking, he would severely punish them. So while Lil’ Dice’s city seemed safer, he was really just making way for a new gang to come up, sick of the monopoly Lil’ Dice had over the city. This also shows how the city was superlinear in reference to Lil’ Dice’s power. While the city was dealing with fewer robberies and hold-ups, the punishment from Lil’ Dice if one did make a mistake was much more severe.
Rocket represents another aspect of social networks. He is the pipe the information travels through. As the narrator in the movie, we learn, through him, just about everything that happens. We learn of Lil’ Dice’s early murders of two members of the tender trio, and of Blackie’s rise to power. A city requires not only buildings, but it needs the people to be innovative and knowledgeable. Instead of only having pipes that serve industrial purposes, a city needs pipes that funnel ideas and knowledge from person to person. Rocket is that person for us, the viewer’s of the movie, but also for the people of the city. Towards the middle of the movie, he discovers his dream is photography. He then begins working for the newspaper, and is photographing Lil’ Zé’s gang. He is spreading the information of one of the rival gang’s all around the city. He is helping to be a liaison between the people residing in the city, and the information that they are entitled to know.
Another aspect of a social network is the “six degrees of separation” theory. Knockout Ned best represents this. At Benny’s going away party, Lil’ Dice was rejected by a girl, and got so angry that he turned around and humiliated Knockout Ned for no reason. He made him strip naked, and then raped Ned’s girlfriend, and then killed his uncle and son. So even though before this night, Ned had no connections with Lil’ Dice, now his uncle had been killed by Lil’ Dice. This concept of degrees of separation is also a part of a social network. This is the concept that essentially builds the people of every city. Everyone is connected in some way or another, and the same can be shown in the City of God through the gangs of Lil’ Dice and Knockout Ned. A city is made up of its people. The two gangs coming to power demonstrated how each person was connected in the city. Many boys and men were joining a gang, and soon the gang’s took over the city. This concept also aligns with Tobler’s First Law of Geography, which states “everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things.” In this instance, the members of the gang are directing related to each other, and you are either a member of Carrot and Knockout Ned’s gang or Lil’ Dice’s gang. However the members of the gangs each have family members, distant friends, and more people that they are related to. These people are still connected through a number of degrees of separation, yet they are more distant.
There are many more elements that deal with social interaction. Lil’ Dice, Benny, Knockout Ned, and Rocket display these characteristics greatly because they were all strong characters with strong ideas. These ideas helped them to come into power or rise up against another gang, or, in Rocket’s case, be a liaison between information and the people of the City of God. Through these characters, it is easy to see how a city is really made up. No character was really able to escape their fate. From an early age, Lil Dice proved to be murderous and evil, killing innocent people. Rocket was always the one to stay out of trouble and he continued to do so by staying out of the gang violence, and even hiding out after the first photo of Lil’ Dice’s game was published. Knockout Ned could not shake the vengence he wanted on Lil’ Dice from the murder of two family memembers and the raping of his girlfriend, and ultimately became evil himself, killing innocent people during hold-ups. A city remained a city. The groups of people interacting may have changed, but the interaction and human connection did not. While the structure of the city is important, the people of a city are crucial. Ultimately the interactions between humans that make up a city, determine the impression that the city will make on the world.