I have to say, Mickey Cohen is a stupid gang boss. It is true that his influence has penetrated into every public authority in Los Angeles. The police station, court, and transportation department have all been kidnapped by him. He is already the master of this huge city. There are two kinds of greedy people, one is stupid and the other is smart. Obviously Mickey is the stupid kind.
At the beginning of the film, Mickey's dominance of the city has been explained. And John took down his prostitute at the very beginning. I don't know if the money from pimping can buy the drugs that prostitutes are controlled and forced to take, not to mention the huge security and weapons expenses, in addition to that, they also need to spend money to manage the police department under their jurisdiction. I think if you can make money in this business, unless you arrest all the women in Los Angeles and let all the adult men in Los Angeles come to prostitute, maybe you can get your money back. But then the pimping industry will seriously eat into the profits of the drug trafficking industry.
Drug trafficking is also a high-risk industry. At least in a society where public power has lost its ability to operate but the media conscience and freedom still exist, and legal procedures have not been trampled on, drug trafficking will never be seen. Casinos are also a high-income industry, but for a black boss who wants to dominate one side, these ways of making money can be accumulated at the beginning of the organization. Once you have money and status, you must change your public image as soon as possible. .
Mickey has noticed this too, his titular girlfriend, who is also his etiquette instructor, always tries to help him create a new positive image. But Mickey, who was born in a boxer, is a Boss with vulgar speech and behavior. Although he is well-dressed, his speech is ill-mannered and his government is extremely shallow. I only know that I am the only one, I don't know mutual benefit and win-win, I don't know the underworld diplomacy (crossing the border to provoke the Chicago gangster). Time and time again exposed his character weaknesses. The last and most significant change in his business strategy was money laundering and control of spot currency channels in the Southwest. This is another extremely dangerous move. He seemed to enjoy the thrill of defying the bottom line of the law.
Mickey is proud and has repeatedly boasted of i'm the progress. In fact, none of what he has done can be called Progress. Pimping, drugs, money laundering, guns and casinos are not long-term paths. At the time of mastering huge wealth, it does not penetrate into formal industries that are closely related to ordinary people: such as media, film and television, large-scale infrastructure projects or real estate. In short, when the underworld developed to his level, the rise and fall of the organization was actually closely linked to the fate of the city. I don't know who can make money in a city with only pimping, drug trafficking, casinos and money laundering industries, if the city doesn't have a large middle class and enough rich people, just let all the poor and homeless go to prostitutes, go to How much money can he earn from gambling and taking drugs? Sooner or later, the boss has to drink the northwest wind.
Mickey's gang ended with himself captured and most of his men killed. Smart police officer John, the whole process of arresting was not a big problem. Not only did his secret identity attack the foundation of the underworld, but he also protected important witnesses. He went through a complete legal process and completely defeated the seemingly powerful Mickey.
Mickey's failure is that he doesn't know his role. When this city is prosperous and civilized, violence can easily win him money and power, but no matter how rich a city is, it can't stand nibbling and sucking blood. He said he loves Los Angeles, but he doesn't know how to run the city. He has the ability to become the ruler of the city and run the city, but he doesn't. He is trying to accumulate wealth and make most people have nowhere to live. Subverted, sooner or later.
There are too many gangsters in the world, and they have successfully transformed themselves after being powerful. Ni Yongxiao in the movie "Infernal Affairs" is still thinking about entering the political world and doing some clean business. Mickey doesn't even understand the power of control of the prosecution and the police. He is a pure robber.
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