Since Mexican Drug Lord El Chapo was captured on the ninth of January, I have come to notice several posts on social media saying “free the trap god” or "free El Chapo" and even more. This hasn’t been the only time people idolize these men for being nothing more than a drug distributor. Someone who made easy money in a dirty way because being rich and having power is all that mattered. As the years have passed I have seen people wear t-shirts of drug lords like El Chapo and even Pablo Escobar, songs have been written about them, shows and movies have been created idolizing these men making them seem like heroes when in reality all they have caused is havoc in their home countries.
People have heard stories of these drug lords, they have heard of all the money made from their illegal distribution, and because of these stories people begin to idolize a person that did so many bad things to get to where they are. One story in particular, is about Pablo Escobar , who would waste about $2,500 on rubber bands a month to hold all his riches. This made people amazed because he was such a rich man, rich enough to put him on the top ten Forbes richest men on earth, but that was only because he was the “king of cocaine”. However, people tend to forget all the lives lost in Colombia when Pablo Escobar controlled the streets. Killing about 100 people when he brought down a Colombian plane and many other massacres completed by this man are stories that people do not want to hear. In the new show, Narcos, which is a hit show on Netflix, it shows the life of Pablo Escobar in a Hollywood style way. Once again idolizing a man who all he did was cause terror and pain to the Colombian people. The stereotype that all Colombians are drug dealers was born because of Pablo Escobar, a stereotype so powerful that people today continue to use. A drug lord shouldn’t be idolized for killing people, he shouldn’t be remembered and he should not have movies where he is being shown as an all powerful man. Men like that need to be erased from the minds of others, forgotten but instead they are remembered and many times cherished.
Actor Sean Penn has been in the news lately because it had been discovered that Penn and Mexican actress Kate Del Castillo set up a discreet meeting with the Mexican drug lord, “El Chapo” Guzman. In these meetings, that occurred last October, Penn wrote an article that was published by The Rolling Stone Magazine interviewing the drug lord. Though Penn wanted to write the article as a way to explain the war on drugs, it instead became popular on the fact that the actor actually got to meet El Chapo while he was in hiding. Many have also said that the reason for the meeting between Penn and El Chapo might be because a movie could be made over the life of the Mexican drug lord. There is no way of telling if these rumors are true or false, but one thing is for sure, a movie or show will soon be made on this man. Hollywood is not far behind when it comes to using others pain as a way to make money. Those who don’t know the true cruelty men like Escobar and El Chapo cause will find these lives almost enjoying, something to look up to; but it is just Hollywood's way of showing a twisted truth. They don’t show half of the murders these men committed that brought them to be the “legends” they are known to be today.
Men like Escobar and El Chapo should not be remembered for their lifestyle, money or power; they need to be seen as monsters. Men willing to kill a hundred people who get in their way. That is not a person that should be memorialized through movies, music and shows. Though these men have been known for their kindness when it comes to sharing their wealth with the poor in their countries, they have killed many others to get that money.
Drug dealers are criminals and should not be praised.
