Introduction
The psychology of a crowd has been at the center of scholars’ attention for a long time, during which multiple theories and implications have been introduced. A crowd as a collectivity of individuals functions according to particular principles, which apply to a crowd as a whole but not to every member individually. In essence, entering the crowd, a person abandons one’s characteristics and obtains new, sometimes foreign features, depending on the characteristics of the collectivity in which they function.
Overall, the behavior of individuals is significantly different from the behavior of the same individuals in a crowd. From the historical point of view, the narrative about crowds becomes more relevant when masses begin to play an important role in social and political life. The movements of masses of people, which constitute a crowd, are portrayed in multiple artistic works and might be observed and analyzed. One of the films where the functioning of a crowd is depicted is Martin Scorsese’s 2002 movie under the title Gangs of New York.
The film conveys a rivalry between leading gangs dominating New York at the time of the Civil War. Resembling the controversy and multifaceted problematics of the historical time, the director brings the crowds of the gangs to the screen, which presents a fruitful background for the analysis. When classifying the crowd in the gang led by Bill the Butcher, as portrayed in the film Gangs of New York, the classification proposed by Le Bon (1896) might be applied. According to it, the gang led by Bill the Butcher is a heterogeneous organized criminal crowd.
The purpose of this essay is to present a detailed analysis of a crowd portrayed in Scorsese’s (2002) film using the concepts introduced in the work of Le Bon (1896). In order to illustrate the applicability of crowd characteristics to gangs’ formation, the concepts and ideas discussed by Le Bon (1896) are used for analysis. Firstly, the psychological attributes of the crowd mind are exemplified and illustrated. Secondly, the opinions and beliefs of the analyzed crowd are discussed based on the concepts of Le Bon (1896). Thirdly, the classification of the crowd is presented in more detail. Finally, the essay concludes with the considerations as per the functioning of the crowd as a distinctive collectivity that is characterized by unique features different from the sum of the features of its constituents.
Characteristics of the Crowd in Gangs of New York
Psychological Characteristics of the Crowd’s Collective Mind
When gathered in a group, people obtain a new set of characteristics, which significantly differ from the ones that might be attributed to people when they act alone. Indeed, according to Le Bon (1896), under particular circumstances, “an agglomeration of men presents new characteristics very different from those of the individuals composing it” (p. 12).
The collectivity implies that people move in one direction, according to which they form their patterns of behavior. Such conditions lead to the integration of individuals and the complete vanishing of a conscious personality (Le Bon, 1896). However, these assumptions do not apply to all groups of people who gather randomly. For a crowd to be formed into a psychologically defined phenomenon, several conditions should precede, which will lead to the characteristics of a psychological crowd. Ultimately, the psychological law of the mental unity of a crowd gains force, according to which, regardless of the individual differences between the constituents of a crowd, they will acquire “a collective mind” and act similarly (Le Bon, 1896). This observation might be applied to the crowd of the gang of nativist protestants in Scorsese’s (2002) movie.
Indeed, the followers of Bill the Butcher come from different backgrounds, occupy various professions, and are of different ages. However, once united under the leadership of Bill the Butcher, they acquire a collective mind that is manifested through their actions when clashing with their rivals or when performing routine criminal deeds (Scorsese, 2002). It is demonstrated in the film that individually, the people in the gang were less likely to perform cruel actions or participate in unlawful conduct. Nonetheless, when influenced by the goals of the gang or by the atmosphere of the crowd, they acted in a very similar manner, all engaging in cruel and unlawful activities. According to Le Bon (1896), there are three main causes for such a tendency of a crowd to acquire characteristics of a collective mind.
Firstly, since people act in unity, their individual responsibility dissolves in the collective one. According to Le Bon (1896), a person might acquire a sentiment “of invincible power which allows him to yield to instincts” rather than rational decisions” (p. 12). Such an idea is based on numerical consideration, due to which, since there are many people involved, one does not demonstrate personality. In the film, the members of the gang form a crowd that functions as a united body of force that, when clashing with rivals, traumatizes and kills people with the same intensity, regardless of who of the group does it.
Secondly, Le Bon (1896) states that contagion determines the trend the crowd follows. In other words, the actions of several individuals become contagious and spread to all the collectivity as an acceptable kind of behavior. Le Bon (1896) argues that “an individual readily sacrifices his personal interest to the collective interest,” which is supported by the observations in the film (p. 12). As illustrated in the gang’s activity, once a fight starts, people begin to copy the behavior of others and engage in fighting even if their own life and safety are in danger.
Finally, suggestibility is claimed to be one of the main causes of crowd formation. Indeed, suggestibility implies that people are exposed to the influence of a crowd very easily. It transforms their identities from the ones they had when they were isolated from the crowd to the distinctively different ones (Le Bon, 1896). Individuals in a crowd of the gang are inclined to follow the unspoken rules of the gang. Therefore, the psychologically defined mind of the crowd is manifested through the actions attributed to the gathered individuals under the influence of a situation or a leader but not by the individual features of the entities. The members of Bill The Butcher’s gang are influenced by the group; they frequently use guns and knives and express cruelty when they act collectively and for their leader and the gang in general.
When analyzing the particular moral characteristics of the crowd as portrayed in the movie, one should refer to some specific features. Indeed, Le Bon (1896) states that crowds are characterized by impulsiveness, mobility, and irritability. Indeed, the decisions the members of Bill the Butcher’s gang make when fulfilling the criminal plans sometimes take unexpected turns and are subjected to external forces. An example of such an action might be a case when gangsters took the body of a guard and sold it instead of destroying it as evidence (Scorsese, 2002). Also, the crowds are exaggerated and ingenious, which is manifested through the extremes in their behavior (Le Bon, 1896). As demonstrated in Scorsese’s (2002) film, the gang’s morality is defined by the extremes between loyalty and death, which is why any betrayal is cruelly punished.
In addition, the crowd of the gang in the film is led by an idea, which is actively cultivated by the leader and followed by the members. Their main idea is to maintain the power of influence in American and in New York in particular in the hands of so-called ‘true’ Americans the contrary to the rising influence of Irish immigrants (Scorsese, 2002).
Also, this crowd is characterized by a reasoning power, which is manifested through the set of mere rules and principles of behavior inside the group, which are known to everyone. Importantly, religious attributes are of particular importance to Bill the Butcher’s gang since the crowd refers to God and even acts like the leader is a religious figure. This idea might be supported by an example of a picture of Bill the Butcher framed as a holy image and placed near to the candles (Scoresese, 2002). Thus, the psychological mind of the crowd contains multiple unique features which predetermine the existence of a crowd as a qualitatively new social phenomenon.
Opinions and Beliefs of the Crowd
In terms of opinions and beliefs, the crowd in Scorsese’s (2002) movie is characterized by traditions and political institutions. Firstly, the traditions in the collectivity resemble its strengths of unity based on their collective history. Indeed, the gang holds a yearly celebration of their victory against the head of the gang called Dead Rabbits, which amplifies the united spirit of Bill’s gang (Scorsese, 2002). Secondly, the political background of the crowd formation is manifested through the support of the opposing gangs provided to the candidates for the local elections. In essence, due to the political situation in the city and in the country in general, the influence of criminal organizations determined the direction of the overall political process.
In addition, the power of words and experience is very strong in the formation of a crowd’s belief system. Bill the Butcher and his followers continuously repeat that they hate the Irish and how it is important to free America from immigrants and maintain it in the hands of nativist protestants (Scorsese, 2002). Similarly, this crowd’s experience in planning and executing city massacres and crimes enhances their traditions and opinions. Moreover, the concepts of a leader of the crowd and the means of persuasion introduced by Le Bon (1896) play a significant role in the functioning of the crowd in the film. Bill the Butcher’s charismatic personality, unconfirmable cruelty, and maniac-like desire to eliminate the immigrants from America become a contagious persuasion for the crowd. However, these beliefs are fixed and do not evolve with time or depending on the circumstances, which constitutes another important characteristic.
Gang as a Criminal Crowd
Since the gang performs unlawful acts regularly under the rule of a clearly defined leader, this kind of crowd might be classified as criminal. Firstly, since the gang includes people who primarily represent nativist protestants but gather people of different classes, intellectual, and social backgrounds, one might classify this crowd as a heterogeneous one (Le Bon, 1896). Secondly, the crowd is led by a charismatic leader, Bill the Butcher, whose social and philosophical ideas are distributed among the members of the gang and direct their unlawful actions in the city. Therefore, the multitude arranged in a gang might be classified as an organized crowd. Thirdly, the crowd might be classified as a crowd termed a criminal crowd where the actions of the gang are considered illegal, although they are justified in the sense of psychological considerations of the group.
Conclusion
In summation, the psychology of a crowd is a unique social phenomenon that is conditioned by multiple definable factors and might be characterized by distinctive features. The analyzed crowd from the film Gangs of New York demonstrates that this collectivity of people is attributed to characteristics of behavior that are significantly different from those exhibited by isolated individuals. Therefore, the crowd has a collective crowd mind, the formation of which is influenced by three causes. These causes include the sentiment of invincible power due to a large number of individuals in a group, contagion, and suggestibility. As a result, the crowd led by Bill the Butcher portrayed in the film might be characterized by impulsiveness, mobility, and irritability, exaggeration and ingenious nature, ideas, and a leader. Also, the traditions and political background, words, and experience, as well as leader, persuasion, and fixed beliefs, are characteristic to the analyzed crowd and portray it as a distinctive phenomenon from the psychological point of view.
References
Le Bon, G. (1896). The crowd: A study of the popular mind. Kitchener: Batoche Books.
Scorsese, M. (2002). Gangs of New York [Film]. Touchstone Pictures.