MovieChat Forums > Bad Boys (1983) Discussion > Real Gang History in the Background

Real Gang History in the Background

posted 15 years ago by bigstabby
7 replies | jump to latest

I noticed some of the graffiti in the background of this film as being socially relevant today. The letters "CK" tagged on a building near the beginning of the film which means "crip killer". Also when O'Brian is sent into solitary confinement you can see two pitch-forks on the wall behind his bed. Those are well-known G.D.(Ganster Disciple) gang signs. Back in 1983, these gangs weren't as well-known or "mainstream" as they are today. Myself, being a 20 year old who went to a really gang affiliated high-school, I couldn't help but feel kind of overwhelmed by that. Not in a sense that it was realistic or anything. Just that it was kind of like criminal history in the making. How something so small at the time would later become so well known and notorious only a few years later. Yet, they were only small details in the backdrop of this movie from 1983. I don't really know how to explain it that well, it just kind of threw me back. Me being so young today and this film being from way before I was even born.

[–] cnd3211 15 years ago

>>The letters "CK" tagged on a building near the beginning of the film which means "crip killer". Also when O'Brian is sent into solitary confinement you can see two pitch-forks on the wall behind his bed. Those are well-known G.D.(Ganster Disciple) gang signs. Back in 1983, these gangs weren't as well-known or "mainstream" as they are today.<<

Well the Bloods and the Crips had been around since the early 1970s, but mostly contained in Los Angeles. I guess what's so surprising is that those gang references had already made their way to the Chicago area just 10-12 years later, as "Bad Boys" was filmed in Chicago during the summer of 1982.

[–] crwhite7 15 years ago

I didn't catch the "CK", but I'm nearly 100% sure that it didn't mean "Crip Killer" Reason I say that is that Chicago itself has probably at least as many gangs as LA, even if not in the sheer numbers of members. These gangs have roots going back into the '50s and '60s. I can think of at least one that starts with a "C". I just don't think a gang member from that era would bother to mention the Crips, there were already too many local gangs. And gang tagging is a serious business. You are correct about the forks, those are well-known Disciples signs. There are also some letters near the forks that I can't make out clearly, maybe "B" and "G"? On the opposite wall in the cell, you can also see something that looks like "Black Stones". This is another Chicago gang, rivals to the Disciples.

I believe that those tags were existing in the cell and that the filmmakers tried to cover them up with the blue paint. This facility was real, the Illinois Youth Center in St. Charles, Il. The thing is, in most movies involving street gangs, or cities with heavy street gang activity, they usually use fictional names and fictional gang signs. Most public areas in the middle of Chicago, alleys, garages, public restrooms, trains, buses, apartment buildings, etc., are covered with very distinctive gang graffiti. This graffiti is very different from tags in LA or NYC. The film makers probably had to really go out of their way to avoid showing it in the movie. I think they intentional don't want to give props to real gangs, which is what they would in effect be doing by including the graffiti in their films. Look at Boyz in the Hood or Mennace II Society or South Central---powerful films depicting LA gang culture, but never featuring real LA gangs by name.

[–] docmananoff-885-218028 12 years ago

"CK" Did NOT mean "Crip Killer" Crips never existed in Chicago (Never Could) and actually the Bloods are really an extension of the BlackStone Rangers (El Rukn) of Chicago when T Rogers (A Chicago Blackstone) moved to LA as a teen and got permission from Jeff Fort to start a chapter of "Stones" there which became known as "Bloods." CK either meant "Count" Killer if anything or "Cobra" Killer which are Chicago gangs.
Besides, Nobody even knew much about LA gangs until the movie Colors came out in 1988. We didn't even know California had gangs. In the scene where they throw Horowitz in solitary, there were actual inmates in solitary too. All those hands reaching out and throwing gang signs were REAL Dudes, during a brief silence you can hear one voice say: "Vice Lord!"

[–] echosmomma 11 years ago

But "East Side Daly City" out of Cali is clearly seen written on the wall behind O'Brien's head when he's on his bunk, and it didn't look like there was any attempt to cover it up. I had to do a double take on that, because I also wondered why their tag would show up in a reformatory in Chicago.

Also, I thought I read that the reformatory was actually a set that was built in an old airplane hangar. But I've also read that it was an actual real reformatory. Does anyone know the real story?

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] FaithNoBungle 10 years ago

crwhite7, You're the first person so far that I've seen that has mentioned the Illinois Youth Center in St. Charles IL. I just found out about this movie 4 days ago after learning they filmed there, I got all excited as I live literally 4 minutes away. As an aspiring filmmaker I was 1) pissed that I didn't know about this movie and 2) happy to see a great location used in a bigger movie, a location that I have driven past 3,000 times since I've lived here. Do you live in the area too?

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[–] Gambino187 (1) a year ago

Im from Chicago growing up in ths 80s in 90s. No LA gangs in Chicago at all. Most likely its Cobra killa,maybe C Note K, could also be Count K, but they usually spell LC.But O Brian was in a white gang, and back then the biggest white gangs were Gaylords, C Notes, Simon City Royals, but the Gaylords were the only one thar had a set on the Southside. And when there in the neighborhood, before they all get sent of St Charles, they were in Pilson, which is mostly latino, so I cant tell if the latinos are 26/LK. And the blacks were not called GD then they were BGD, but the black gang could of been Vice Lords, or Black P Stones. I saw someone said they had a latino mob name on a wall, but the black gangs in Chicago, still do the same thing, they form little clicks,and give themselves a name, could of lived on Daily street. Shit when I waa a peewee, b4 anyone flipped anything, we were a small set,of the block we hung on. I lived in Long Beach Ca for afew years and, and my whole block waw crips. But Chicago has 10 times more gangs and smaller sections, like were I grew up,I new I could go only 1 block East from my cricb.2 blocks south,around 3 blocks North,and we had some a good amount of sets to the west, so if I wanted to walk that would give me the best chance to walk,without getting shot at or jumped. I saw someone said something about Eastside Daily mob,from LA. Im watching the movie right now, so I could see what you guys were talking about, they call the Eastside of Chicago, the wild 90s,100s,all the way up to Gary Indiana. Ane Mayor Dailey was the Chi mayor at this time,so thats what there tall about, are Eastside Gangstas, from Dailey city( Chicago).