The editing is super-slick in "Pimps", and the subject matter can't help but fascinate. In the end, a viewer feels rather like a co-participant in a freak show. Yet, why dedicate such art, skill and effort (not to mention moolah) to a lot of criminals? There's explicit racism, too; not all pimps are black--not by a long shot. But all pimps are villains--recruiters (almost invariably) of underage girls and boys into the business. There's not a one of them that doesn't commit two or three felonies a week--if not more. But, this documentary does serve up what a documentary is supposed to do--it documents this underbelly of the American underpriviledged. This is the ugly mold that sprouts from the odium of poverty and prejudice, the latter of which is still alive and well, such as recently demonstrated by the likes of Senator Trent Lott.
Review of American Pimp
