Hip Hop Meets the Lottery

Lotteries have provided writers and filmmakers with great material for decades. One older horror film 'Mr. Sardonicus' tells the story of a man who was accidentally buried with a winning lottery ticket. While robbing his father's grave to obtain the lottery ticket the son's face becomes frozen with a bizarre horrifying grin. While no cinematic classic by any means the film enjoyed brief popularity among horror fans in the early 60's. One of the best known and one of the most popular lottery based films is the classic 'Waking Ned Devine.' Set in the remote Irish village of Tullymore this classic film tells the story of a close knit village where everyone knows everyone else's business. Someone in the village has won several million pounds in the national lottery but no one knows who it is. Finally it becomes known that a villager, Ned Devine has won the lottery. Two villagers visit the reclusive Devine and find Devine dead clutching the winning lottery ticket. The plot becomes complicated but it is decided that one of the villagers will pose as Devine to redeem the winning ticket. For those who have not seen this sometimes hilarious film I will not spoil the experience by describing the plot any further.

As has been mentioned lotteries and the behavior of many winners have provided writers and producers with a never ending source of material for books, short stories and movies. A discovery channel titled 'Jackpot! Inside America's Lottery Winners' tells the story of New Hampshire lottery winners Mary and Jason Sanderson who won a $66.4 million lottery jackpot. The sudden wealth changes their lives and causes them to make somewhat odd decisions. A recent documentary by HBO titled 'Lucky' tells the story of several lottery winners. The sudden wealth changes the lives of these winners profoundly and not always for the better. The documentary has received positive reviews and will be released on DVD sometime in the future.

The newest lottery film is aimed at the hip hop and rap crowd. Starring American rapper Bow Wow, comedian Brandon Jackson, singer Naturi Naughton and rap legend Ice Cube this movie details the story of a young man (Bow Wow) living in the projects who has just won a $370 million lottery jackpot. When the neighbors find out about the big win the young man has to survive a 4th of July weekend dealing with the greedy and sometimes threatening actions of his neighbors. The film, titled 'Lottery Ticket' is scheduled for release in August 2010 and is sure to be a big hit with rap and hip hop fans.