The film "Stryker" is about a young native boy, "Stryker", who ends up between two gangs, the Indian Posse, run by Mama Ceece and the Asian Bomb Squad, run by Omar. While following "Stryker"’s life, we see the battle between the two gangs to rule the street and how difficult life is for the aboriginal community. (Gonick, "Stryker") Gonick called the film "Stryker" because of its meaning. "Stryker" is a Canadian slang term used to describe someone who is attempting to join a gang. (Gonick) This film is different from Gonick’s other films, Hey, Happy!
Tinkertown, because it is more realistic and deals with something really that’s happening in Winnipeg. The genre that Gonick uses in this film is comic book style. The characters of the film, "Stryker", Omar and Mama Ceece, are cardboard style characters, they are two dimensional and don’t have anything else going on in their lives except for the war between the two gangs. They are not easy to sympathize with because not all of the viewers can relate to their situation. Gonick has written this film for the aboriginal community, they are the intended audience and they can relate to the events in the film because that’s how they live their lives.
Gonick’s audience for the film "Stryker" is the aboriginal community. The people who don’t see the film as a film, but as real life, as how they live their lives day to day. The actors in this film are not famous actors, or actors with any real training, they are people who live this type of thing and are maybe members of gangs. Gonick made this film to be able to tell the story of a small community that may not have gotten the chance to tell it themselves.
He feels that their story is one of importance and that it needs to be shared with the world. Gonick only wants to be able to tell a story that he thinks is worth telling and wants to have the impact on readers that it is something that we should be seeing. In an interview with New Winnipeg regarding his film "Stryker" Gonick said, “It's valuable, it's worthwhile, it's engaging, it's entertaining, and it's kind of revolutionary too” (Gonick).
