Even though this poster is very simplistic in terms of mise en scene and genre conventions it still suggests an action/thriller genre vibe, with the showing of the gun and the police badge. Cohen's moral panic theory may be applied to this movie poster as it shows a gun and with the title 'American Gangster', this may cause an uproar in gun crime, posession of some firearms are legal in America aslong as the owner has a licence therefore if people see this poster and think that being a 'gangster' will make them 'rich and successful' as that is how Denzel Washington comes across in this poster, this may cause gun crime to become a folk devil as people may think that the film reflects reality. However, Richard Dyer's star theory suggests that a 'star' is an image not a real person that is constructed out of a range of materials which would contradict the idea that people may aspire to be the Denzel type gangster as Cohen's moral panic theory would imply, and suggest that people would realise that the character is not a real person and that the audience will make of the film what they will as the media is far more diverse as in previous years as the uses and gratifications model (Blumler and Katz) would imply too.
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