This is a film that centres on an aggressive definition of masculinity. The female characters have passive and peripheral roles. The women in the film - Shorty's wife, Dona Zelia, Blacky's unseen girlfriend and Ned's girlfriend are there to be the recipients of male violence and are attacked, murdered and raped. Bernice and Angelica may reject this violence but they are sucked into it as observers and mourners. They disappear from the narrative and what happens to them afterwards is of no consequence. Angelica, threatened by Ze, leaves Bene's body and is not seen again. Bernice, who was given the gun, is seen fleetingly as a gangster's moll. Marina's function is to provide the bridge to Rocket's entry into manhood and the outside world.