PITTSBURGH -- Rapper 50 Cent says his movie doesn't promote violence -- it's simply a reflection of his life, with a couple tweaks from Hollywood.

Brentin Mock left the Loew's Movie Theatre with his 2-year-old son right before Shelton Flowers, 30, of Wilkinsburg, was shot in the thigh and chest at the Waterfront.

It was opening night of rapper 50 Cent's movie, "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'."

"So, my first reaction was, 'Thank God it didn't happen while my son was there,'" said Mock. "I don't know that the movie itself brought it out, but it definitely brought a certain element to this place -- which is a gathering for family."

Mock writes movie reviews for the Pittsburgh City Paper.

"As a person who's a defender of all things hip-hop, I think it's the worst hip-hop movie ever made," said Mock.

The movie caused controversy even before it opened because of its billboards, which depicted 50 Cent with a gun in one hand and a microphone in the other -- an image that some felt promoted violence.

"It's a shock to see me when they associate me with music so much, with a weapon in my hand. There's been 18 films that came out that had weapons on the cover or on the artwork and no one protested any of them," said rapper 50 Cent on "Regis and Kelly."

The R-rated movie portrays the life of 50 Cent -- a convicted drug dealer turned rapper -- who was shot several times while growing up outside of New York City.

"This movie comes out and completely reinforces all the stereotypes people had about hip-hop anyway," said Mock.

Because of the controversy, Paramount Pictures decided not to hold the debut on a weekend. And many movie theatres added extra security for opening night.

"If the mentality is, 'We'll do this on a Wednesday and only higher-upper-class black people and surburban white people will come out to see it,' I don't understand what the logic was behind that. But they could have put this out on a Monday at 3 a.m. and people still would have come out. This is a guy who sold 20 million records," said Mock.