American Politics & Pop Culture

I agree that women’s perspectives are largely ignored in the film, but the pressing issues are visible in the violent and derogatory language directed at either the female characters in the movie, or when discussing women in general. Too seldom does a woman in the movie talk back or defend herself, and when it does happen she is immediately silenced with further degradation, for example (two exchanges between Shalika and DoughBoy): “Who you callin' a ho', I ain't no ho'.” “Oops, I'm sorry, bitch.” and “Why is it every time you talk about a female you gotta say bitch, ho, or hootchie?” “'Cause that's what you are.” Although the audience gets to see the treatment of women in the hood, these issues are not given ample scrutiny, not nearly as much as the violence between the men. And I understand that the movie is called “Boyz ‘N the Hood,” but these are “boys” treating women in an unacceptable and vicious manner, and I agree with the critics that believe these situations should not have been ignored.

The language directed at the women honestly makes the movie difficult to watch. Although the movie is not supposed to send a positive, “be like me” message, a lot of viewers walk away identifying with the characters and, therefore, imitating some of their behavior, specifically, the treatment of women. Some viewers may even find those scenes funny and less serious than others, whereas I believe them to be the most attention-worthy. Why do relationships, hardships, discrimination and injustices between men always conjure more immediate attention and publicity than those facing women?

The film would have been different if it had been told from the viewpoints of women only in the sense that most of the violence would have been more direct physical contact and sexual abuse. Women, whether raped within the home, on the streets, or sexually mistreated through unfortunate choices such as prostitution and stripping, are equally, if not more often abused. Men come home from the hard street life and may find comfort in beating up on their woman, so as to relieve the frustrations of being the one beaten. Also, had the movie been told from a woman’s perspective, the language directed at men would not have been remotely as offensive – we don’t have nearly as large an arsenal of violent male-directed vocabulary.

Posted by rinas001 at 05:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My favorite character in the movie “Boyz n the hood” would undoubtedly be Jason “Furious” Styles. Furious though a strict father to Tre, he molds his son to rise against the adversity that surrounds his growing son. From sex, violence, drugs, and taking responsibility for one’s action Furious is the father figure that characters such as Ricky, Doughboy, and Chris do not have which greatly hinders there ability to succeed in life. Straight from the beginning Furious makes Tre rack the yard while Tre’s friends get to enjoy themselves. Though he is envious of his friends this guiding figure is the main reason that Tre stays out of trouble and goes to college while the rest of his friends are either severely hurt or killed.

One quote that is memorable is when Furious is with Tre by the lake and tells his son “Any fool with a dick can make a baby, but only a real man can raise his children.” The benefit of a strong father figure is evident. That is why Tre’s mother sends Tre to live with his father. Furious also mentions how he does not want to be a thirty year old grandfather to Tre. Tre in the movie is constantly trying to have a sexual relationship with his girlfriend but due to her Catholic faith she holds out. Due to this and Furious remarks about responsibility, Tre does not father a child young like his friend Ricky did.

Another quality that makes Furious an intriguing character is his lack of ignorance. He is not naïve like the other characters; he knows what goes on from living in the hood, to police brutality to sexual promiscuity. It is without doubt that Director Singleton’s was trying to show that a due to a lack of a father figure for most minorities and even whites in the hood there is an ongoing cycle of violence that will repeat itself. Teaching children young about responsibility is the greatest key to getting them to succeed in life.

Posted by dhill004 at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If the portrayal of the Los Angeles ghetto portrayed in Boyz ‘N The Hood was accurate, I find the struggles and socio-economical situations of Black America a difficult containment to escape from. The constant exposure of young kids and adults to violence, drugs, alcohol and the discriminating treatments from White and Blacks alike (i.e. the Black officer that arrives after the burglar escapes from Furious’ house and his negative comments on his so called ‘brothers’) makes anyone living in this condition susceptible to accepting and internalizing the stereotypes placed upon them. I find it hard to make any blunt comment on this film with my lack of knowledge of Black America and the ghetto life. I think this film was good in the sense of exposing the general struggles and problems that adolescences faces while living in the ghetto, (booze, drugs, guns) but for the sake of Hollywood industry and profitability, it was made to please both Black and White. If it was meant to challenge the comfortable level of White Americans, it could’ve depicted conflicts between black and white, what I feel many chooses to ignore on screen.
I definitely noticed the lack of portrayal of Black American Women. The most notable female characters were Tre’s mother, Tre’s girlfriend, and Tre’s friend/neighbor’s mom, however all of them were secondary characters in support of Tre, a Black male, who is the main character. Even character relationships is focused on the father-son relationship rather than the mother-son. The way the male character addresses female using bitches, hos, and whore, is degrading, although the women in the film does not react so, suggesting that it is typical and common in the hood. From the lack of presence of women in gang rivalry, I question how far women are involved in gang problems within the Black American community. The film could’ve definitely done a better job in this aspect, portraying women’s struggle as well as men’s.

Posted by lungx009 at 05:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

a little late--
This film is a picture of a broken system. The Americana most Minnesotans grow up with is consistent; from generation to generation, times changing, but still comfortable. The laws are respected--aside from bending the rules of speed limits or underage drinking--and we have no fear of our neighbors. The film shows a world where the slightest spark-- like bumping into someone--can lead to homicide. The police, ever present with their helicopter lights, only swing by to harass the innocent, and not do a damn thing about the gun violence they know is lurking about. Yet, the unity that Furious wants in order to preserve culture is a far cry from the unity shown during the Watts and Rodney King riots. Those riots were tension-related, as people came together to show their common aggression toward oppressive white society. The movie, then, shows that because of the constant threat of black-on-black violence, the unity of a riot is the closest thing to unity the community will achieve. Whether or not what Furious says is true--that, because of liquor and gun shops on every corner that they whites are trying to get them to kill themselves off--there is a definite vision of necessary escape. Tre's mother gets out of the neighborhood as soon as she is able. Tre and his girlfriend go all the way to Georgia for school. By the end, all of the good characters have moved out or died.

Posted by aretz008 at 12:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the film, Boyz N’ The Hood, Tre’s parents were not married, yet both wanted the best for their son. In the beginning of the film, Tre’s mother sent Tre to live with his father Furious. Tre’s mother did not have the intention of abandoning her son, but felt that Furious could teach his son how to survive and get out of the hood someday. I believe that Tre’s mother did make the right decision when she sent Tre to live with his father. There were certain things that Tre’s mother felt that she could not teach Tre, and living with his father would ultimately benefit Tre when he made a life for himself after getting out of the hood. In a broader sense, this shows us that men are just as capable of raising children as women are. A criticism that comes to mind, however, is that of teaching Tre to be a respectable and street smart individual. In the film, it seemed as if Tre’s father, Furious, was the only one who could teach Tre to be an intelligent black man living in the hood. Tre’s mother was an intelligent woman who had a college education and a drive to give Tre a decent life. There is no reason why she wouldn’t be able to discipline Tre and teach him all of the things that he would need in order to be successful in his life. In Kenneth Chan’s article, he argues that the black man was type-casted as a product of the hood and that black film was merely a Hollywood fad of the 1990s. The portrayal of the black man as a rapper/gangster was simply a popular trend in this time period, according to Chan. Boyz N’ The Hood perpetuated this image with several characters, but broke from the structure with Tre’s parents. Both his mother and father represented strong-willed, intelligent and determined people. In the film, one can see that the stereotype of black males only goes so far in the film. Several males and females break from these stereotypes, including Tre’s parents.

Posted by stap0069 at 11:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

“Boyz in the Hood” was a very realistic eye-opener kind of movie. The film portrayed the difficulties of growing up in the poor parts of Los Angeles from the perspective of a teenage black kid. Throughout the movie there are constant “threats” to the lives of the young black men, such as drugs, alcohol, sex, and violence. They are all stuck in what seems to be a never-ending cycle. There is a constant use of drugs and alcohol that seem to be a prime priority for them. The cycle these kids are stuck in also includes teenage pregnancies and continuous killings back and forth. The movie does a great job of portraying how these black people are suppressed. They are suppressed by all of those around them, but also by themselves. Tre’s father, Furious, explains that there are alcohol and gun stores on every corner for a reason. The reason that “they” want the black people to kill each other and drink themselves to death. It is along the lines of extermination of “problem”, by the problem itself. He also insisted the issue that they needed to keep their neighborhoods completely black. Black people, black money, black houses. Tre and his father appear to be the “strongest” characters in that they do not conform to the accepted way of life of the rest of the black people. Tre represented how hard it was to not live the same life as everyone else. In his attempts to escape from this poor life he avoids all the trouble the rest of his friends are always getting into. His friend Richy was even getting out. He had a scholarship for football and was going to go college. But because someone thought he “looked at them wrong” he ended up being killed too. And there it is again, a single mother with a baby that is going to grow up without a father and most likely fall right into the lifestyle the rest of the kids lead.

Posted by mcgui149 at 11:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The film Boyz 'N The Hood reveals many issues that African American men and women faced during the 1980’s and 90’s. Covering everything from teen-pregnancy to incarceration, drive by shootings, and racial discrimination, Singleton’s film paints a harsh picture of life in the inner-city. Throughout the movie we see the main character Tre’s friends become a product of life in the inner-city while he tries to take his father’s advice and rise above his negative environment. Thinking about his future, Tre sees the mistakes of his friends like “Doughboy” and, up until the last few moments of the movie, stays resistant to pressures around him. However, after his best friends Ricky dies, he falters and turns to violence and revenge on the young men who murdered his friend. Ultimately, he decides not to follow through with his plans to kill; however, Ricky’s brother is on a mission as well and succeeds in killing the three boys. Many feel that Boyz 'N The Hood portrays its character’s lives as meaningless; however, the characters’ messages are strong and truthful, which gives them powerful meaning. One other criticism of the film is its lack of perspective of African American women. I would agree with this statement; however, I feel that the movie does not focus on women because during that time they were not seen as strong or significant by many African American men. While I am positive that women during this time were affected by what was going on around them, they are not given a voice in this film because in reality they did not have one while living in the inner-city. Very little respect was given to them, and the words “bitch”, “ho”, and “whore” were used to put them in their place. We see this throughout the movie with Doughboy and his lack of respect for his mother and other women. Only when boys were taught to respect women are they given power and a voice, like with Tre and his mother and also his girlfriend.

Posted by colb0086 at 11:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The idea of woman's ideas and rights is strongly neglected in this film. The plot line emphasizes on the social struggles of the male character and not of the female. It mainly focuses on the troubles of Ricky and his half brother Doughboy. This film never really attacks the issues of how the female characters feel about there life styles growing up in the hood. Many of the stronger female characters in this film take on the roll of the mother in the family structure. About the problem of the constant use of sexist terms such as "bitch" and "ho", this is an issue that even troubles our culture today. These terms have evolved from simple slang usage to complete derogative sexist terms. Many of the female characters in this film were very accepting of these terms and never really took extreme offense by them. However like I stated before the women who had the much stronger more defining rolls such as the mother figures would never stand for that kind of complete disrespect. If this movie would have been told from the women's perspective, I believe that it would still be very similar to the original. However this film would have a much more of a social equality and women's right feel to it. It wouldn't have focused as much on the struggles of the gang violence or the complete economic pit fall of living in such a bad neighborhood.

Posted by hove0107 at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"[T]he remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren't simply controversial. They weren't simply a religious leader's effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country -- a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America…"
--Barack Obama (March 18, 2008)

The representative sample for this week’s discussion topic “Race, Gender and Cultural Resistance in Film”, Boyz ‘N The Hood (1991), was a powerful “slice of life” film depicting the coming of age a typical black urban male in modern America can expect. John Singleton’s film presents this narrative through the experiences of three main characters, each symbolic of different worldviews through which to deal with the harsh, oppressive reality of growing up in South Central Los Angeles. It is the development of these characters and narrative that Singleton created that meet the requirements of “burden of historical representation” presented in the assigned reading from Jeremy Stoddard and Alan Marcus.

In approaching a given film as an educational tool, as we are for our course, Stoddard and Marcus argue that it necessitates “underrepresented groups be portrayed in a way that allows the viewer to understand their points of view, history and language”, because it has a lasting impact on how people view the world and the groups that are represented, even if they know that the film’s portrayal isn’t accurate” (Stoddard and Marcus 27). All of the other articles that we read this week agree that Boyz ‘N The Hood was a one-of-a-kind film that sparked a new movement in Hollywood films being directed by blacks. In his article, Kenneth Chan identifies this outcrop of such films as “being engineered to appeal to the frustration and rage felt particularly by black males” (Chan 35) through the construction of an identity unfamiliar to most mainstream movie audiences.

Bakari Kitwana explores this construct in further depth in his article and discusses how many films released after Boyz ‘N The Hood focused on, reinforced, and even glorified the nihilistic characteristics of the thug culture, or “America’s nightmare – young, Black, and don’t give a fuck” (Kitwana 131). Although he understands the complex economic and social factors that contribute to the formation of such a character, he also warns that ignoring the socially aware, politically conscious roots of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements of a generation past is not going to stop the cycle of self-destruction and violence that has been holding a culture back from success for far too long.

As Singleton illustrated through the character of Tre Styles, there is an alternative persona for young, black males to adopt that can lead to a way out of the dead-end lifestyle of a gang-banger, drug addict or pimp. As our parent’s generation showed us, change does not occur overnight – it is accomplished one step in front of the other. We cannot give up on what they started, because doing so will only set us further behind on the path to fully realizing the ideals that we aspire to as individuals and as a nation.

Posted by skog0031 at 11:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kitwana stated “contemporary discussion of race in America, locked in a 1960’s-style civil rights time warp, has failed to consider how young Blacks are affected by unique social forces that have created problems different from those of our parent’s generation” (122). Kitwana means that blacks have more opportunity to voices their ideas in many art forms than their parents in the 1960’s. These art forms such as rap music and black films try to portray young Blacks living in America, but their depiction of young Blacks itself creates what it means to be black. The music and the films industries only concern is making money, thus neglecting the negative influence they have on black community. The industries are trying to attract young consumers by “portraying outlandish violence and in the process constructed a young Black thug genre, almost Black parodies of white gangster flicks. (Kitwana, 127) The Boyz in the Hood also deals with violence in urban American where young Blacks have limited options and opportunity to get out of the hood. Young blacks have few positive role models in the media to look up to. The main character Tre had strong positive father who guided him, but others in the same situation who don’t have stable parents to turn to, popular black films and music would play important role. I think Boyz in the Hood is a positive black film that tells a story of hope and personal responsibility in the mix of violence and poverty in urban America.

Posted by mula0013 at 11:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Many reviews or critiques of Boyz in the Hood suggest that it clearly shows the sense of nihilism in black youth culture. I disagree with this statement because I viewed the movie as a message of inspiration and hope for the black people. When Tre went off to live with his father, he and his father still had good morals and values that they abided by even though they lived in a bad neighborhood. They were not corrupted by the violence and the disadvantages that surrounded them. When Tre’s best friend was murdered, Tre was very sad, angry, and frustrated but he did not lose meaning or purpose for his life by going off and committing murder back onto the murderers. Instead the movie ended with him and his girlfriend going off to college. Gates said, “[black people are like] crabs in a barrel. As soon one tries to get up and out, the others reach up and pull him down” (bloodbath 177). This movie offers motivation and inspiration to work and study hard and shows that it is possible to change one’s life around and get out of the situation there in. One might start in the barrel but there is an opening for one to get out. K. Clean said the following about the black people, “crime and street violence are a part of his world, and the way he comes to terms with it frequently determines the path he eventually takes in life” (Clean 45). This film showed that a bad neighborhood could force you toward crime and violence but it is your choice how you respond to it and act on it which in turn decides the path you choose.

Posted by karp0040 at 11:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In claiming that this film represents the ultimate sense of nihilism surrounding black youth culture, it is easy to look at the end results of the main characters lives and make such a judgment. While stereotypical ideas about disadvantaged black youth "wasting their lives" in the hood could be applied, in a way, to characters like Doughboy and his clique who essentially sit around on stoops all day, holler at girls and drink and whatnot, even the most "hopeless" of these characters in the film show hints of a desire for "more" in life as well as a sense of some kind of morality, despite the seeming hopelessness and violent nature of their lives.

Thus, while the film certainly shows the elements of nihilism that exist among some of the people in the neighborhood, it also offers the contrasting examples of people that attempt to do good despite their circumstances and shortcomings, such as Tre or Ricky, and even Doughboy to an extent. (Doughboy for example has a sense of honor about his family and encourages his younger brother to "man up" when it comes to taking care of his own kid.) Singleton clearly shows that even the "wasted lives" of characters who ultimately meet their end, like Ricky, are not without purpose, as they can provide, if nothing else, a cautionary tale.

Despite this being a tragic film with a lot of nasty images and seeming ambivalence about the harsh realities of life in the hood, it ultimately carries a lot of strong messages, be it from Furious' streetcorner proselytizing about making a better black neighborhood, the expressed desires of various characters to go to college, and the like. While many characters might be nihilistic about their lives, the greater message the film imparts is that this way of thinking is neither necessary or present in everyone's outlook on their life. While it would be easy to look at the end result of Ricky or Doughboy's lives and say that they were nihilistic about life and their fates are simply a result of living a purposeless life, their actions throughout the whole film speak differently. Be it pretty upstanding, do-well types like Tre or more flawed characters like Ricky who are still trying to make a better life, the struggles the characters go through in an attempt to break out of their stereotyped or prescribed roles certainlly refute the charge of nihilism.

Posted by woitx002 at 11:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The film "Boys 'n the Hood" seemed to be nihilistic in some aspects and not nihilistic in others. There were a number of shootings and it seemed fairly easy for the characters to pull guns when they got into fights. That kind of shows that there is not a whole lot of value placed on human life. However, the main characters are devestated when Ricky is killed.

Ricky's death seems to strongly affect many of the main characters. Ricky's brother begins to realize how screwed up murder is. And Tre learns a lot about himself. When placed in an ethical dilemma like the one he faced he was able to take the high road and not give in to his temptation to kill out of vengence. In this sense Ricky's life did have a lot of meaning. He wasn't just a guy. It was his life and the way he lived it that made a difference and affected those around him.

Posted by Martine Schroeder at 11:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kitwana talks about the ‘1960’s style time warp’ as the country’s perception of African Americans as those fighting for their rights as American citizens rather than being treated like second class citizens. Society fails to see the true struggles that African Americans go through throughout the United States. Kitwana discusses the problems of their parent’s generation as the civil rights movement and their struggles as the violence and gang activity. The film seems to go along the idea of the problem with gang violence and poverty. The film does not focus on the civil rights movement and the fight for their rights. It focuses on the younger generation and their violence and fight for their lives on the streets in their neighborhoods.
The women portrayed in the film are made out to look like ‘bitches’ whose only job is to raise the kids and look hot. Women, in the film, are seen as second class citizens compared to the men in the film. They are treated like shit and not respected. When the men in the film talk about them they are always talking about getting a piece of ass rather than referring to them as equals and humans too. I had a problem with some of the women because they aloud the men the call them ‘bitches’, ‘ho’s’ and ‘whore’s’. Only a couple of the women stood up for themselves and women in general to say that they were not bitches, but they did not go beyond telling the men once. The men would respond with another derogatory term and the women would cave in because it was a losing cause. The film would have been very different if it was told from a women’s point of view. I think there would have been fewer scenes of violence and more scenes of how the women were treated by their men and the day-to-day themes of their lives in the home.
To say that Boyz ‘N The Hood is a nihilistic film is ridiculous. The film clearly shows how rough life was in L.A., especially in the more poverty stricken parts of the city. The people portrayed in the film had a purpose in live. Not all of them lived to kill each other and have their children repeat the process. A lot of the main characters in the film wanted to be more, but did not have the opportunity. Many were victims of the violence that occurred during that time in that part of the state. All of the character’s lives in the film had meaning. Doughboy was unfortunate to not have a mother or a father that cared enough for him to keep him from making a lot of the mistakes that he made. His mother was more focused on Ricky rather than him. It was not a big surprise that he did not go on to pursue bigger and better things. Tre was fortunate enough to have a mother and a father who cared about his future and life while he was growing up; teaching him important life rules and lessons to live by.
Doughboy and Ricky both contributed to each others lives. Doughboy looked out and stood up for Ricky because, in his heart and mind, he knew that if there was anyone who was going to make something of himself it was going to be Ricky. Ricky had his mother’s blessing and support to do whatever he wanted. Unfortunately, Ricky could not get past his own pride and respect and fell to the violence and gang activity before he could get away from the streets and go to college to get a great education and a possible scholarship to play football.
Tre was faced with an incredible situation when Ricky was gunned down. I, honestly, do not know what I would have done. I have a friend or two that are as close to me as Ricky and Tre were, but I do not know if I could shot or even kill anyone else for killing them. I can not judge anyone else for wanting or feeling like they wanted to kill the person who killed their friend because I have not been in that situation. Tre was extremely brave and courageous for giving into his dad and eventually getting out of the car before Doughboy killed the guys that killed Ricky. I figured that Doughboy and his friends would have gone after and killed the guys that shot Ricky, but I would have been extremely surprised if Tre was with them. From how I can only imagined how I would have felt if I was in this situation, I can somewhat understand how the horrible cycle of violence continues. Tre’s dad Furious talked about all of the liquor and gun shops in the neighborhood, I can see why the violence was so prevalent.

Posted by hanl0083 at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When I looked up the film “Boyz n the Hood” on the Internet Movie Database it showed the tagline to be INCREASE THE PEACE which I don’t believe accurately represented the storyline. For the most part, this posse of ghetto Los Angeles teenagers is looking for the exact opposite of peace. Instead we see them constantly flashing their handguns and swearing at anyone in sight. If the tagline is advertised as such to reflect the views of Furious Styles, Tre’s father, I don’t believe that it was successfully achieved by his character either. Throughout the film Furious preaches to his son and his cronies, about a conspiracy theory. While standing on a corner surrounded by a crowd of black men he asks, “Why is it that there is a gun shop on almost every corner in this community?” and answers his own question by explaining to the eager listeners, “For the same reason that there is a liquor store on almost every corner in the black community. Why? They want us to kill ourselves.” This theory represents that depicted by Kenneth Chan in his article, The Construction of Black Male Identity in Black Action Films of the Nineties. Chan recants a 1990s pole taken by the New York Times/CBS in which it was discovered that “60 percent of blacks in New York believe or at least admit the possibility that the easy accessibility of drugs in poor black communities is part of a government conspiracy” (Chan 36).

Rather than a tagline related to that of universal peace, I think this film successfully promotes finding personal peace. As Furious watches Tre experience perils of the hood, his role as a father is not to baby-step his son through them, but to guide him in the best direction. It is ultimately Tre’s inner strength and belief in right vs. wrong that gets him through hardships. By avoiding a potentially dangerous situation which he knows to be the wrong path of action he is demonstrating a single act of finding personal PEACE.

Posted by weir0041 at 11:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When I looked up the film “Boyz n the Hood” on the Internet Movie Database it showed the tagline to be INCREASE THE PEACE which I don’t believe accurately represented the storyline. For the most part, this posse of ghetto Los Angeles teenagers is looking for the exact opposite of peace. Instead we see them constantly flashing their handguns and swearing at anyone in sight. If the tagline is advertised as such to reflect the views of Furious Styles, Tre’s father, I don’t believe that it was successfully achieved by his character either. Throughout the film Furious preaches to his son and his cronies, about a conspiracy theory. While standing on a corner surrounded by a crowd of black men he asks, “Why is it that there is a gun shop on almost every corner in this community?” and answers his own question by explaining to the eager listeners, “For the same reason that there is a liquor store on almost every corner in the black community. Why? They want us to kill ourselves.” This theory represents that depicted by Kenneth Chan in his article, The Construction of Black Male Identity in Black Action Films of the Nineties. Chan recants a 1990s pole taken by the New York Times/CBS in which it was discovered that “60 percent of blacks in New York believe or at least admit the possibility that the easy accessibility of drugs in poor black communities is part of a government conspiracy” (Chan 36).

Rather than a tagline related to that of universal peace, I think this film successfully promotes finding personal peace. As Furious watches Tre experience perils of the hood, his role as a father is not to baby-step his son through them, but to guide him in the best direction. It is ultimately Tre’s inner strength and belief in right vs. wrong that gets him through hardships. By avoiding a potentially dangerous situation which he knows to be the wrong path of action he is demonstrating a single act of finding personal PEACE.

Posted by weir0041 at 11:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The film Boyz ‘N the Hood was largely male centric. There were few female characters and their portrayal was largely unfavorable. The two mother figures both were shown as somewhat distant, though for different reasons and in different ways. All the neighborhood girls were trashy and one dimensional. Even Tre’s girlfriend was the stereotypical ‘good’ catholic school girl. Rick’s girl was little more than his baby’s momma with virtually no dialogue or personality. They all fell within the simplistic “good/bad dualism” frequently found in Hollywood images of people of color (Chan 37).
They were further marginalized by the constant use of bitch, ho and whore. Most the characters did not even address the labels and the ones that did were not really reflective. Doughboy repeatedly suggested that women were essentially valueless. I think the oppression of women in the community is another facet of what Chan describes as “the unfortunate phenomena of autodestruction” (38). The males are externalizing the repression they feel from society. Essentially, if they are low on the social ladder, they need to make sure someone else is underneath him.
Sadly, if a film was made from the female perspective it would lose its drawing power. They would over sentimentalize the tragedies while cutting down on the violence. It would probably run like a Lifetime Original or some spiritual conversion. However it would not have been too difficult to just flesh out the women in the movie. To give them agency as individuals outside of “wife/girlfriend/mother” would have resulted in a more compelling and less sensational film.

WORKS CITED
Chan, Kenneth. “The Construction of Black Male Identity in Black Action Films of the Nineties” Cinema Journal, Vol. 37, No. 2 (Winter, 1998) pp. 35-48.

Posted by shaw0139 at 11:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As some might have criticized, the film Boyz n The Hood clearly shows the sense of nihilism in black youth culture. I strongly disagree with that. I think the movie does not show any sense of nihilism. The movie gives the audience a sense of how important family, friendship, future are. There are purpose and values that the characters in the movie posses. It shows how crucial it is for the younger generation to have role model, just like Tre has his father as his guidance, teaching him self-discipline and moral of life. I believe that the death of Ricky and Doughboy doesn't make their lives meaningless. Ricky lived his life full of value and ambitions in my opinion. His purpose is to get to college, have a career, raise own family and get out of the mist, of trouble, of shooting and killing. He does have values and moral. It's just too bad that he got killed over some mistakes that his brother made. I think he lived his short life well enough, with love and ambitions. On the other hand, Doughboy was quite different from Ricky. He didn't really have a purpose in mind or any ambitions whatsoever. He was wasting his time drinking, partying and doing nothing. However, I don't see his life as being nihilism. He knows to love his friends and his family, even though most of the time he doesn't act and talk like he does. I wouldn't call his life nihilism, but a mistake. He makes mistakes, big ones. I think the phrase "if only" plays a big part in Doughboy's life and characteristics. If only he didn't get drunk all day, if only he didn't show off his gun on that night with the other gang, if only he didn't fight with Ricky, if only he didn't get revenge for Ricky...if only...The whole thing was a huge mistake. He is a man with love for his brother, for his family, it's just that he doesn't show it well and doesn't do any helpful thing for them. I really believe the actions of the characters refute the charge of nihilism.
At the end of the film, when Tre sees Ricky got shot, and got really angry about the incident. It was all against what his father had taught him all his life. He was supposed to stay out of trouble and he would be okay. Seeing his friend Ricky, a good person, a future college student, got shot for not doing anything wrong, made him question whether what he was taught is true. Ricky didn't do anything wrong, didn't start any fight with anyone, then why did he get killed???? I think ultimately, I would have done what Ricky did. I would forget all the disciplines I was taught for all my life and get revenge. I admire Tre for realizing his mistake before committing it. It was a good decision not to go along and get revenge for Ricky. Violence does turn out to become a cycle. Someone has to think right and stops the cycle, otherwise violence can't ever be stopped.

Posted by truon052 at 11:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I think that traits of nihilism were evident in many characters in the movie, but to say that they didn't care about anything, or didn't see any purpose to life, is definitely not true. Ricky, for example, had ambition, which is shown through his dreams of becoming a football player at USC. He works hard at school, and seems to have his priorities straight, even while having a child. From the beginning of the movie we know that Tre has morals, because his dad stresses them constantly. A good example is when he stops Tre and yells at him when Tre grabs his gun and is about to go out and look for Ricky's killer. Tre seems to be the smartest one of the teenagers. He doesn't go along with Darin when Darin shoots Ricky's killer, which shows that he has at least a healthy amount of common sense. I think Ricky's brother, Darin, does shows traits of nihilism by just drinking on his porch all day, with apparently no ambition whatsoever, and by shooting Ricky's killer, although I guess you can say that that was somewhat justified in a way. The director showed nihilistic traits well in his characters, but his characters weren't totally nihilistic.

Posted by ruppx051 at 11:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The movie Boyz ‘N The Hood is an accurate representation of how upper class America found a way around the civil rights movement. From the start of the movie it is apparent that the setting shows the level of poverty these kids are growing up in. “The man” is holding these members of the black community down. It is shown a few times during the movie. For instance when Furious shoots at the intruder in his house, the black cop suggests that it was a bad thing that he had not shot the “nigger” after showing up an hour after he had called 911. Another instance of this is at the end of the movie when Furious, who I like to refer to as the voice of reason, is explaining to the people how the government is trying to keep them down by putting liquor stores on every corner, by trying to kill them. He is completely right. John Singleton was putting the fact that even 30 years after the civil rights movement the black people of America were still being suppressed out there, “Capitalism, more interestingly described by James Nadell as "racist capitalism" in his essay "Boyz N tlte Hood: A Colonial Analysis," works toward maintaining the socioeconomic status of the rich and suppressing the
attempts of the black underclass to overcome poverty and suffering”(Chan, 37), He is arguing that although the civil rights movement gave afro- Americans the hope of advancing in the capitalist market of the United States and climbing out of the pit of poverty, that their attempts would be unnoticed. It was about the rich getting richer from day one. This movie was excellent at showing how society found a way around going through with the civil rights movement 100%.

Posted by stor0245 at 10:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The movie Boyz ‘N The Hood is an accurate representation of how upper class America found a way around the civil rights movement. From the start of the movie it is apparent that the setting shows the level of poverty these kids are growing up in. “The man” is holding these members of the black community down. It is shown a few times during the movie. For instance when Furious shoots at the intruder in his house, the black cop suggests that it was a bad thing that he had not shot the “nigger” after showing up an hour after he had called 911. Another instance of this is at the end of the movie when Furious, who I like to refer to as the voice of reason, is explaining to the people how the government is trying to keep them down by putting liquor stores on every corner, by trying to kill them. He is completely right. John Singleton was putting the fact that even 30 years after the civil rights movement the black people of America were still being suppressed out there, “Capitalism, more interestingly described by James Nadell as "racist capitalism" in his essay "Boyz N tlte Hood: A Colonial Analysis," works toward maintaining the socioeconomic status of the rich and suppressing the
attempts of the black underclass to overcome poverty and suffering”(Chan, 37), He is arguing that although the civil rights movement gave afro- Americans the hope of advancing in the capitalist market of the United States and climbing out of the pit of poverty, that their attempts would be unnoticed. It was about the rich getting richer from day one. This movie was excellent at showing how society found a way around going through with the civil rights movement 100%.

Posted by stor0245 at 10:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I enjoyed watching this film, it showed the social and economic differences between the black and white culture. The film does ignore the women's perspective. The film portrays women as almost second class citizens. The women are largely ignored and just seen as objects. The society led or influenced women to go against their morals and better judgment by having relations, because they thought that is what they had to do. It was almost like it was expected of them. The women were called "bitch" and "ho" and "whore". These words were extremely offensive names to call a women. But again these names and actions towards women were just accepted as a common natural occurrence. I think the attitude of the film would have been very different if the views of women would have been told. It would have offered a very different opinion on the happenings of that time period. And also would have made it possible to compare and contrast the views of both the men and the women. But either way I eel this was a very informative well done film.

Posted by zabor005 at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It is tough to say whether or not this film can be considered nihilistic. Throughout the movie, it exemplifies many fine examples for either side of the argument. As is the case with many of the movies we watch, the "theme" of the movie can vary greatly depending upon one's interpretation of the events that transpire. My take on this film is that it is a film of prosperity and perseverance, two traits not usually associated with nihilism. John Singleton, the man responsible for the creation of this film, set out with a goal. Boyz 'N the Hood attempts to show that beneath the mass chaos often shown on TV (in the ghettos), there is still some semblance of order, and still a code of ethics and morals that many people choose to live by, regardless of race, religion, or economic status. Tre is a prime example of the effects that solid parenting has upon a child. Ricky is another bright spot in the otherwise bleak and dark neighborhood, as he is trying extremely hard to get into an excellent college, where he can prosper and rise above his miserable home. Clearly, these boys have something to live for, and they have the drive and determination to make it, in the face of prejudice and poverty. These types of uplifting stories would not be found in a movie attempting to portray the nihilism found in ghettos.

Posted by hanse978 at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The black police officer in Boyz 'N The Hood represents the self hatred Kenneth Chan writes about in his article. The officer sees Tre and all the others in "the hood" as what is wrong with their race. They personify the problems of all black people and the officer is taking his rage out on them. By saying that Furious should have killed the burglar because there would be "one less nigger on the street" he is vocalizing his anger with himself.

By contrast Furious calls the police officer "brother" to say that they have to stick together and not turn on each other if they want to better themselves. Furious is proud of being black and knows that the only way to survive is to rise above the negative and not get sucked into the continuous cycle of hatred and violence.

Posted by fran0723 at 10:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

War and violence is a prevalent part of our society. Urban war happens all over America, creating violence between races, genders, and social classes. Boyz in the Hood represents the inner city warring culture of LA. This movie reminded me of my experiences in Newberg, OR. Our town was in the lower economic class and had a lot of hispanic feuds, along with drug problems. The problem of young minorities finding their place in America leads to many issues, usually becoming a problem degrading the community and making things worse for the generations to come. This movie shows how those who can make it out may not be able to do to certain situations, and those who can't make it out make things worse for others. It reminds me of the problems the US had trying to fix poor foreign countries when it has problems on its own soils where these communities are as much foreign as those outside of the US.

Posted by Chris Lewis at 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First of all, let me say this is one heck of a depressing movie. Everything about it is so sad. What the citizens of south central L.A. have to deal with day in and day out, it's ridiculous. Funny thing is, the movie came out how long ago and how many people have seen it, but yet have things changed dramatically?

I definitely agree that the women's perspectives are largely ignored in the film. The one lady who was always asking for crack, is a good example. There was no explanation for how she got where she did in her life, but obviously it was not done by anything good. She must have had bad leadership as a child herself. Now, the lady has children and is making the same mistakes, just to let her children grow up and add to the hell that is the life of the inner city citizens. She doesn't take care of her kids in the way that her two year old can run around unsupervised and end up in the middle of the street. Another great example is Ricky's mother. The way she treated Ricky as a child and the way she treated Doughboy were complete polar opposites. Ricky was treated so well compared to Doughboy. Ricky was the one who was always playing football, giving his mother hope that he would have the ability to leave someday. Doughboy didn't do much of anything as a child and his mother treated him as if he wouldn't amount to anything when he grew up. As children you could already see the difference in the attitudes and actions of the two children. Ricky was always playing football, being the "good" child while Doughboy was talking back to his mother and stealing things, leading him to juvenile detention centers and so forth.

Posted by woehl007 at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Boyz 'N The Hood was an insightful film which showed just how easily things can go on a downward spiral of violence. I don't think it was a nihilistic film, it does not protray the black youth's existence as meaningless and of no value. The film actually goes against that way of thinking by showing the frustration and confusion the main characters feel at times of helplessness. It shows how some get stuck in the old violent drunken patterns of their neighborhood while others strive to break it. There are feelings of hoplessness around their neighborhood because it's as if they have no one to back them up. the police force obviously aren't reliable showing up late if at all and going beyond their authority by belittling innocent men. That is where the reviews of it being a nihilistic film must have came from, the fact that the people of power deem the youth as worthless. The film's protrayal of the cops, however, was far from honorable. They were unfair and unjust people with distorted perceptions of humanity who should not have been given a badge and a gun.
The film personalized the characters, making the audience feel what they felt. There was nothing any one could do when Ricky died, his best friend watched him take the bullets, and his mom and girlfriend watched him bleed to death. There's no way an ambulance would have gotten there in time or that there was a hospital with in close enough vicinity to the shooting. All anyone could do was scream and cry for the loss of their brother, friend, son, boyfriend, and father. Ricky meant so much to those around him, he would have gone on to college and played football, thus defying the pattern of his neighborhood. He had already made a family for himself that he left behind. It shows a violent prone society, one where death is accepted as fate and where the time of death doesn't matter. weeks before doughboy was murdered he told Tre that he accepted it and that "We all go sometime." That way of life is not how it has to be. I recall Furious telling the group of people how there is a liquor and gun store on every corner because "they want us to kill ourselves." He thought it was the whites/governments way of getting rid of the black community. The film personalizes these views of how unfair and unforgiving the urban Los Angeles area was and what a struggle it was for the black youth to get out alive .

Posted by kolsu002 at 10:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In this film there is a lack of consideration for women and how they are portrayed in this film. The treatment of women in the film was rather appalling. The constant use of “bitch” and “ho” when referring to women shows how appalling the treatment was. It was surprising that none of them seemed to take offense to it. The girls just shrugged it off, because it happened all the time. Women in the film were only shown as mothers and hook ups, and they were shown negatively. There were many examples of this. In the beginning of the film when the daughter was across the street, two of the boys were fussing over whose girlfriend she is, one of boys said he “puts his dick in her every night.” Tre’s mother sends him to live with his dad after issues at school. She attempts to get back in his life and neither Tre’s nor his father wanted this to happen. Tre’s had no respect for his mother and even blows off a weekend with her to stay with his “boyz”. Older women in the film are shown as crack heads, or even abusive mothers. In one scene a child is found out on the street and when brought back inside by a male the mother did not seem to care that the child was out on the road almost run over. Kitwana explains, “Parents may not be perfect and at times fit into neat stereotypes (such as welfare mothers), but they hold their families together as best they can” (pp. 125). Women usually stayed out of violence in the film, and wanted their families and children stay out of it as well. Men in the film treated the women as if they were ignorant, and did not listen to the women’s views, even though they would have been better off doing so. The fact that men did not listen to their women’s views emphasizes that women’s perspectives are largely ignored in the film. However with regards to this idea that women’s perspectives were largely ignored in the film, we have to remember the film is called “Boyz n the Hood”. The main characters of the film were males, and the women were not important to the films story line. John Singleton created this film to show the view of drugs and violence within the poor inner city with the use of male characters.
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Posted by campb503 at 10:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kitwana discusses how nihilism “dominates” films such as Boyz ‘N The Hood, but I feel that among all the chaos and hopelessness that is depicted in the film there is underlying motives that would not be considered nihilistic. If Boyz ‘N The Hood was truly nihilistic, then there would be absolutely no morals or values present. Morals, values and beliefs vary from society to society and in this crime stricken neighborhood, which at times, is deduced to basic survival instincts, we see how the ethics change (Kitwana 124). One might claim that the young characters portrayed in the film have no ethics, but I would argue that they have a very strong code of ethics, regardless of how unethical our society would perceive them. One example would be when Doughboy avenges his brother’s death. I believe it was the moral obligation he had to fulfill, this eye for an eye mentality that was present in the youth culture of the film. The police weren’t about to do anything about it, so it was the only way he thought justice could be served. Some truly ethical moments in the film include moments such as, Tre saving the infant from being hit by the oncoming car or Doughboy and Ricky’s mother allowing them to continue living with in her home regardless of their situation which acknowledged the importance of family. There is definitely ethics present throughout the film and therefore I believe this negates Kitwana’s claim that nihilism dominates this film.

Posted by cros0189 at 10:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Boyz N the Hood is not a nihl

Posted by schr0845 at 09:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

“Boyz ‘N The Hood” was, safe to say, different than any movie I have ever seen. It disturbed me to think about the things in this film happening in real life, yet we have learned the plot of Boyz is not all that far from the truth when it comes to Los Angeles and other large cities, in the 80’s and beyond. For example, the nihilistic attitudes of black youth culture is one aspect of popular discussion that was portrayed well by some characters in this film, especially the men that shot Ricky to death. Also, as Kitwana remarks, “you also see a different strain of [nihilism] in Doughboy’s worldview. He’s not so much a rebel without a cause as he is doing what he feels he’s got to do so survive.” That is, sometime Doughboy dishes out the typical nihilistic actions like the stereotypical black youth, but he always seems to know the cost of things in the back of his head, and is willing to accept whatever it is. Tre, on the other hand, is the antithesis of nihilism in this film, a product of his caring father and positive upbringing. Overall, there are some characters that exhibit nihilistic qualities as they are expected, but also a few who refute such behaviors and attitudes.

In the end of the film, we truly see how, as James Nadell puts it, “[t]he raw human tragedy and triumph depicted by Singleton sears and energizes the consciousness of the viewer.” Ricky’s death scene is difficult to watch, and we can feel the hatred for his killers emanating from the eyes of Tre and Doughboy. Doughboy is determined to avenge his brother’s death, as is Tre at first, but then we see the distinction between these two characters when Tre decides not to go along. The vulnerability of the situation feeds Doughboy’s nihilistic attitude, which is why he goes through with murdering his brother’s killer, to whom Ricky’s life was meaningless. It is here where perhaps the “cycle of violence” in this community is slightly better understood to be somewhat of a basic means of survival, unfortunately.

Posted by joh02361 at 09:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I thought this film was one of the better ones seen in the class. It had a much more realistic aspect to it and as everything was put together it came out as a real amazing movie. It does a good job of showing the great gap in the relative standings of the white culture versus the black culture. I have to agree with everyone else in that it portrays women in a much lower position than one would like to see, where it pushes them to lose their virginity and just have children despite their beliefs or religion. There would have been drastic changes had the film had it been told from a different point of view. As sad as their situation may be, it would seem that it has been going on in many places for a long time. In this new age one would have hoped it would have died off. Tre's father had the right view on what was really happening in the advice he had given him.

Posted by leex2727 at 09:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The film “Boyz n the Hood” is meant to be a “slice of life” depicting the hardships facing black adolescents. While the film illuminates the often ignored social and economic problems facing the black community, it nevertheless glorifies the criminal mentality and further exacerbates existing problems facing black youth. Film executives claimed that similar “gangster films” were simply capturing what was going on in the lives of today’s young blacks, yet they failed to take into account the long term ramifications on black youth. In the article “Young, Don’t Give a Fuck, and Black: Black Gangster Films” by Bakari Kitwana, the author states that the “media and entertainment corporations rediscovered Blackness as a commodity.” (123) Just like the blaxploitation movies of the 70s, gangster films were created with only profit in mind, despite what film executives said.

Kitwana states that “contemporary discussion of race in America, locked in a 1960’s-style civil rights time warp, has failed to consider how young Blacks are affected by unique social forces that have created problems different from those of our parent’s generation” (122). Black inner-city youths face pressure not only from coming of age problems, such as sexuality and SATs, but also have to deal with the horrors of violent crime, drug addiction, and poverty. They are forced to grow up quick and ultimately realize that getting out of the hood ultimately rests upon them. Furious shows that having a positive influence can make all the difference, offering fatherly advice such as “Any fool with a dick can make a baby, but only a real man can raise his children.” The morals instilled on Tre by his father undoubtedly have a positive impact, as seen at the end of the movie when he decides to not exact revenge. This act shows a glimmer of sunshine through cloudy skies as Tre realizes that change is possible, but real change first comes from within.

Posted by ande4849 at 09:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)