Boyz n the Hood - Eric Nelson
What Kitwana means by, “a 1960’s-style civil rights time warp,� is that young blacks are still fighting for their rights just as their parents did before them. However, the fights they are fighting for are different from their parents. They are not fighting for their civil rights, but rather their right to exercise these rights and come up in the world. This is especially apparent in Boyz 'N the Hood through the characters of Tre, Ricky, and Doughboy. Tre is fighting for his rights because although he is from the hood, he is still intelligent and success bound, while Ricky is college bound despite his teenage father status. Doughboy is the most interesting solider in the film because he fights to stay alive and live his life.
I agree that the role of women was largely ignored, but traces of it still existed in Tre’s girlfriend, Ricky’s baby’s mother, and Ricky’s mother. We briefly view the difficulty of being a single mother and the decisions teenage girls must make. The constant verbal degradation of women is exactly that degradation, but it does help the movie stay true to life because, sadly, those words are commonly used to describe women.
Boyz in the Hood is the exact opposite of a nihilistic film because of the struggles and hardships overcome by Tre. It is not about the boyz existence being meaningless, but rather to show how it is wasted. They could accomplish greatness if they were allowed the chance to live, but most of them end up dying.
In Tre’s position, I would have done the opposite of what he did because I don’t think that lowlife thugs should get away with murdering a decent young man who was my friend. I was a little disappointed that he didn’t go because he disrespected his homie by letting those guys get away with murder. I can easily understand the cycle of violence because bloodshed will always lead to more bloodshed, and if one person won’t do it, then another will, because the need for revenge and love for your family and friends are both strong feeling that cannot be disregarded.