Boyz N' The Hood--Jesse Stapp
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.