Boyz N The Hood Film Analysis

The sub genre “Hood Movies” was first introduced in American movies where most of the movies exposed problems with/by/from black protagonists. The movies from this genre are mostly debunkers portraying problems like drug abuse, racial discrimination with blacks, gang rapes, street gangs, hip hop music, Maras, shattered familial problems, illegal immigration, poverty and etc. Most of the films from this genre, typically have a very similar story line like “An urban Black youth facing problems either with poverty or immediate danger in the neighborhood.” This quality present in any movie depicts Hood Films.

Among the numerous movies in this film genre, ‘Boyz N the Hood’ and ‘Menace II Society’ are the two classic movies and are the best examples of Hood Films. Speaking of ‘Menace II Society’, the movie is a directorial debut of Allen Hughes and Albert Hughes which was released in 1993. The movie is a very good example that exposes the city of Los Angeles and its culture. Not only does the city has

good parts of it but there are also numerous other things according to this film.

The central story of this film revolves around violence (mostly use of gun), drug abuse and vulgarity. The movie completely justifies the genre. For example: there are scenes where you can witness that in the very begging itself there is a murder scene; second, Canine’s (played by: Tyrin Turner) absent parents and his whole situation with familial problems; third, Canine’s drug-dealing father Tat (played by: Samuel L. Jackson). The film is not delicate in involving the dots among its anti- heroes’ whose lives are violence- infected and the predominant social causes that produce generations of poverty and violence justifying that the movie belongs to the hood movies genre.

Although the movie depicts the solution of escaping the ‘hood and the cycle of violence’ like the scene where Ronnie (a friend of Caine) visits Caine and tells him that she has found a job at Atlanta and invites him to stay with him but Caine replies back saying that ‘like Atlanta is any different’ which states that, it’s not the state of escaping from the hood but it’s a state that is something more serious.

Serious as in the society that we exist in because it is we who have created this situation by discriminating, showing racism, untouchability, low class, inequality and etc. which, according to this above context, Caine means that his situation is going to be same the everywhere as he is Black. Henceforth, the solution over here is not assimilation but a serious change that is needed to be bought in this society. Although there are numerous other movies depicting the same, there is always the discrimination still that exists in our societies which is the sad

part.