Boyz In the Hood

“Boyz in the Hood”

 

John Singleton's portrayal of social problems in inner-city Los Angeles takes the form of a tale of three friends growing up together 'in the 'hood.' Half-brothers Doughboy and Ricky Baker are foils for each other's personality, presenting very different approaches to the tough lives they face. Ricky is the 'All-American' athlete, looking to win a football scholarship to USC and seeks salvation through sports, while 'Dough' succumbs to the violence, alcohol, and crime surrounding him in his environment, but maintains a strong sense of pride and code of honor.

 

 

The story consists of life in South Central Los Angeles, following the fortunes or otherwise of a group of young blacks. Struggling to escape the violence and drugs, some of them opt for education, pinning their hopes on college, others are caught up in the violence that is endemic to the neighborhood. The story begins with young black youth growing up in a poverty-enriched neighborhood. The only routes and means to survive are to become acclimated to the streets. The audience witnesses how racism, indifference, rampant violence, and the increasing disintegration of the Black family in South Central Los Angeles militate against the coming of age of these three black males in this film. One of the vexing structural elements in the film that one of the Black males has to combat is a Eurocentric school curriculum. 

 

Moreover, one of the most damaging structural elements in the film is the Black family itself.  The film exposes an increasing dissolution of the Black family in South Central Los Angeles.  The most troubling way in which the film illuminates this is in how Brenda (Ricky & Doughboy’s Mom) feels it necessary to favor her younger son Ricky over her older son Doughboy, because the economic structure dominating her family’s situation compels her to favor him.  For Brenda, Ricky, who is a star student-athlete with great potential to not only become a superstar college student-athlete, but also professional athlete, is her family’s only hope of moving into a more favorable position within the capitalist economic system.  The audience witnesses how the lack of meaningful economic and social opportunities for Black families in South Central Los Angeles conjoined with an absent father forces Brenda to not only confine in her children, but also to reify them: Darrin becomes her “waste” and Ricky becomes her financial investment.

 

The larger significance of this film is it demonstrates how the current economic structure, capitalism, in America is harmful to most people, especially for Black people living in impoverished conditions. Majority of families lack the firm father figure in the household and thus creates the dominance and authority within a young black male. Also, the lack of money in households as well as the community limits the amount of extra-curricular activities that can be held to keep the young males off of the streets. Gangs, violence, and crime corrupts many black males in cities with poverty.

http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/calcultures/ethnic_groups/subtopic1b.html

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/report/2010/01/15/7131/the-state-of-minorities-in-the-economy/