BOYZ N THE HOOD

'''Boyz n the Hood''' is an Oscar-nominated 1991 film directed by John Singleton. Starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Regina King, Nia Long, and Morris Chestnut, the film depicts life in crime-ridden South Central (now South) Los Angeles, California, and was filmed and released shortly before the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. It was nominated for both Best Director and Original Screenplay during the 1991 Academy Awards, making John Singleton the youngest person ever nominated for Best Director and the first (and only) African-American to be nominated for the award.
In 2002, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.[1] This film ranked number eight on ''Entertainment Weekly's list of the Fifty Best High School Movies.
The film's title is taken from the name of an N.W.A. song, "Boyz-n-the-Hood", written by Ice Cube and performed by Eazy-E.

Contents

Cast

Plot summary

Themes

Reception

Awards

Soundtrack

External links

Cast

★ Laurence Fishburne — Jason "Furious" Styles

★ Cuba Gooding Jr. — Tré Styles

★ Ice Cube — Darin "Doughboy" Baker

★ Morris Chestnut — Ricky Baker

★ Nia Long — Brandi

★ Angela Bassett — Reva Devereaux

★ Tyra Ferrell — Brenda Baker

★ Dedrick D. Gobert — Dooky

★ Regi Green - Chris

★ Baldwin C. Sykes — Monster

★ Regina King — Shalika

★ Lexie Bigham — Mad Dog

★ Vonte Sweet - Rick Rock

★ Desi Hines - Tre age 10

★ Baha Jackson - Doughboy age 10

★ Kenneth A Brown - Lil Chris

Plot summary

The story then begins in 1984 with 10-year-old Tre Styles and three other youths heading to school, during which they come across a crime scene. At school, Tre misbehaves and receives a three-day suspension after fighting with a classmate.In a phone conversation Tre's mother, Reva (Angela Bassett), seems angry at the white schoolteacher on the telephone yet is also tired of Tre's disobedience. She decides to send him to the Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles, where his father, Jason "Furious" Styles (Laurence Fishburne) lives. Furious instructs him on his household responsibilities, which include cleaning and taking care of the house. Although these tasks seem unfair and harsh, Furious explains that learning responsibility will make Tre a man and keep him from ending up dead or in jail. During his first night in his new home, Tre has his first experience with gunfire.
The next day Tre meets up with three old friends, brothers Ricky and Darin (nicknamed Doughboy) from across the street and a boy named Chris (nicknamed Lil' Chris). Doughboy and Ricky are half brothers from two different fathers; they live with their unmarried mother in a small house. Ricky is naive and trusting, Doughboy aggressive and street smart. The boys walk along train tracks to the site of a dead body, they are then harassed by a gang of teenagers who steal Ricky's football. Doughboy picks a fight with an older, stronger boy (Vonte Sweet); he ends up getting backhanded in the face and kicked in the stomach. The ball is returned to Ricky through the philanthropic actions of another older boy, a rare act of kindness between strangers in the film.
Furious, who appears to be the only father present in the neighborhood, takes Tre on a fishing trip, where he warns him about unprotected sex and instructs him to use condoms. The pair then returns to Crenshaw, where a handcuffed Doughboy and Chris, who himself was not handcuffed, are being led by police officers into a squad car — they’ve been caught stealing, and are ostensibly headed to juvenile hall.
The story jumps ahead seven years. A party is in full swing at the Baker home, Doughboy (now played by Ice Cube) has just been released from prison, he sits at a table playing dominos with his friends, Chris (now confined in a wheelchair), Dookie, and Monster. Ricky (Morris Chestnut) mans the grill and holds his newborn baby son — Ricky's girlfriend and son live at home with him and his mother Brenda (Tyra Ferrell). Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.) arrives at the party and is greeted by Brenda, who asks him to try to pass some of his responsible behavior to Doughboy. We learn that Tre holds a steady job and has stayed away from pushing drugs. Tre tries to talk to his girlfriend Brandi (Nia Long) but he becomes nervous and she leaves in a huff.
Furious and Tre then have another conversation about sex; this time Tre boasts he had unprotected sex with a girl while her mother was at church. The story is pure fantasy, Tre is still a virgin, but Furious does not know this; far from being impressed he berates his son for not using protection. A montage of scenes follows where we learn more about each of the main characters. Ricky is a star running back for Crenshaw High and hopes to earn a full ride to college; Doughboy, a highschool dropout, spends most of his time hanging around the neighborhood drinking and dealing drugs; Tre hopes to attend college on academics as does Brandi, whose sexual abstinence is part of her Catholic faith.
A college recruiter from USC visits Ricky one night for an interview; Brenda kicks Doughboy and his friends out onto the porch where they discuss first college, then girls. Meanwhile, the recruiter promises Ricky a berth at USC if he earns a minimum SAT score of 700.
Ricky struggles during the test, looking often at Tre for help, and seems unsure of passing. Later that day, Furious tells the boys that the English section of the test is culturally biased and only the math is fair (later on in the film we see Ricky’s test results — he scores 110 points higher on the math to highlight this point.) Furious drives the boys to Compton and lectures them and a group of Compton citizens on gentrification, explaining how violence and drug use divide the black community by decreasing property values, allowing real estate companies to buy the land cheaply from black residents and sell it at a profit to developers. The influx of white investment money raises property values and taxes, pushing out the remaining old residents in the process. Furious tells the crowd that the rest of the nation will not help the urban poor because they are not personally affected by the violence -- the blacks must themselves end the cycle of murder and violence plaguing the neighborhoods.
That night while hanging out on Chrenshaw Blvd., Ricky is provoked by Ferris, a local gang leader, Doughboy pulls out his pistol to defend his brother and the scene degenerates into gunfire, though nobody is hurt. While speeding away from the scene, Tre and Ricky are pulled over by the LAPD. One officer is the same officer who had responded to Furious's emergency burglary call seven years earlier. He is a hateful African-American cop who, fully enjoying the power his badge allows him, shoves a gun in Tre's face and asks him what he will do about it. On the verge of tears Tre arrives late to Brandi's house; later that night they lose their virginity together.
The next day, Ricky, annoyed when his girlfriend tells him to go get a box of cornmeal, provokes a fight with Doughboy. Brenda rushes to Ricky's aid while neglecting Doughboy, even slapping him, further amplifying that she values Ricky and his impending scholarship more than Doughboy. [At this time unknow to everyone Ricky's SAT scores are delivered.] Most viewers see Doughboy more sympathetically by this point in the film; he seems well read from his stay in prison (although he voices his ideas using curse words and street tongue) and only acts the way he does both because he has been neglected and to stand up for his brother and himself against the harsh realities of urban life. Ricky and Tre head to the grocery store, but on the way back are spotted by Ferris and his gang. In an attempt to escape Ricky and Tre split up. As Ferris and his crew drives around to catch the two they spot Ricky alone walking towards them with his head down. After walking towards the car not paying attention Ricky then tries to run in the opposite direction. A man rolls down the window and shoots at Ricky and he is killed instantly from shots in the leg and abdomen. He dies in Tre's arms while Doughboy, Monster, Chris and Dookie arrive at the scene only to find out that Ricky is dead. His body is taken home by Doughboy and his crew. Brenda immediately blames Doughboy, who tries to comfort her but is rebuffed (he also tries to remove Ricky's son, who is also Doughboy's nephew, from the room where his father lies dead, with Ricky's girlfriend refusing to give the baby to Doughboy). Later on that night Brenda sobs over Ricky's test results, he earned a 710, just enough to qualify for the scholarship.
Doughboy, Dooky, Monster, and Tre vow revenge on the enemy gang; Furious finds Tre holding his .357 Magnum pistol, seemingly ready to go shoot someone. He convinces Tre to put the weapon down but Tre escapes out his bedroom window to join Doughboy and the gang as they search for the killers in Doughboy's low-rider. That night Tre decides to part ways with the gang, he gets out of the car. Doughboy accepts Tre's decision quietly, as if he expects it. Later that night the gang finds Ricky's murderers and Monster guns them down drive-by style with an AK-47 in an empty parking lot. Doughboy shoots one of the injured gang members in the back, killing him. As a wounded Ferris begs for his life and screams that he wasn't personally responsible for Ricky's murder, Doughboy pauses for a moment before shooting his adversary in the head. Monster and Dookie proceed to shout at Doughboy telling him to hurry up in case police arrive.
The next day Doughboy explains to Tre that he has no hard feelings about Tre's decision to leave the car before the shooting; and that he knows he might be killed soon. Doughboy seems to have changed, realizing that his drug dealing and crime played a part in the ongoing violence in the ghetto; nevertheless, he recognizes that Ricky's death was senseless even in the context of their world. He also seems resigned to his fate and despondent about the overall situation in the neighborhood and his perception of societal indifference, stating "either they don't know, don't show, or don't care about what's goin on in the hood." Before the credits roll it is mentioned that Doughboy is murdered two weeks after Ricky's funeral, but that both Tre and Brandi go on to college, "across the way" from one another at Morehouse College and Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.

Themes

One theme is the benefit of a strong father figure on young black males. As Furious tells Tre: "Any fool with a dick can make a baby, but only a real man can raise his children". Of Tre, Ricky, and Doughboy, only Tre's father is present in his everyday life (Ricky and Doughboy, though brothers, have different fathers). He leads a very different life than his two friends because of his father's guidance. His decisions, especially not to partake in the revenge of Ricky's death, happen because of the morals instilled in him.
The film also deals largely with the seemingly unstoppable violence that plagues urban life. It is set in South Central Los Angeles, where Tre's father owns a house. The neighborhood is a violent one; the sounds of shootings and patrolling helicopters are heard often and even something as common as a passing car can mean death. The police that patrol the neighborhood seem indifferent to the notion of preventing crime. Early in the film Furious frightens off a would-be thief with the pistol he keeps in a night table next to his bed. The police, arriving an hour after Furious' call, do not seem concerned about the effect of the crime on the people they are supposed to protect. Additionally, the African American officer possesses a combative personality and has a tense exchange with Furious about the proper execution of his job. (As a teenager, Tre is pulled over by the same policeman while fleeing gunfire on Crenshaw Avenue and the officer threatens him with his pistol, an act of police misconduct. This officer was based on a black officer encountered by John Singleton while growing up in South Central Los Angeles.) The officer's remarks to Tre's father at the beginning of the film (the officer wishes Furious's shot would've killed the man) show a belief that law enforcement is lazy and corrupt. Perhaps the lack of police justice is one reason for the climactic scene at the end of the film with Doughboy and Ferris. Doughboy hesitates before killing the gang leader. However, he knows that justice will not be served unless he takes matters into his own hands.
Tre also grapples with the moral implications of teenage sexuality. As a young man, and due no doubt to peer pressure, it is important to lose one's virginity. Tre's girlfriend, Brandi, has strongly resisted Tre's demands to have sex with her, mostly due to her own beliefs as a Catholic. It is clear that Tre has no wish to follow the path of Ricky, who fathered a son with his own girlfriend. Additionally, Tre's father gives him a tough lecture on the responsibilities and perils of becoming sexually active after Tre tells him a fabricated story about his first instance of sexual intercourse. The conversation arose from an off-handed remark by Tre about his future children, which causes some anxiety in his father who does not want to become a grandfather in his mid-30s.
Other themes present but not covered as extensively include gentrification of poor neighborhoods, drug abuse, assault weapons, sexual promiscuity, equality in college admission, and cultural bias in standardized testing.

Reception

As of September 08 2007, Boyz n the Hood has a 100% rating on the tomatometer on RottenTomatoes.com (35 positive reviews)[2].

Awards

Academy Awards 1992

★ Nominee, Best Director, John Singleton

★ Nominee, Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, John Singleton
BMI Film Music Award 1992

★ Winner, Stanley Clarke
Image Award 1993

★ Winner, Outstanding Motion Picture, ''Boyz n the Hood''
MTV Movie Award 1992

★ Nominee, Best Movie, ''Boyz n the Hood''

★ Winner, Best New Filmmaker, John Singleton
National Film Preservation Board, USA 2002

★ National Film Registry, ''Boyz n the Hood''
New York Film Critics Circle Award 1991

★ Winner, Best New Director, John Singleton
Political Film Society, USA 1992

★ Winner, PFS Award, Peace

★ Nominee, PFS Award, Exposé

★ Nominee, PFS Award, Human Rights
Writers Guild of America, USA 1992

★ Nominee, WGA Award (Screen), Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, John Singleton]
Young Artist Awards 1992

★ Winner, Young Artist Award, Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture

Soundtrack

The following is the track list to the almost completely hip hop exclusive soundtrack to ''Boyz n the Hood''. Notable tracks include "Every Single Weekend," Kam's first appearance on record and "How to Survive in South Central," an Ice Cube song that later appeared on the remastered version of ''Death Certificate''.
# "How to Survive in South Central" by Ice Cube
# "Jusk Ask Me Too" by Tevin Campbell & Chubb Rock
# "Mama Don't Take No Mess" by Yo-Yo
# "Growin' Up in the Hood" by Compton's Most Wanted
# "Just a Friendly Game of Baseball (Remix)" by Main Source
# "Me and You" by Tony! Toni! Toné!
# "Work It Out" by Monie Love
# "Every Single Weekend" by Kam
# "Too Young" by High-Five
# "Hangin' Out" by Two Live Crew
# "It's Your Life" by Too $hort
# "Spirit (Does Anybody Care?)" by Force One Network
# "Setembro (Brazilian Wedding Song)" by Quincy Jones
# "Black on Black Crime" by Stanley Clarke

External links

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