When I was thinking of which films would be the best to represent a life in the inner-city, or best explain how bad the inner-city life is, Boyz n the Hood came straight to my mind. This hood drama written and directed by John Singleton, director. Boyz n the Hood. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 1991. With his passion and love for the ghetto, he was able to bring big stars to the screen such as Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding Jr, and Morris Chestnut plus more. Singleton put his past experiences and emotions into this film. In 1986 he initially wrote and developed this film as requirement application for film school. He later sold the Boyz n the Hood script to Colombia Pictures in 1990. In the film Tre Styles lives with his single mother in Inglewood, an inner-city in Los Angeles California, he grew up with his brother Doughboy who was a gang member, and Ricky. In this film Singleton tries to show us the harsh realities that these teenagers must endure from the time they are born to when they are old enough to understand that sadly life in the inner-city is no place to grow up in. Ricky is a smart, intelligent student athlete who has plenty of DI offers but who later gets shot for wearing the wrong colors at the wrong time at the wrong place. His brother Doughboy shows retaliation and kills the opposite rival gang members. Throughout the film there are small symbolism’s within the movie, the main characters always asking themselves the same plaintively question, why does America not care about the life of the inner-city kids.? As a kid who not only grew up in the inner-city dirt streets of Guatemala but lived three summers in East Los Angeles California always questioned why there was no structure like the nice neighborhoods, or the nice cities, the nice schools. The film represents strong emotions on the lifestyle that these teenagers still go through, this evokes sympathy and empathy throughout the film. Within the film, Singleton gives us plenty of examples in the film on how harsh these places are. In the film many of these examples are things that he went through and things he had to endure with the law. Boyz n the Hood is in my eyes the best representation on the sorrowfulness of not only the inner-cities being left out, but their people, most importantly the kids, nobody is more affected than kids themselves and change needs to happen.
Singleton, John, director. Boyz n the Hood. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 1991.