Summary And Analysis Of The Film Boyz N The Hood

Up until the early 1990s, the decline of inner-city U. S was not noticed widely by the U. S public. Netherless, the increase in adoration of cultural rap and the release of films like Reservoir Dogs and Menace II Society emphasized the social awareness towards the lower socioeconomic areas. Boyz N the Hood, directed by John Singleton, became vastly accepted as the most significant films regarding inner-city young youth. Despite race, age, or sex the movie’s powerful imagery enthralled many audiences across the nation.

At the beginning of the film, we notice Tre’s teacher asked him to teach the class and as Tre walked to the map he pointed at Africa. Tre asked the students if they knew what Africa was. Tre mentioned how in some shape or form we all come from Africa. Tre cleary disapproved with his teacher's way of teaching because it focused on the necessities of the European people. Tre did not agree with this form of educational system because this view on history impacts other parts of the world negatively. Tre was symbolically trying to demonstrate that Eurocentric educational teaching system does not focus on the needs of other countries, which is why it is a biased approach to looking into history. The saddest thing to encounter is a teacher trying to teach young black children Eurocentric curriculum and then looking cross-eyed and calling them incompetent they don't connect to the material, I believe this is a prime example of students not being able to connect to their educational curriculum.

At the beginning of the film, there were drawings on the wall made by the children. The drawings on the wall enhanced the notion of disconnection between the children and the educational curriculum. There was a drawing on the wall that showed helicopters flying over neighborhoods, this was the “norm” to many of the children. Tre had a negative encounter with another student which is what prompted Tre’s teacher to call his mother. The teacher called Tre’s mother and made various assumptions about Tre’s lifestyle. Tre’s teacher mentioned how Tre was having some behavioral issues. The teacher also made assumed that Tre did not come from an educated family. The teacher assumed that Tre’s mother must have been impoverished and uneducated. Tre’s teacher also assumed that Tre did not have a father figure in his life. I think it is vital to take note of the language the teacher used. While Tre was describing Native Americans, she accidentally referred to Native Americans as “Indians”. Tre’s teacher referring to the Native’s as “Indian” showed her implicit biases towards a specific group of people. Tre ended up getting suspended from school after the altercation that he had at school and Reva (Tre’s Mother) was very upset and felt helpless. I believe Reva wanted to send Tre with his father because she did not think that her parenting skills were working.

The movie “Boyz n the Hood” did not portray women in the best light, especially the Mothers. Most of the young men in the film had difficult relationships with their mothers. I believe Tre’s mom was just as capable of raising Tre as his father Furious Styles was, but the confidence that Styles had in his parenting is what helped Tre. Furious Styles engraved many lessons onto Tre, but at the same time, he was not a helicopter parent. Since Furious Styles was not overbearing with Tre, Tre was able to make the right decision because of his autonomy over his actions. Throughout the film, it was evident that there were many gun store and liquor stores. Ricky and Doughboy’s mother had a substance abuse issue. It was clear that many of the individuals in the community turned to alcohol to sort of escape the harsh realities of their lives. All the families in the “Boyz n the Hood” film came from a single-parent household. The film depicts the struggles of single-parent households. Often time what we see in single-parent households is one parent struggling to make ends meet. As seen in the film we did notice coercive mobility issues.

A lot of the struggle faced by the families in “Boyz n the Hood” was due to fathers being incarcerated. When you take a major source of income away from a young child they will try to find survival and stability elsewhere. I believe that the most toxic family relationship was between Doughboy and his mother. Doughboy was always put last when it came to his mother. The relationship between Doughboy and his brother Ricky was very complex. Ricky was viewed as the golden child whereas Doughboy was viewed as the broken/deviant child. Ricky Doughboy’s relationship between his mother was very toxic and broken. Throughout the film, it became obvious that doughboys mother had a favorite child. Ricky was the favorite child and that was a major factor as to why Doughboy had behavioral problems. Ricky was a child that has conventional intelligence, whereas Doughboy had more of the common sense of intelligence.

I believe one of the most interesting relationships in the family was the relationship between Ricky and his mother. Throughout the film there was lot of pressure that was put onto Ricky to get his family out of the impoverished area that they lived in. I also think it is important to take note of the fact that Ricky was a father and Doughboy was not a father. I believe that when someone has a child of their own it does change their aspirations and motivations in life. I think that Ricky wanted the best for his kid which is why he tried so hard in school and with sports. Ricky in many shapes and forms reminds me of Furious Styles. Both Furious Styles and Ricky had a child at a very young age. I think football was an escape for Ricky because it was something that he had control over. Ricky was second-guessing himself about his SAT scores. At one point in the film Ricky saw an Army flyer, he saw this as an option to survive. I think a part of Ricky was always on the hunt for something to make his life better, whether that he the Army or football. Ricky nor his brother had control over their socioeconomic status as children. I Doughboy had little confidence in his abilities to succeed because at such a very young age he was arrested. Doughboy might have felt that his chances in being successful were already determined by the mistakes he made as a child. These children were barely surviving which is why it makes sense that they resulted in other forms of survival.

There was a part in the film where Doughboy and Ricky get into a physical altercation. The most interesting yet sad part about the fight was when the mother of both Doughboy and Ricky realized that they were fighting, she automatically assumed that Doughboy started it. The way Ricky and Doughboy’s mother broke up the fight was by slapping Doughboy in the face. Shortly after slapping Doughboy in the face, the mother made sure that Ricky was ok. Most children who are fatherless have a higher chance of engaging in violent activity because of the lack of structure from their parents. The existence of a father is vital in order for a child to prosper educationally and mentally. It is proven that 'Children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit a crime; nine times more likely to drop out of schools and 20 times more likely to end up in prison. ' This statistic is unfortunately proven by Doughboy. Doughboy was raised in a household where his mother viewed him as a burden and even blamed him for his brother’s death. Instead of getting an education and finding a healthy outlook escape from his reality, we see that Doughboy was allowing himself to be controlled by his unfortunate surroundings.

Doughboy did not believe in his intellectual abilities so he left school and starting abusing substances. Doughboy’s reaction to his environment is an example of a person being a mirror of their troubled environment.