FREE ESSAY ON MOVIES ABOUT "GHETTO"

MOVIES ABOUT "GHETTO"

I have elected to take a closer look at movies that deal with the "ghetto" social
institution. There have been several movies that attempt to depict the harshness of
growing up in predominantly black urban neighborhoods. The three films that I have
selected are what I believe to be the top three films in this genre. They are "Boyz N Da
Hood," "Menace to Society," and "Juice." All of these films try to send a message about
what it is like to live in "da hood."
The first film, Boyz N Da Hood marked the directorial debut of John Singleton, a gifted
director. It seems as if he put his heart into making this film. There would be mixed
emotions from many people about this film, but specifically you knew Singleton was trying
to send a message about the low points, not really all points, of what went down in South
Central back in the day. 
It starts off with elementary kids going to school, and encountering a dead body in an
alleyway. Already you're somewhat shocked they aren't crying for mommy or anything. This
is different from Bel Air, though. The main character in the story Tre, gets into a fight
and is sent home. According to a deal he made with his mom(Angela Bassett), if he got in
one more fight, he has to go live with his pop(Lawrence Fishburne.)
His father lives elsewhere in south central. On his first day there Tre has to rake the
lawn. He has friends, his best friend Dough Boy (Ice Cube), and Dough's brother Chris.
Dough tries to pick a fight with some big guy and gets whooped. Later that day Tre and
his dad go fishing, talk about how Tre has to try to get out of the hood, do his best to
be the best he can. They come back home and Dough Boy gets arrested.
We flash a few years ahead, Tre(Cuba Gooding Jr.) is now a senior, he's best friend's
with Dough's brother now. Dough Boy(Ice Cube) has just been released from prison. Tre is
doing pretty good at school, has a girlfriend(Nia Long), and a nice car. Dough boy's an
afro centric gangbanger, drinking 40's on the porch all day. Chris is a star football
player with good chances of making it to the pros. They all try to get girls, drive their
'whips' down to Crenshaw and chill, and talk on the stoop. Things start coming to a
boiling point, as a problem with Chris and a clique of Bloods heats up, Tre is becoming
suppressed by the forces around him, and Dough maintains staying around trouble, banging
and talking trash at Crenshaw. It comes to a predictable, yet heart felt ending.
This film did bring a truth about why it's different living in the ghetto. From the jheri
curls and Raiders cap Dough had, hanging out on Crenshaw, Fishburne's theory of why there
are no businesses in Compton (which is the white people put liquor stores on every corner
so the people in the neighborhood so they become alcoholics), and the music, it
represented nicely. Ice Cube had a brilliant performance, probably his best. Fishburne
also did wonderful acting as the father who did his best to keep his son from dying on
the streets. Singleton's images on how blacks are living, his cinematography, is all
excellent. 
Although it did bring a pretty negative image of the inner city, Boyz N Da Hood does
bring a close, in depth look at what it's like. Unlike the Hip Hop flicks of today that
are all excuses to put out good soundtracks with big name artists this wasn't as shallow
as what followed it. It gave everyone who saw it something to think about.
There was a period during the early to mid 90's when black movie makers were making films
that displayed the destructive mentality being bred by poverty and overtly disparate
social conditions in low income black neighborhoods. This trend was set by the huge
success of Boys 'N' the Hood which subsequent similar movies tried to mimic.
In a few cases their attempt to make America aware of something it turns its eyes away
from, was successful. In others, what comes through is an action movie glorifying
gangsters, drug dealers and murderers. Even with all of the small messages thrown into
these movies for good measure, the hype and commercialization of the ghetto lifestyle is
the main focus.
In the midst of the rash of these sorts of films, Menace II Society stands out simply
because of quality and realism. The scene set in the Watts district of Los Angeles is
pretty close to home as far as character and mannerisms. The two main characters Loc Dog
and Cain pretty much accurately portray what you would expect of teenage knuckle heads
influenced by hardcore gangsters a generation ahead of them. 
Loc Dog struts around in tank tops and Khakis with his boxer shorts sticking out the
back, a menacing furrowed brown and braids hanging in his face to further alienate his
persona. Cain follows him around, wanting to be bad but with an apparent sense of whets
right and wrong, hoping his foolish friend won't pull him too far over the edge.
They get into a lot of trouble (the way they do in all of these types of movies) and the
movie ends with the required shocker that meets the standard prerequisite for a movie
about the hood. Even though I think this movie adheres to a few over used stereotypes, it
was one of the first to use them and definitely well done.
Unfortunately in this world of rabid commercialism and the over all rule of monetary
gain, the recipe for a good, informative movie can not be complete without a generous
seasoning of sensationalism. These movies sometimes spend far too much time entertaining
than informing and enlightening. Flashy cars, guns, promiscuous women, drugs, robberies
etc. These sorts of things are made to look cool with wild camera angles, music and
imagery while it is also supposedly being frowned upon in the same movie. In other words,
the very same movie that is apparently making you aware of these societal detriments is
glorifying them in order to keep you watching. 
So what you come away with is an ambiguous lesson and a romantic, starry eyed view of how
cool it is to be a gangster, riding in crome plated rims with a nine in yo' waist and one
of yo' bitches in the passenger seat.
Back in the early 1980's there was a lot of emphasis on young African-Americans in their
teenage years. A lot of this emphasis was based on crime, house parties, sex, drugs and
living in terrible urban public project dwellings. The definition of this is in this
movie. Juice, is one of the best movies ever made. It was wonderfully written and
brilliant.
This movie is mainly about four African-American teenage males living in an urban
Brooklyn area and they are faced with the dilemma that most young minorities have to face
today and that is growing up too fast. Juice, is about teenagers that are trying to earn
respect by doing the wrong thing. When one does wrong it goes back and haunts all of
them. 
The late and great Tupac Shakur give a great performance on playing a character known as
Bishop. He is faced with decisions of trying to survive on the mean streets of Brooklyn.
Omar Epps plays Q, an aspiring disc jockey that always tries to do the right thing, but
he gets caught up in the politics of hanging out with a crew. Khalil Khan plays Raheem
who is the leader of the group and wants always make sure that the group does right, but
he gets caught up as well. The format of the movie changes as the element of guns enter
the picture.
All these movies did a wonderful job depicting life in the urban neighborhoods of the two
biggest cities in the United States. Although, like I mentioned before, all the films
glorified the flashy cars and the robberies, while they were trying to say it was wrong,
I don't feel people are going to watch these movies and go out and do the crime. After
all, movies for the Silver Screen are made to make money, and unfortunately our society
is drawn to the flashiness of the horrors of society. But overall, all the movies moved
me in some way, and the all ended with the main characters coming to a realization that
everything they did was wrong.