Boys N the Hood



1 in 21 black male may be killed during his teen age. The hood life. What is it like? Full of danger and fear. Shootings every single night wake you up and you cannot get back to bed. You are afraid, what if the next person to be shot may be you?


We have just finished watching the movie Boys N the Hood which is a great example of the hood movies, a special genre in the cinema culture which appeared in the United States. The movie has a number of sociological issues within it and, personally, I enjoyed it. It is a great dramatic story, based on the real life of the hoods in Los Angeles and, this way, in any hood either. The film brings up the questions of violence, relationships, drugs, education, family life and responsibility.


For example, at the very beginning of the movie, the main character Tre, being a boy back in 1984, appears to live with his single mother, far from his dad, and to be a bully at the school. Then his Mom sends him to his Dad, saying to his father that only a man can bring up a real man, and that is why Tre should live and grow up with him. So, now Tre gets into the real life of the hood, Crenshaw . He meets his old fellow friends here,  Darrin "Doughboy" Baker, hated by his own mother for some reasons, and his "spoiled" brother Ricky, who is treated well. As a result, 7 years later we can see how the lives of the heroes have changed. Darrin is tough and street-smart and just got out of jail for some deal again, while Ricky, being a successful football player in HS, has a family already and a child, and is going to enter a college and win a scholarship. He needs to get the SAT score of 700, so they take the test with Tre.


Tre has become a responsible man. He is mature, and knows what the life in a hood means: looking in the eyes of the death. No one is secure here: the war between the 2 major gang always goes on, Crips and Bloods never stop it. So, once Ricky gets into a conflict with the guys from the other gang and starts shooting in the air. The enemy runs away, being kind of ashamed and embarrassed, and preparing for the revenge. All in all, one day he finds Ricky, on the day he gets his test results. Ricky goes to a store with Tre and gets shot by his old enemy. He dies right on the arms of Tre, Darrin doesn't get enough time to come and save his brother, so they decide to take a blood revenge. Tre is angry, he goes together with his bros, though even his dad doesn't let him. However, on the way to the place of destination, Tre asks Darrin to let him out. I guess, he is thinking of his life, his love, plans for the future, and his dad. About the responsibility. So, he quits, but Darrin with his friends goes and kills the murderers of his own brother. By the way, Ricky got enough SAT scores to pass, 710... The next day, Darrin talks to Tre and Tre tells Darrin that he lost his brother, but  he has another one, and here he is, Tre. 14 days later, Darrin gets shot.


All in all, this story is based on the real life. The hoods still exist, and they are the same hazardous. People in there have to live in fear and are still brought up in the rules and "laws" of the hood. So, this seems to be an endless circle. But, who knows...