How to survive in South Central (what you do?)
A place where bustin a cap is fundamental
No, you can't find the shit in a handbook
Take a close look, at a rap crook
Rule number one: get yourself a gun
A nine in your ass'll be fine
Keep it in your glove comparment cause jackers (yo) they love to start shit
Now if you're white you can trust the police but if you're black they ain't nothin but beasts
Watch out for the kill
Don't make a false move and keep your hands on the steering wheel and don't get smart
Answer all questions, and that's your first lesson on stayin alive
In South Central, yeah, that's how you survive

- Ice Cube aka Doughboy on "How To Survive in South Central"

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I watched Boyz in The Hood last Sunday, having not ever watched the whole film in its entirety. This movie is a classic, revolving around a young group of men trying to make it in South Central, LA. An area later becoming famous for the Rodney King beatdown and the ensuing LA riots. The story depicts a world which many people rarely see nor hear or want to know about - the themes of gang violence, police brutality, the poverty cycle, the constant 5-0 presence in the hood, and drugs.

The actors and the characters they play are one of the reasons this movie is mad. Tre, played by Cuba Gooding Jnr is a young man growing up fast. Kicked out by his mother for being violent in school, he's given to his Dad to learn the lessons of life. You see that Tre's on the path to getting out of the hood - he's got the good moral grounding from father, hard work ethic instilled from working a job and got something to work towards, a college education. He's level headed, smart, savvy and the ladies love him.

On the other hand, you've got the two brothers, Doughboy (played by Ice Cube) and Ricky (Morris Chestnut). Without the strong father presence in his life, Doughboy succums to life on the street, becoming hard and going in and out of prison like its the supermarket. Quick to temper and with whipping out his gun, he sees violence as first resort to solving problems. Ricky who is father whilst still in high school, with his love for football might have a chance with a football scholarship as his ticket out of the hood.

One of the key themes in the story is gang violence and the cycle of revenge. When one is threatened, one cannot retreat. To them, especially Dough it was about his manhood. And this is what leads to the problems. A single incident leads to a "Yo we got a problem here?" to flashing out the gat, gun violence, and then tragedy as Ricky becomes another victim of drive by shooting.

To me the saddest moment was not when Ricky was gunned down but straight after the shooting. Before they even start to grieve, Tre quietly whispers to Doughboy "meet me in 5 mins" and storms off to his house to grab his gun, pushing away his screaming girlfriend, intent on blasting those fools away. Tre was going to throw away everything he and his father had worked for - to get out of the hood. I could feel myself shedding a tear for Tre cause he was reverting back to the gangster mentality. And that was one of the turning points in the movie, when the future got thrown out the window, when the lessons his father had preached to him since day 1 didn't mean squat.

I give this movie A DJ HO 9/10 rating. It's quality and a must see if you haven't seen it already. As Ice Cube says in the movie, you've got news media showing stories of foreign wars and people dying in other countries, but what about the stories in their own backyard - of young black men dying by the hands of each other?. Boyz in the Hood presents a poignant look at the life in the hood and the problems plaguing black America.
a dj ho production