Research a historical text that you can use to compare with your contemporary one (that is the main focus of your study). By 'historical' it is meant anything pre-1990 but the 40s, 50s, 60s or even 70s might be more fruitful because they pre-date many of the important changes that have occurred recently (such as the gains for women as a result of feminism). The purpose here is to be able to demonstrate how society has changed over the years and how these changes are reflected in different media texts.
Boyz n the Hood is an Oscar-nominated 1991 film directed by John Singleton. Starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Regina King, Nia Long, and Morris Chestnut, the film depicts life in crime-ridden South Central (now South) Los Angeles, California, and was filmed and released shortly before the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. It was nominated for both Best Director and Original Screenplay during the 1991 Academy Awards, making John Singleton the youngest person ever nominated for Best Director and the first African-American to be nominated for the award.
In 2002, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. This film ranked number eight on Entertainment Weekly's list of the Fifty Best High School Movies.
Plot summary
The story begins in 1984 with 10-year-old Tre Styles and three other youths heading to school, during which they come across a crime scene. At school, Tre misbehaves and receives a three-day suspension after fighting with a classmate. In a phone conversation Tre's mother, Reva (Angela Bassett), seems angry at the white schoolteacher on the telephone yet is also tired of Tre's disobedience. She decides to send him back to the Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles to live with his father, Jason "Furious" Styles (Laurence Fishburne). Furious instructs Tre on his household responsibilities, which include cleaning and taking care of the house. Although these tasks seem unfair and harsh to Tre, Furious explains that learning responsibility will make Tre a man and keep him from ending up dead or in jail. During his first night in his new home, Tre has his first experience with gunfire.
The next day Tre meets up with three old friends, half brothers Ricky and Darin (nicknamed Doughboy) and a boy named Chris (nicknamed Lil' Chris); Doughboy and Ricky live with their unmarried mother. The boys walk along train tracks to the site of a dead body, and are then harassed by a gang of teenagers who steal Ricky's football. Doughboy picks a fight with an older, stronger boy to try and get his brother's ball back; he ends up getting backhanded in the face and kicked in the stomach. The ball is returned to Ricky through the philanthropic actions of another older boy, a rare act of kindness between strangers in the film.
Furious, who appears to be the only father present in the neighborhood, takes Tre on a fishing trip, where he warns him about unprotected sex and instructs him to use condoms. The pair then returns to Crenshaw, where a handcuffed Doughboy and Chris are being led by police officers into a squad car for stealing, and later put in juvenile hall.
Seven years pass, and it's 1991. At a welcome home party at the Baker home, Doughboy (now played by Ice Cube) has just been released from prison. He sits at a table playing dominos with Chris (now confined in a wheelchair), Dookie, and Monster. Ricky (Morris Chestnut) mans the grill and holds his newborn baby son — Ricky's girlfriend Shanice (Alysia Rogers) and son live at home with his mother, Brenda (Tyra Ferrell). Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.) arrives at the party and is greeted by Brenda, who asks him to pass his responsible behavior to Doughboy. Tre tries to talk to his girlfriend Brandi (Nia Long) but he becomes nervous and she leaves in a huff.
A college USC recruiter visits Ricky one night for an interview; Brenda kicks Doughboy and his friends out onto the porch where they discuss college and girls. Meanwhile, the recruiter promises Ricky a berth at USC if he earns a minimum SAT score of 700.
Ricky struggles during the test, looking to Tre for help, and seems unsure of passing. Later that day, Tre and Ricky visit Furious at his job. Furious drives the boys to Compton and lectures them and a group of Compton citizens on gentrification, explaining how violence and drugs divide the black community by decreasing property values, allowing real estate companies to buy the land cheaply from black residents and sell it at a profit to developers. The influx of white investment money raises property values and taxes, pushing out the remaining old residents in the process. Furious tells the crowd that the rest of the nation will not help the urban poor because they are not personally affected by the violence -- the blacks must rely on themselves to end the cycle of violence plaguing the neighborhoods.
That night in Crenshaw Ricky is provoked by Ferris, a local gang leader, and Doughboy pulls out his pistol to defend his brother and the scene degenerates into gunfire, though nobody is hurt. While speeding away from the scene, Tre and Ricky are pulled over by the LAPD. One officer is the same officer who had responded to Furious's emergency burglary call in 1984. He is a hateful African-American cop who, fully enjoying the power his badge allows him, shoves a gun in Tre's face and asks him what he will do about it. On the verge of tears Tre arrives late to Brandi's house; later that night they sleep together.
The next day, Ricky, annoyed when his girlfriend tells him to go get a box of cornmeal, gets into a fight with Doughboy. Brenda rushes to Ricky's aid while neglecting Doughboy, even slapping him, further amplifying that she values Ricky and his impending scholarship more than Doughboy. (At this time, Ricky's SAT scores are delivered by a sunglasses-wearing mailman, but we do not see the results until later.) Ricky and Tre head to the grocery store, but they are spotted by Ferris and his gang. In an attempt to escape, Ricky and Tre split up. As Ferris and his crew drive around to catch the two, they drive by Ricky's and Doughboy's house- where Doughboy realizes they are after someone. Then he remembers the incident between Ferris and his brother and rushes to his car with Dookie, Monster, and Lil Chris behind him in an attempt to get to Ricky and Tre before Ferris does. However, Ferris and his crew spot Ricky alone walking towards them with his head down. After walking towards the car not paying attention Ricky then tries to run in the opposite direction. A man rolls down the window and shoots Ricky in the leg and abdomen, killing him. He dies in Tre's arms while Doughboy, Monster, Chris and Dookie arrive at the scene too late. His body is taken home by Doughboy and his crew. Brenda becomes hysterical upon seeing Ricky's body and immediately blames Doughboy, who tries to comfort her but is rebuffed. Later on that night Brenda sobs over Ricky's test results; he earned a 710, just enough to qualify for the scholarship.
Doughboy, Dookie, Monster, and Tre vow revenge on the enemy gang; Tre tells Doughboy to meet him at his house in five minutes. Furious comes home to find Tre covered in Ricky's blood and holding his .357 Magnum pistol, seemingly ready to go shoot someone. He convinces Tre to put the weapon down but Tre escapes out his bedroom window to join Doughboy and the gang as they drive off in search for the killers in Doughboy's low-rider. That night as they are driving around, Tre changes his mind and decides to leave, getting out of the car; Doughboy accepts Tre's decision quietly. Later the gang finds Ricky's murderers and Monster guns them down drive-by style with an AK-47. Doughboy gets out of the car and shoots one of the injured gang members in the back, killing him. As a wounded Ferris begs for his life and screams that he wasn't personally responsible for Ricky's murder, Doughboy pauses for a moment before shooting him. Monster and Dookie proceed to shout at Doughboy telling him to hurry up in case police arrive. Tre, meanwhile, returns home where he and Furious exchange a quiet look. Saying nothing, Furious leaves the room.
The next morning Doughboy tells Tre that he understands Tre's decision to leave the car before the shooting, and that he knows he might be killed soon. Doughboy seems to have changed, realizing that his drug dealing and crime played a part in the ongoing violence in the ghetto; nevertheless, he recognizes that Ricky's death was senseless even in the context of their world. He also seems resigned to his fate and despondent about the overall situation in the neighborhood and his perception of societal indifference, stating "either they don't know, don't show, or don't care about what's goin' on in the hood." Before the credits roll it is mentioned that Doughboy is murdered two weeks after Ricky's funeral, and that both Tre and Brandi go on to college, "across the way" from one another at Morehouse College and Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.
ThEmEs!
One theme is the benefit of a strong father figure on young black males. As Furious tells Tre: "Any fool with a dick can make a baby, but only a real man can raise his children". Of Tre, Ricky, and Doughboy, only Tre's father is present in his everyday life (Ricky and Doughboy, though brothers, have different fathers). He leads a very different life than his two friends because of his father's guidance. His decisions, especially not to partake in the revenge of Ricky's death, happen because of the morals instilled in him.
The film also deals largely with the seemingly unstoppable violence that plagues urban life. It is set in South Central Los Angeles, where Tre's father owns a house. The neighborhood is a violent one; the sounds of shootings and patrolling helicopters are heard often and even something as common as a passing car can mean death. The police that patrol the neighborhood seem indifferent to the notion of preventing crime. Early in the film Furious frightens off a would-be thief with the pistol he keeps in a night table next to his bed. The police, arriving an hour after Furious' call, do not seem concerned about the effect of the crime on the people they are supposed to protect. Additionally, the African American officer possesses a combative personality and has a tense exchange with Furious about the proper execution of his job. (As a teenager, Tre is pulled over by the same policeman while fleeing gunfire on Crenshaw Avenue and the officer threatens him with his pistol, an act of police misconduct. This officer was based on a black officer encountered by John Singleton while growing up in South Central Los Angeles.) The officer's remarks to Tre's father at the beginning of the film (the officer wishes Furious's shot would've killed the man) show a belief that law enforcement is lazy and corrupt.
Tre also grapples with the moral implications of teenage sexuality. As a young man, and due no doubt to peer pressure, it is important to lose one's virginity. Tre's girlfriend, Brandi, has strongly resisted Tre's demands to have sex with her, mostly due to her own beliefs as a Catholic. It is clear that Tre has no wish to follow the path of Ricky, who fathered a son with his own girlfriend. Additionally, Tre's father gives him a tough lecture on the responsibilities and perils of becoming sexually active after Tre tells him a fabricated story about his first instance of sexual intercourse. The conversation arose from an off-handed remark by Tre about his future children, which causes some anxiety in his father who does not want to become a grandfather in his mid-30s.
The main theme in the movie is to "increase the peace" and is shown at the closing credits, as well as being hinted in the beginning segment when the audience is presented with a "STOP" sign.
Other themes present but not covered as extensively include gentrification of poor neighborhoods, drug abuse, sexual promiscuity, equality in college admission, and cultural bias in standardized testing.
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