Menace II Society

Menace II Society is a 1993 American film and the directorial debut of twin brothers Allen and Albert Hughes. The film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival and was released in the United States on May 28, 1993. The film gained notoriety for its frequent scenes of violence and crude language. Despite mixed reviews, however, Menace II Society was critically acclaimed for its gritty portrayal of urban violence and its powerful underlying messages.

The film takes place in Watts, a high crime district of Los Angeles, California, and follows the life of 18-year-old Caine "Kaydee" Lawson during a long summer after his high school graduation. Although he is a drug-dealer, Caine has a number of redeeming qualities; he lives with his loving grandparents, and with his recently completed high school education, has a number of doors open to him. He financially and emotionally supports a close female friend who is a single mother. Most of Caine's friends - in particular, the homicidally trigger-happy Kevin ("O-Dog") - all seem to be heading towards either jail or an early grave, and are threatening to take Caine with them.

The movie begins as a flustered Caine and his friend, O-Dog, flee the scene after a liquor store robbery. They are in the store to buy malt liquor before going to a party. The Korean shopkeeper and his wife are watching them with apparent unease. O-Dog is verbally abusive of the Korean couple and they demand he and Caine leave. The shopkeeper's parting comment about feeling sorry for O-Dog's mother causes O-Dog to shoot the man, killing him, and also his wife as a witness. O-Dog takes money from the cash register and steals the surveillance videotape. (He later watches it repeatedly, seemingly proud of his actions. He also doesn't hesitate to show it to his friends, ignoring Caine's warnings that it will get them both into trouble.)

In a flashback the audience learns that several years before the start of film, the drug epidemic has hit the Watts District hard, and Caine's father, Tat Lawson (Samuel L. Jackson), has made this his main source of income by selling heroin. His mother (Khandi Alexander), a heroin addict, is strung out most of the time, so a young Caine has no one to take care of him and is left to fend for himself in an unforgiving world of drugs, guns, and violence. Caine is given a handle on this form of societal decay by the ubiquitous Pernell, who becomes in a way Caine's "street" father, a replacement for his "real" father, who was killed during a drug deal when he was 10. It also is stated that his mother died of a drug overdose.

Years later, with Pernell in jail and his parents gone, Caine lives with his grandparents in Jordan Downs. He has just graduated from high school and is the proud recipient of a diploma. To celebrate, he and his cousin Harold head off to a party. The celebration quickly turns ugly as Harold (Saafir) and Caine are caught off guard ("caught slippin'") and are both shot during a carjacking for their car, a BMW. Fortunately, Caine is only shot in his shoulder, which causes him to go into shock. Harold isn't so lucky; a bullet enters his brain, killing him.
After receiving treatment for the shoulder injury, Caine is granted permission to go home. He is picked up by Ronnie, the ex-girlfriend and mother of Pernell's five-year-old son, Anthony, a boy who often reminds Caine of how he used to be when he was much younger. Caine develops a bond with the young child, forming a father-son relationship with him, much like the one he had with Pernell years before. This relationship - Caine, Ronnie, and Anthony - shows us a different side to our rather unconventional hero.

As the summer drags on, Caine becomes implicated in two additional murders, grand theft auto, and the acquisition of stolen goods: a registered car, rims, and jewelry that he robs from another youth. He's also learned that cops can be as "hard" as he can, but what sets them apart from him is that they have badges and guns, where he only has a gun. Caine winds up in the hospital after experiencing police brutality. Ronnie visits him during his recovery process, but with more on her mind than just a simple meet-up. She is worried about Caine, and would be less concerned if he were to come with her and Anthony to Atlanta, where she plans to work. She leaves him alone to think about her offer, and Caine reminisces on all that has happened to him, all that he's done, and all the things he'd ultimately end up doing if he stayed.

With Pernell's encouragement, Caine decides to go with Anthony and his mother. In the final scenes of the movie we see the gang, even O-Dog, taking Caine's belongings out of the rooms and into the van outside Ronnie's house. It's a beautiful day outside, the ice cream truck is making its rounds, and Anthony's trying out the new big wheel Caine just bought him. However, earlier in the film Caine had allegedly impregnated a girl named Ilena, and Ilena's cousin, angry from a beating by Caine over Caine's refusal to acknowledge his responsibility, drives past the house. As Caine and his friends are about to leave, Ilena's cousin and his buddies perform a drive-by shooting. Caine and Sharif are shot, Sharif dying instantly. Caine uses his body to protect Anthony from the bullets, and Caine dies in Stacey's arms.

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While the movie was seen by fans as a gritty portrayal of urban strife, many critics of the movie felt that it actually glamorized the lifestyle.[citation needed] This was the exact opposite of what the directors had intended when making the movie. This movie, along with popular debut albums from Eazy-E and Compton's Most Wanted, helped to popularize the thug lifestyle idolized by a subset of Californian black youths in the early nineties.

The movie was largely successful due to the brilliant and realistic dialogue. It was also one of the first movies to use the regional slang and dialect of urban blacks in Los Angeles as opposed to the New York black slang and accent that dominated most of urban media. The film has also become known for its frequent crude and profane language. For example, the word "fuck" and it's derivatives are used 300 times in this 97-minute film[1]. There have been many references to the movie in pop culture. The most recent example is The Boondocks a japanese anime-influenced cartoon series written by Aaron McGruder currently airing on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. The show has incorporated quotes from the movie into the dialogue of the character voiced by Samuel L. Jackson, in addition to that there is a parody of the interrogation scene in the the 3rd episode of the second season of The Boondocks entitled Thank You for Not Snitching. Also, on T.I.'s song King of da South from Trap Muzik he says "I've been a menace to society (since when) since Menace II Society." Another is on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, where on the Girls, Girls, Girls remix in the final track he says: "For now I get around, like the late Makaveli on Pirelli twenty inches, or Caine and O-Dog's stick-up tape from Menace." In another Jay-Z song, "Money, Cash, Hoes (Remix)" in Memphis Bleeks' verse he says "Wanna be a menace so you got Caine in you, I put them thangs in you". In the song "High All the Time", 50 Cent raps about being a role model where he says "sippin' Guinness watching Menace and Oh Lord, have a young nigga buckin shit like he O-Dog." Similarly in "New York", The Game raps "it's the sequel to Menace and Oh Lord he done went O-Dog". Also in The Alchemist Hold You Down (The Alchemist song) on Prodigy verse he says When it comes to teks, I'm similar to a menace,Like Ol' Dog sniffin caine couldn't fuck with the damage .In Jim Jones video for his song "Certified Gangstas", he and rapper The Game have an exact word for word conversation with the Asian owners of a liquor store, just as O-Dog and Caine in the first scene in the movie.