Boyz n the Hood Reviews

An excellent coming-of-age drama that’s also 1 of the best in Black Cinema.

one of those movies you just love so much yet only a short amount of reasons why.

Boyz 'N the hood is a thoroughly fascinating and deeper look at life in Los Angeles around the early 1980s to early 1990s.

The film has a certain aged charm about it; and with actors you'd easily recognise today looking very different in 1991, this adds to the feeling.

top 10!! movie so good my 2 year old daughter enjoys it

I love movies that the first half are the characters when they are younger and the second half is them older! This is a very important message and very necessary, especially in the 90s but also now, they still aren’t making as much movies about this experience.

Sad ending but still holds up. 7/10

“RICKY”

‏مرة رائع

8/10

🔥

incredible, a must watch

🌑

I didn’t think I’d have the stomach to watch this with it being kinda close to home, but I’m glad I did. This movie was absolutely fantastic to me. And one my future kids will be watching.

So sad but im
Happy he at least got revenge

5👀/5

Great movie

Perfect depiction of the viscous cycle of violence that robs so many young black men of the opportunity to live the life they deserved.

10/10

Shaping the future in the ghetto
An insight of “Boys in the Hood”

Relevancy….

Sometimes in life, many overlook the realities that exist in communities shaped by struggles. Not out of malice, but out of distance. Out of not having to see it every day. But there are certain truths, certain patterns, that never seem to fade, no matter how much time passes.

Now when I watch John Singleton’s “Boys in the hood”, I find myself reflecting on how, even in every generation, whether they realize it or not, plays a role in shaping the future.

Now from the very first moment I popped in the 4k UHD copy of “Boyz in the hood” from Criterion, the first lines in the film spoke a terrifying but relevant truth.

“One out of every twenty-one Black American males will be murdered in their Lifetime”
“Most will die at the hands of another Black Male.”

Seeing these lines on the screen at that moment brought about the realization that there is really no buildup, no transition. Just the truth of reality. It’s a signal that shows the need to not be watched, but understood.

After the opening fades away, my thoughts bring about the possibility of a meaning that doesn’t entirely present itself as unavoidable. Instead, it shows the difference between the individuals who are guided, and those who are left to navigate the world alone.

Through the upbringing that Tre holds onto, we see what it means to be taught,disciplined, corrected, and most importantly; understood. Fishburne's character Furious Styles doesn’t simply raise his son; he prepares him in the best way possible. He gives him the tools to think, to question, and to survive.

But unfortunately, not everyone is given that same foundation.

For other individuals, the teacher ends up being the very environment the individual becomes present in. And unlike the potential of guidance, the environment doesn’t correct, it instead reacts. It doesn’t nurture, it hardens. In that type of space, survival isn’t something you’re taught…. It’s something you’re forced to figure out on your own.

When I look at this main distinction, it becomes even more powerful when i reflect through Tre and Doughboy.

They both grow up in the same neighborhood. They use the same streets, they both accumulate the same pressures, the same realities unfold around them. When looking at the surface, their lives begin in the same exact place.

Though there is one main difference.

Tre is guided, and at the center of that guidance is Furious styles.

There is structure that becomes present in his life, even when he resists it. Furious as a figure doesn’t simply just protect him, he challenges him, disciplines him, and most importantly, teaches him how to think beyond what may be present directly right in front of him. I think because of this, Tre learns to pause in those moments, to question, and to step back before making decisions that could define his future.

Doughboy, on the other hand, unfortunately grows up without that exact same presence.

And when someone like Furious becomes absent, the environment begins to take its place.

Tre and Doughboy become different in what is corrected and conditioned. Tre is taught restraint, Doughboy though is surrounded by reaction. His understanding of the world doesn’t become shaped through guidance, but through repetition,violence, loss, and the unfortunate realization of both.

But what makes this kind of contrast so difficult to sit with is that Doughboy in many ways isn’t unaware. He completely understands what’s happening around him and sees it more clearly than anyone else.

But understanding something and being able to escape it are two entirely different things.

In the end, Tre reflects what guidance, through someone like Furious styles, can build, while Doughboy reflects what can happen when the guidance is absent; not the lack of awareness, but a lack of opportunity to become anything else

And maybe that is where the weight of the film truly rests.

Because when John Simpleton presents Boy’s in the Hood, it simply doesn’t just show us what is, it quietly asks what could be different. It reminds us that the future isn’t shaped by chance alone, but by the presence of those who are willing to guide, to teach, and to stand as examples in places where that guidance is truly missing.

If one generation has the ability to influence the next, then the responsibility doesn’t disappear when the film ends, it carries beyond that moment.

And perhaps that’s why its final message feels less like a conclusion, and more like a call.

“Increase the Peace”