Group Presentation

1. Paulina Johnson
(historical context for the film)
Boys n The Hood was produced in South Central Los Angeles in 1991. During this time, racial tensions were accelerated due to controversy surrounding an African-American man named Rodney King. Rodney King was speeding on the 210 freeway and was pulled over by police, however they determined that he was resisting arrest, so they shot King with a Taser gun and continued to kick him and beat him with their police batons. The police officers who were convicted for the abuse were released, which caused an outrage among the Los Angeles community and spurned racially fueled riots in the city. These riots, which occurred during the Spring of 1992, were so heated that the United States National Guard, Army, and Marines had to intervene. Fifty-three people died, and there were thousands of people who had been injured. The Los Angeles Riots had many other underlying causes. One of these was the mass unemployment at the time, which led to a huge economic gap in Los Angeles. This growing economic gap increased the tension between the poverty-ridden people in South Central and the wealthier people in other parts of Los Angeles.

2. Marjorie Roesser
(How can this movie be seen as a reaction to those events?)
The movie Boyz N the Hood, which was released in the summer of 1991, can be seen as a reaction to these events. The storyline for the movie is centered around three African American males, Tre, Doughboy, and Ricky, who grow up in South Central Los Angeles. Tre is a senior in high school who wants to go to college, Ricky is a football player being recruited by top schools, and Doughboy is a drug dealer in a gang. As the story follows the lives of these three young men it gives insights into the racial disparity and gang violence in South Central Los Angeles. This movie can be seen as a reaction to the events that were occurring in South Central Los Angeles at the time because it gives insights into the racial injustices and gang violence that were occurring at the time. The movie gives its viewers a better idea of how such riots could begin and what it was like to grow up in South Central. The movie is able to show the tension that existed between races and the lifestyle in Los Angeles that led to such violent acts in the riots of 1991. In addition, Boyz in the Hood, explores the ideas of revenge and the seemingly endless string of violence that exists in South Central. So, Boyz in the Hood is seen as a reaction to the events in Los Angeles at the time because it was able to give insight into racial tensions and gang violence and give viewers a broader understanding of the lifestyle in South Central that could lead to events such as the Los Angeles Riots.

3. Kristine Busa
(Why is this movie seen as an important film at the time, especially with regard to race? gender?)
“The Boyz N the Hood” has seen as important movie because it reflects the events that happened in the real world at that time when the movie was shot. Movie was produced in 1991, it was the time when being African-American was really difficult because people needed to fight for their lives. For example, in the movie they talk about how the society wants to kill the black community by opening many liquor and gun stores around the region. Movie reflects the crime that was happening in South Central in Los Angeles; that was: sell and use of drugs, sex and gangster violence. All of these crimes were like “cycle of violence” that was going on in South Central; characters from the movie try to fight with it. They talk about how army is not for black people, but at the same time one of the characters decides that it is really good opportunity to get scholarship if he joins the army. Males are being masculine and strong , but females are being independent by raising their children alone. In some scenes, women are humiliated; as it can been seen in the scene when women intervene in males talk, she is called a “bitch”. Black people are trying to do their best to get out of the misfortune circle; if they manage to raise their children in a way that will open up a future opportunities. The poor families push their children to work hard, to do everything they could do to get into the colleges with scholarships. The main idea of the movie is to show the world real life actions that people experience every day; people are suppose to fight with those actions and not give up their dreams to become better; it is shown in the result of the movie because the director of the movie was nominated for Best Director and first African-American to be nominated for the award.

4. Ashley Edman
(history of South Central Los Angeles)
South Central Los Angeles is an area with a history of violence with its street crime. When people would attempt to move away from the crime and violence of the city, changes in the demography of the city would occur. In the late 1980s, Hispanic immigrants from Mexico and Central America came to live in Los Angeles. However, prior to the 1990s, South Central LA was populated mostly by blacks as it had the biggest African American population in the Western U.S. Many blacks came to Los Angeles looking for jobs during the Great Depression and wound up in a place that was becoming very overpopulated. In the 1950s, a lot of racial violence occurred between whites and blacks. Over the decades, as the poverty and unemployment levels rose in South Central Los Angeles, so did the amount of violence and crime as well as gangs, two of which being the Crips and the Bloods. In the 1980s, the gangs became much more powerful from money they acquired from trading drugs. The hostile relations between the black and Hispanic gangs instilled more gang violence in the city in the 1990s.

5. Yik Ki Cheung
(background info on John Singleton)
Son of mortgage broker Danny Singleton and pharmaceutical company sales executive Sheila Ward and raised in separate households by his unmarried parents, John Singleton attended the Filmic Writing Program at USC after graduating from high school in 1986. While studying there, he won three writing awards from the university, which lead to a contract with Creative Artists Agency during his sophomore year. Columbia Pictures bought his script for Boyz n the Hood (1991) and budgeted it at $7 million. Singleton notes that much of the story comes from his own experiences in South Central LA and credits his parents with keeping him off the street.
There is a quote from the interview that James W. Powell interviewing John Singleton:
JWP: I watched the film last night for the first time in about eight years. It seems to me that, unlike some of the other movies that came out in the late 80s, early 90s, it's aged really well. What do you think made it so powerful that it could age like that?
JS: I have no idea. I just think that the film has a kind of an emotional resonance with the audience because it's so personal. It was made from a personal standpoint. It's like, it wasn't so much of a manufactured thing. It was something that came straight from the heart.(http://www.dvdtalk.com/johnsingletoninterview.html)