Line #68 Film/DontBeAMenaceToSouthCentralWhileDrinkingYourJuiceInTheHood


1	[[quoteright:533:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ezgif_2_721f706233.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:533:''Finally, the movie that proves [[Film/PoeticJustice Justice isn't always Poetic]], [[Film/JungleFever Jungle Fever]] isn't always pretty and [[Film/HigherLearning Higher Learning]] [[TakeThat can be a waste of time.]]'']]
3
4	->''"One out of every ten black males will be forced to sit through at least one 'Growing Up in the Hood' Movie in their lifetime. [[DeathByIrony At least one out of five will be shot in the theater while watching the movie.]]"''
5
6
7	''Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood'' (or ''Don't Be A Menace'' for short) is a 1996 Wayans Brothers {{parody}} of [[HoodFilm "growing up in the hood" movies]], particularly, as the name suggests, ''Film/MenaceIISociety'', ''Film/SouthCentral'', ''Film/{{Juice}}'', and ''Film/BoyzNTheHood''. It takes every trope those movies were known for and [[PlayingWithATrope turns them upside down]].
8
9	Ashtray (Creator/ShawnWayans) is left by his mother to live with his estranged father (who is somehow very similar in age to him) in the hood, with [[ComingOfAgeStory the intentionally weak explanation that he needs to learn how to be a man.]] While hanging out with his crazy cousin Loc Dog and their friends, he quickly gets caught up in violence and crime. He also falls in love with Dashiki, a promiscuous woman with 7 kids, which draws the attention of her AmbiguouslyGay ex-con boyfriend, Toothpick.
10
11	!!Works parodied:
12	* ''Film/BoyzNTheHood''
13	* ''Film/DeadPresidents''
14	* ''Film/{{Friday}}''
15	* ''Film/HigherLearning''
16	* ''Film/{{Juice}}''
17	* ''Film/MenaceIISociety''
18	* ''Film/SouthCentral''
19	* ''Film/PoeticJustice''
20
21	----
22	!!This film provides examples of:
23
24	* AbhorrentAdmirer:
25	** During sex with his girlfriend, Ashtray meets her aged, overweight mom, who tells her daughter to "hold him down and let Mama have him!" He immediately [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere beats a hasty retreat]].
26	** Later, Loc Dog and a pretty girl named [=LaQuanda=] flirt for a little while. While talking, she blithely does gross things like picking her nose and farting. Finally, Loc Dog rejects her and runs off, leaving [=LaQuanda=] [[InnocentlyInsensitive rather confused]].
27	** [[RuleOfThree And THEN]], Loc meets a shy girl named Keisha. She warns him that when she gets drunk, she "gets a little crazy". [[TemptingFate He wants to see this, so he gives her a few drinks]]. In this case, 'getting crazy' means she turns into a demonic version of herself that proceeds to have her way with a [[ScreamsLikeALittleGirl panicking]] Loc.
28	* AbsurdlyYouthfulFather: A running gag is that Ashtray's father is not much older than his son, which is not helped by the man's immaturity. It's actually implied in some scenes that Ashtray is somehow ''older'' than his dad. This is parodying the fact that Creator/LaurenceFishburne was only seven years older than Creator/CubaGoodingJr in ''Boyz in the Hood'', despite playing father and son.
29	* AffectionateParody: It's a lighthearted parody of "hood movies" in general, with some criticism aimed at the fact that some black actors were pigeonholed into these roles at the time.
30	* AngryBlackManStereotype: Preach is a parody of this. He makes powerful speeches about the tyranny of whites, but is unashamed of his fetish for white women or casual racism towards Asians.
31	* {{Anvilicious}}: Parodied and Lampshaded.[[invoked]]
32	-->"MESSAGE!"
33	* AsianStoreOwner: Loc Dog and Ashtray visit one in a scene that spoofs the version in ''Film/MenaceIISociety'' nearly shot for shot. The general plot beats are there: two black youths visit a store owned by an Asian couple who treat them rudely, the wife pretends to be cleaning while surveilling the two, the husband makes a remark about their mother, and one of the youths fires upon the couple while the other shouts in disbelief. Since this is a parody, the film also adds several comedic elements, like the wife randomly doing a martial arts flip and popping her head out of random places to say "Hurry up and buy!", the O-Dog expy missing several shots and getting "fined" for the damage, and a white thief who steals tons of goods right under the owners' noses and is the literal "Man" in the TheManIsKeepingUsDown.
34	* BadassBoast: Attempted by Toothpick, and it works... at first:
35	-->"I don't give a damn about going to jail! You can take me to jail! Shit, lock me up! Throw away the key! [[TooMuchInformation I ain't 'fraid to fuck somebody in his ass!]]"
36	* BaitAndSwitch: Possibly one of the best examples out there: a scene features a young man being intimidated by two older gang members in preparation for initiation into their group. You believe that they're going to either beat him up or shoot him (evidenced by the threat of "...and of you ''FALL'', you better pick yo' punk-ass up!" and ordering the others not to cut him any slack), but rather the "initiation" is [[spoiler:a game of ''double-dutch'', complete with a rhyming children's song.]]
37	* BerserkButton: Don't insult Loc Dog's mother, or cause him to think you did. Shooting will ensue.
38	--> ''What you say about my mama? Hmm?''
39	* {{BFG}}: Loc Dog incorporates his gun collection into his wardrobe. He even keeps a live nuclear missile in his truck, which he uses to scare off Toothpick and his gang.
40	* BigEater: Big ''drinker'' in this case. Ashtray's aunt downs an ''entire 40-ounce'' of malt liquor in one sitting. Mercifully, the camera cuts away to Ashtray looking on (unconcerned) then cuts back to his aunt as she finishes, so that the actress herself wouldn't have to down the whole thing.
41	** A similar example happens later with a girl (played by Paula Jai Parker) at Ashtray's going away party. The scene also cuts away and when it cuts back, we see that not only is she now very heavily intoxicated, but there are also several empty liquor bottles behind her that were not there before.
42	* BiggerIsBetterInBed: This is how Ashtray misinterprets Dashiki's comment that he can't live up to his "responsibilities".
43	-->'''Dashiki:''' Oh, so you're man enough to come up in me, but you ain't man enough to take care of what comes out, get my nails done, pay my rent, ''and'' get me a new car? You know what? You ain't nothing but a little boy.
44	-->'''Ashtray:''' Ain't all about the size of the boat! It's the motion in the ocean.
45	-->'''Dashiki:''' ...That's not what I'm talking about.
46	* BlamingTheMan: Ashtray and Loc Dog enter a convenience store owned by a Chinese couple and are immediately followed and harangued in a case of racial profiling. Meanwhile, a milquetoast looking white guy is actively stealing from the store. When he takes from the cash register, the male owner stops him only to give him change on his way out. The situation inside escalates with Loc Dog pulling a gun on the store owners treating them poorly and them doing the same in turn only for shots to be fired. The shooter is the robber from earlier who laughs before tossing the gun at Loc Dog and Ashtray to frame them, who both exclaim "The Man!" The robber then proceeds to cross off Loc Dog's name from a list that includes Creator/MikeTyson, Music/MichaelJackson, Creator/OJSimpson, and Music/{{Tupac}}, implying that the conspiracy is true.
47	* BoomerangBigot: Officer Self Hatred (played by Creator/BernieMac)
48	-->You ain't so tough now, little nigga. I hate your black bastards, you stink! I hate your black skin. I hate your black pants. I hate black pepper. I hate black keys on a piano. I hate my gums, because they're black. I hate Whoopi Goldberg's lips. I hate the back of Forrest Whittaker's neck. Huh? Most of all, I hate that black-ass Wesley Snipes.
49	* CaptainErsatz: Many, since it's a parody:
50	** "Ashtray" is one of '''Tre''' from ''Film/BoyzNTheHood'', Caine from ''Film/MenaceIISociety'', and Craig from ''Film/{{Friday}}''.
51	** Loc Dog is Doughboy from ''Film/BoyzNTheHood'', Loco from ''South Central'', and O-Dog from ''Film/MenaceIISociety''. He is also one of Smokey from ''Film/{{Friday}}'' to a certain extent.
52	** Preach is Ali from ''South Central'' and Sharif from ''Film/MenaceIISociety''.
53	** Crazy Legs is Lil' Chris from ''Film/BoyzNTheHood''.
54	** Officer Self Hatred is Officer Coffey from ''Film/BoyzNTheHood''.
55	** Sam, one of Toothpick's boys, is one of Ilena's cousin from ''Film/MenaceIISociety'', hilariously played by Samuel Monroe, Jr.
56	** Malik, played by Creator/OmarEpps, is well... Malik from ''Film/HigherLearning''.
57	* CastingGag: Ashtray's father is played by Lahmard Tate, older brother of Larenz Tate, who played O-Dog in ''Film/MenaceIISociety''.
58	* CaughtUpInARobbery:
59	** Ashtray is taking a driving lesson, only for his instructor to calmly instruct him to pull over outside a bank, after which he walks inside. Seconds later, the sound of a gunshot and an alarm ringing goes off, and the instructor runs out with a full bag of money, gets into the car holding a gun to Ashtray's head, and shouts at him to "[[SuddenlyShouting DRIVE, MOTHERFUCKER!! DRIVE!!]]" making it pretty clear that Ashtray is the unwilling getaway driver.
60	** Played for laughs in the convenience store scene. The Asian store owners are [[{{Profiling}} laser-focused]] on watching Ashtray and Loc Dog to make sure they don't steal. Meanwhile, a white customer in the store cleans the place out, completely ignored by the owners. He even manages to grab the money from the register without the owners batting an eye. On the way out he kills the owners and tosses his gun to Ashtray before he leaves to frame Ashtray for the crime. It is heavily implied by this guy crossing Ashtray's name off of a list of prominent yet controversy-laden black celebrities like Music/MichaelJackson and Creator/OJSimpson that he is "The Man" [[TheManIsKeepingUsDown hellbent on keeping otherwise innocent black men down]].
61	* CoolOldLady: Ashtray's grandmother. How else do you describe a grandmother who thinks her grandson (who just punched her across a table) "hits like a bitch," raids her other grandson's stash of weed, blasts Wu-Tang out of a lowrider, and ''cuts people's heads off with one swing of a machete?''
62	* ClusterFBomb: Loc Dog's Granny is just FULL of them, as is his mother.
63	%% * ComingOfAgeStory: Parodied.
64	* CorruptChurch: The preacher, who urges his young, female congregation to call him whenever they get "Hot, Bothered, or [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs Hot and Bothered]]", and tells the rest not to ask why he has such a nice house and car, and just keep sending their tithes.
65	* CrapsaccharineWorld: Ashtray's neighborhood looks more like a very clean suburb than a ghetto. But there are a lot of gangs, people get gunned down in broad daylight, and everything from ice cream trucks to ''walkers'' are liable to get stolen at gunpoint. Played for laughs, of course.
66	* CrooksAreBetterArmed: An exaggerated version. Loc Dog makes a rival gang run the hell away when he shows the piece de resistance of his arsenal: '''a Soviet [[NukeEm nuclear warhead]]'''.
67	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadAss: The only job Loc Dog is smart enough to qualify for is a human crash test dummy. But he's got a huge gun collection and he's got no problem with using them.
68	* DecoyProtagonist: Parodied. The film opens up with a youth addressing the audience on what it's like to live in the hood...only to be shot dead, and for his killer to take over the speech. Then ''he'' gets shot. It's only once Ashtray's narration kicks in when the film establishes who the real protagonist is.
69	* DidIJustSayThatOutLoud:
70	** Early in the movie, Toothpick, the villain, [[BadassBoast loudly declares that prison doesn't faze him at all]]. This keeps going until he proudly admits he raped a man in jail. When everyone reacts [[{{Squick}} the way you'd expect]], he pretends he was just joking. They don't buy it.
71	** Later, Ashtray's talk in bed manages to gross out even the promiscuous Dashiki. When she stares at him and gives him a FlatWhat, he pretends to have not said anything.
72	* DiedOnTheirBirthday: PlayedForLaughs. At the moment an opening narrator--who already shot and killed ''another'' narrator--tells the audience that most people living in "the hood" won't even get to reach the age of 21, he is presented with a birthday cake for his 21st birthday as a friend sings, "[[HappyBirthdayToYou Happy Birthday, Homey]]" The very moment he tries to blow out the candles on his cake, he, too, gets shot and killed.
73	* DirtyKid: Ashtray's father implicitly conceived his son ''while he was still in diapers!''
74	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: One scene implies Loc Dog is cooking drugs in his kitchen, [[spoiler: only to reveal he was baking and decorating a multi-tiered cake instead.]] Another features Toothpick and several of his men talking about an initiate to their crew being "jumped in." [[spoiler: They have him literally jump ropes afterward, complete with playground rhymes.]]
75	%% * {{Flanderization}}: As part of the above.
76	* GangstaStyle: How Loc prefers to shoot his guns.
77	* GeniusDitz: Yes, Loc Dog is an idiot, but when it comes to guns, or [[spoiler:baking cakes]], he has no peer.
78	* HeroicComedicSociopath: Loc Dog. His fool proof way to get a woman's number is to demand it from her at gunpoint.
79	* HistoricalInJoke: The Man's list includes Creator/MikeTyson, Music/MichaelJackson, Creator/OJSimpson, and Music/TupacShakur, all of them black people whose troubles with the law are thought to be The Man really putting them down for being black.
80	* HoodFilm: The film is a parody of the genre. Ashtray is left by his mother to live with his estranged father (who is literally younger than him) in the hood. While hanging out with his crazy cousin Loc Dog and their friends, he quickly gets caught up in violence and crime.
81	* HypocriticalHumor: Preach lambasts Ashtray and Loc Dog for using "nigga" [[NWordPrivileges in their vernacular]], arguing that it demeans their entire race. Immediately after this he asks them to remind him that he still needs to pick up his laundry from "that chink motherfucker up the street".
82	* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: A lot of the characters have bad aim. Best example is Loc Dog, who has a pistol with a scope ''and'' a laser point yet he doesn't hit anyone when he shoots (he only manages to graze one of the store clerks).
83	* InTheLocalTongue: Dashiki explains that her name is Swahili for "doggy-style."
84	* LockAndLoadMontage: Before the final act of the movie, Toothpick and his crew get into one of these first played straight, then for laughs with Toothpick getting out a slingshot, followed by one of them pumping a super soaker.
85	* MarketBasedTitle: In some markets, the title is changed to ''Ghetto Blaster'' due to how long it is.
86	* MissingMom: Spoofed at the beginning. Ashtray's mother shows up in one scene to drop him off at his father's house. She then abandons him permanently after this exchange:
87	--> '''Ashtray''': Will I see you again?
88	--> '''Ashtray's mother''': Sorry, baby. [[EnforcedTrope You know there ain't no positive black females in these movies]].
89	* MoreDakka: Loc Dog's solution to any problem is to keep shooting at it.
90	* MythologyGag: A lot of the characters are played by actors from the parodied movies, including two actors from ''Film/MenaceIISociety'' and one actor from ''Film/HigherLearning'' who basically reprise their roles.
91	* NeverMessWithGranny: Loc Dog's grandmother [[BigDamnHeroes single handedly foils the drive-by]] at the movie's climax.
92	* NWordPrivileges: This IS a Wayans Brothers movies about people in South Central...
93	* NoFourthWall / MediumAwareness: The characters routinely acknowledge that they're in a hood movie, but are uninformed enough to [[WrongGenreSavvy try to take it seriously at times]]. Ashtray even has an over the top [[HeroicBSOD breakdown]] in Dashiki's house, causing her to ask:
94	-->'''Dashiki:''' ...What are you doing?!
95	-->'''Ashtray:''' Trying to win [[OscarBait Best Actor at the Soul Train Awards]].
96	* NukeEm: The ultimate response Loc Dog has to the threat posed by Toothpick's cronies, a nuclear missile hidden in his mail truck.
97	* {{Profiling}}: Parodied in the gas station scene. The Asian proprietors consistently harass Ashtray and Loc Dog while they're frequenting their store, while completely ignoring the white customer who is robbing them blind in plain view of everyone. The start of the scene sets the tone nicely - the white customer enters to a generic chime, while Ashtray and Loc Dog's entry is somehow greeted with that same chime saying "niggas!"
98	* ReallyGetsAround: Dashiki, the main love interest. She even points out that the only reason she even gives Ashtray the time of day is because she needs a "pussy-whipped fool" to take care of her seven children.
99	* RealMenWearPink: Loc Dog is not afraid to wear bunny slippers in public, and he loves baking cakes.
100	* RecordNeedleScratch: After Toothpick's PrisonRape confession.
101	* RunningGag: Several.
102	** Keenan Ivory Wayans plays a mailman who yells "MESSAGE!" whenever a character makes a profound statement.
103	** The crackhead from ''Film/MenaceIISociety'' appears, offering people blowjobs for just about anything, including directions.
104	** Every time someone looks out on the street, someone is stealing something. This starts with an Ice Cream truck (a reference to ''Film/{{Friday}}'') and gets increasingly ridiculous from there.
105	* SelfDeprecation: When Dashiki is introduced, Loc Dog (Marlon Wayans) warns Ashtray (Shawn Wayans) that she has more kids than Ms. Wayans.
106	* SpoofAesop:
107	** Parodying Doughboy's speech in Film/BoyzNTheHood, and also Trey's father giving him a speech about drunk driving... about how much fun it is, anyway.
108	** Trey admits he had unprotected sex with Dashiki, to which his father... congratulates him. "Never use condoms, son, they take away ALL the feeling!"
109	* SwitchingPOV: The first two narrators are gunned down shortly after the opening credits. Ashtray steps in to finish the story.
110	* TitleDrop: Used by Loc Dog near the end of the movie:
111	-->'''Loc Dog:''' [[Film/BoyzNTheHood Either they don't know, don't show,]] or just don't care about being a menace to South Central while they drink they juice in the hood.\
112	'''Mailman:''' ... the ''fuck'' is he talkin' about!?
113	* ThreatBackfire: In one scene, a car full of gangsters threaten to shoot Loc Dog and Trey with guns and (when Dog shows he's got multiple pieces stored in his pants) an RPG-7 rocket launcher. Dog's response? Open the back of his truck, showing he's got a '''Soviet nuclear warhead''' stored in there, which he aims at the gangsters. [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere The gangsters immediately skedaddle]].
114	-->'''Loc Dog''': I SAID... [[PunctuatedForEmphasis do WE... HAVE... a... PROBLEM?!]] Get your stinky ass outta here before I cause a nuclear holocaust over here, fool!
115	* UltraSuperDeathGoreFestChainsawer3000: ''Rodney's Ride''. Uniquely, it's not teenage delinquents playing it, but {{Rabid Cop}}s who love playing a game that celebrates PoliceBrutality.
116	* VictoriasSecretCompartment: A hospital receptionist has a stick of gum, pen, and cup of water stored in her cleavage.
117	* WaitHere: Reversed and spoofed where a minor character, a nerdy appearing DMV test examiner gives the protagonist Ashtray several seemingly straightforward instructions on where to turn and stop at. [[spoiler: The examiner instructed Ashtray to "Wait here" in front of a bank he wanted to rob and menacingly threatens Ashtray at gunpoint to be the getaway driver after running out with the money!]]
118	* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: At the end, the epilogue reveals that Ashtray and Dashiki marry and enjoy their lives, Loc Dog becomes the host of Death Comedy Jam (a parody of ''Def Comedy Jam'') and opens and closes the show with extreme profanity, Preach and his crush settle down together, Crazy Legs becomes a dancer as he had always dreamed, and Grandma is, as Ashtray puts it, "still Grandma" (showing her smoking cannabis).
119	* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: [[ExaggeratedTrope Exaggerated]]. The first girl that Preach decides to pursue (and ultimately ends up marrying/shacking up with) specifically because she's white is downright ugly, while ignoring the attractive black woman in front of her. Here's how Preach justifies his fetish for white women:
120	-->'''Preach:''' I'm just trying to do to white women what the white ''man'' has been doing to us for 400 years!
121	-->'''Crazy Legs:''' Yeah? What's that?
122	-->'''Preach:''' Fuck 'em!
123	* WordSaladPhilosophy: Farraconvict's increasingly inane philosophical ramblings.
124	--> ''"And always remember my brother, [[Creator/DrSeuss one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish]], knick knack, paddy whack, give a dog a bone, [[Music/{{Prince}} two thousand, zero, zero, party, oops! Out of time]], my bacon smellin' fine."''
125	* WouldntHitAGirl: [[WouldHitAGirl Subverted]]. Ashtray's grandmother dares him to hit her as hard as he can, which he naturally refuses at first. Then he suddenly hits her so hard that she flies over to the other side of a table. It's implied this is a tradition between the two, since her response is [[NeverMessWithGranny "You still hit like a bitch, motherfucker..."]]
126

Context Film / DontBeAMenaceToSouthCentralWhileDrinkingYourJuiceInTheHood