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Film: Boyz N The Hood

Increase The Peace

Boyz n the Hood is a 1991 crime / drama film, and John Singleton's directorial debut. It enjoyed widespread critical acclaim from critics and the public alike, and helped jump-start the "urban crime drama" genre. It also received two Academy Award nominations (for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay), making Singleton the youngest person (at 23 years old) and the first African-American to be nominated for the Best Director award. Often praised as the best 'hood film ever made.

Compton, a neighborhood in South Central Los Angeles, is a place where drive-by shootings and unemployment are rampant. But it is also a place where harmony coexists with adversity, especially for three young men growing up there: Darren "Doughboy" Baker (Ice Cube), an unambitious drug dealer; his half-brother Ricky (Morris Chestnut), a college-bound teenage father; and Ricky's best friend Tre (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), who aspires to a brighter future. In a world where a trip to the store can end in death, the friends have diverse reactions to their bleak surroundings. Tre's resolve is strengthened by a strong father (Laurence Fishburne) who does his best to keep him on the right track, but the lessons Tre learns are put to the test when tragedy strikes close to home, and violence seems like the only recourse.

This film contains examples of:

Awesome Mccoolname: Tre's dad, Furious Styles (Laurence Fishburne)... and yes, that's his actual name.
Black and Grey Morality
Boomerang Bigot: Officer Coffey is a black policeman who shows apathy and hostility to blacks.
Catholic School Girls Rule: Part of Tre's attraction to Brandi is that she's Catholic. Brandi herself subverts this trope, wanting to wait until marriage as her faith dictates. She changes her mind and she and Tre have Their First Time after he's harassed by Officer Coffey.
Cluster F-Bomb
Crapsack World: The ghetto.
Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Though never directly stated, it is implied that Doughboy and his friends (who are frequently shown wearing blue clothing) are members of the Crips, while Ferris and his crew (who wear red clothes and drive a red car) are Bloods.
Curb-Stomp Battle: Played for Drama.
Cycle of Revenge: Doughboy, Monster, and Dooky take revenge on Ferris and his cronies for murdering Doughboy's brother (Tre intends to take part at first but ends up bailing out beforehand). Weeks later, Doughboy is murdered in turn.
Dad The Veteran: Furious served in Vietnam so he could avoid the criminal lifestyle and be someone Tre looks up to. The only time he mentions it is when he warns Tre about the army, but given his stern and disciplined nature (not to mention his unwillingness to shoot an intruder) shades of it do show through.
Dawson Casting: Even though he played a 17-year-old, Cuba Gooding Jr. was 23 at the time.
Disappeared Dad: Ricky and Doughboy have different fathers, yet neither is around. In fact, Furious is the only father in the neighbourhood. And Ricky becomes one to his son after getting gunned down.
Enforced Method Acting: Singleton didn't tell the cast when gunshots would be fired, to ensure that the actors' reactions to the sound of gunfire would be authentic.
Earn Your Happy Ending: Ricky and Doughboy are both murdered, but Tre and Brandi make it out of the 'hood and go on to college.
Follow the Leader: This film popularized the urban crime drama.
Formerly Fat: Not as drastic as some examples, but Doughboy used to be quite tubby (hence the nickname). After the Time Skip, though, he's stout and muscular. In fact, an early scene shows Ice Cube lifting weights in his yard.
Hollywood California: To be specific, Compton.
Michael Jackson: The movie doesn't actually feature him or his music, but young Doughboy wears a "Beat It" T-shirt.
Opt Out: Furious convinces Tre not to take part in the final fight against Ferris. This turns out to be the right choice.
Parental Favoritism: Strongly implied that between Ricky and Doughboy, their mother preferred the former.
- Not just strongly implied-Doughboy straight out says that their mother always loved Ricky best.
Pet the Dog: Early in the film some hoods steal Ricky's football. After trying and failing to get it back (getting Doughboy knocked down and kicked) they give up and walk away. One of the hoods sees how upset Ricky is, takes the ball from the guy who took it and throws it to Ricky.
Precision F-Strike: Furious drops one near the end when reasoning with Tre:
Furious: Give me the motherfucking gun Tre.
Police Are Useless: When the police arrived for the robbery, they dismissed it as trivial because there was nothing taken and the robber escaped unharmed. Officer Coffee wishes Furious had killed the man.
Revolvers Are Just Better: Furious Styles's .357 Magnum.
The Nineties: One of the decade's defining movies, recognized as such by even the Library of Congress, and preserved in its National Film Registry.
Unintentional Period Piece: Check out all the late 80s/early 90s fashions, hairdos, music, video games and styles.
Villains Out Shopping: After Ricky is murdered, Doughboy and his friends set out to find the killers, who are... eating and having casual conversation at a fast-food joint. Cue drive-by.
Villain Protagonist: Doughboy isn't exactly one of God's best children, what with being a killer and a dope dealer... but to his defense he didn't make the ghetto, the ghetto made Doughboy.
Xtreme Kool Letterz: Look at the title.