Film Required for the Class With a

¶ … film required for the class with a non-Required film of your choice. One can find a lot of parallels between John Singleton's 1991 film "Boyz n the Hood" and Allen and Albert Hughes' film "Menace II Society," taking into account that they both address the idea of young men dealing with violence in underprivileged African-American neighborhoods in the U.S. Even with the fact that both films are filled with stereotypes, they manage to put across the message the producers were interested in sending.

They basically emphasize the harsh environment that a person has to deal with in order to be able to achieve success in his or her enterprise. The fact that both movies are largely appreciated for the way they represent the 'Hood' means that they each have a large fan-base and that reviews are likely to differ on account of how each reviewer perceives each film. "Boyz n the Hood" has better actors while "Menace II Society" appears to have a more complex storyline.

Either way, both film are impressive when considering the topics they address, the actors, and the stories in general. In addition to discussing violence, both films go at discussing race and racial stereotypes as they have central characters develop a stronger relationship to viewers. While the topics are certainly captivating, viewers can easily observe how the motion pictures are focused on traditional ideas concerning race and racism. What is more surprising with regard to both films is that they emphasize the nihilistic character of life in the 'hood'.

The motion pictures are meant to have viewers understand that there is only one consequence to living in the hood and to acting in agreement with unwritten laws generally promoted there. It appears that Menace II Society was designed in a way that would highlight values associated with black power and with the idea of African-American individuals being an integral part of the American community.

This is best reflected by Caine's teacher, as she is an African-American woman and as she has an African sculpture on her desk, presumably with the intention of having others acknowledge her being proud of her background. In contrast, the schooling system in Boyz n the Hood seems to be more supportive toward white individuals. The protagonist in Singleton's film, Tre, has a white teacher who cannot refrain from considering African-American stereotypes when calling Tre's mother with the purpose of finding out more about the student.

Both films appear to promote the concept of "moving out of the hood" as being one of the best things that a young African-American could hope for. To a certain degree, even with the fact that Menace II Society presents a more optimistic attitude toward African-Americans and their roots, it is actually the motion picture that also supports nihilistic ideas. The.