Sense of realism in literature and art

Keepin' it real -- Real-ism, that is: Today's 'take' on John Singleton's 1991 film, "Boyz in the Hood"

The pummeling hip-hop soundtrack immediately sets the tone for "Boyz in the Hood." This film's musical sound signals to the viewer that it is produced by someone who knows the street, because it sounds like the street, screams like the street -- a particular kind of neighborhood street -- that of the 'hood.' The film's early use of quick cuts in a montage that introduces the main protagonists and the neighborhood to the viewer and its sharp, guttural dialogue suggest that the director is 'really' going to show to the viewer how people 'really' and authentically communicate in real, urban street life.

The use of short sentences and monosyllables in many films that attempt to seem realistic is often also used to show individuals who know each other well, like brothers and close friends, are able to communicate in very subtle ways, without talking explicitly. The main young characters, Ricky and Dough, are brothers, and Tre is their closest friend. But in terms of characterization, it could be argued the film about these "Boyz in the Hood" is not realistic at all. The two brothers too neatly conform to stereotypes. Ricky is defined as the clean-cut athlete in contrast to his shady brother Dough. Ricky plays football and wants to earn a college scholarship with his athletic prowess. Dough has no future orientation at all. He only has a strong moral sense of what is right and honorable in the violence of street drugs, crime, and substance abuse.

It might seem Tre, who has neither Ricky's physical gifts nor Dough's drug connections to draw him too deeply into a life of crime and criminal connections, is the most realistic character in the story. He seems to exist, initially, to embody neither extreme of the two brothers. But rather than the most realistic character, his presence seems mainly symbolic. Tre's function seems to be simply to draw forth the pronouncements from the mouth of his oracular father, Furious Styles. Styles constantly, to the point of unreality, says Very Wise things that director and author Singleton evidently agrees with, like "any fool" can make a baby, "but only a real man can raise his children," and "why is it that there is a gun shop on almost every corner in this community ... I'll tell you why. For the same reason that there is a liquor store on almost every corner in the black community. Why? They [the whites] want us to kill ourselves."

The film thus seems more like a Greek tragedy than a realistic example of cinema of the street. This comparison between ancient familial tragedy and "Boyz in the Hood" seems particularly apt because the film places a strong emphasis on fate and family. The two brothers are so different in their natures and the ways they see the potential for a 'out' of the hood, by the conclusion they too seem to be symbolic rather than real in their characters. Like fate, the street environment eventually swallows both of them up. Ricky's fate recalls the fear that causes Bigger Thomas in Richard Wright's Native Son. Although a decent person, Bigger accidentally smothers a well-meaning white woman, the socialist Mary, because he is so afraid to be caught with her, and to be accused of raping her.