For a young black man in the US today, chances are that things will go wrong. Caine lives in Watts, one of the worst areas of Los Angeles. His father was murdered in a drugsettlement and his mother died from an overdose when Caine was very young, and Caine grew up with his grandparents. However, they are no longer able to protect Caine from the brutal surrounding world. One day when Caine and his buddy O’Dog walk into a Korean food store, they become involved in an armed robbery.
Since everyone in the film is black (or, more politically correct, ‘’Afro-Americans’‘) their world automatically becomes black (i.e, the problems are only relevant to black people). Nothing could be more wrong, the authors of Menace II Society claim. One of the messages of the film is that everyone comes into contact with the problems of Watts and all the other ’’black’’ ghettos. ‘’If you come out of the theater and your stomach is turning and you feel depressed and hopeless, then do something about it. Stop walking around like it’s not your problem, because it’s everybody’s problem’’, Allen Hughes says. Despite the fact that this is true Menace II Society has not been able to avoid being placed in the same category as films such as Jungle Fever, New Jack City and Boyz N the Hood, films that are part of the wave of black films.
Even though young black filmmakers do get positive attention, there is a risk of ’’ghettoization’’ of the films, and of the big audiences only liking them because of their entertainment value. What does the word ’’wave’’ hint at if not something that will ebb away. I hope that this will not happen to Menace II Society, or any other ‘’black film’’ for that matter. Behind the shootings (In Menace II Society they are very realistic, unlike in New Jack City) and all the ’’motherfucker’’, ’’asshole’’ and ’’nigger’’ (it is actually black people calling each other these names) there is a significance that will remain as long as the injustices we still there. —Maria Österberg Ben Saad
Not as powerful as Boyz N the Hood.Why?Simply.The late 80's and the early 90's were rich in hood films.Like even Colors by Hopper, there were interesting pieces, but the big hits were Juice,Straight out of Brooklyn and Boyz N the Hood.Then came copies.Like this one.Which is still looks fresh, but not as untuitive and greatly directed as the earlier ones.
