Boyz n the Hood is potentially one of the most important films of the modern era. Why? Because it relates the realities of life in the lower-income black communities of America. Doughboy tells us at the end of the film that he saw a report on violence around the world in a news broadcast, and it's all in other countries. The news report didn't mention their neighborhood, and it's as if they don't know or they are purposefully leaving it out. John Singleton crafted a film that continues, and will continue, to stand the test of time until real change occurs that integrates real long-lasting opportunity for change into every community.
Singleton does this in an important way: by showing the effects of a system that has been rigged against the black community, and the willingness of the black community to play into the cycle of violence. There is no easy solution to these ever real issues, but we see one posed in the film in the form of the character of Jason "Furious" Styles. A man from the black community that has chosen to rise above what has been given to him, he leads by not participating in the cycle of violence and by teaching his son Tre to think rather than react. In fact, Mr. Styles asks everyone in the community to think because the violence won't end without each individual choosing to do so. The scene in the empty lot where Furious explains gentrification to Tre and Ricky is deeply embedded with truths that can change the landscape of communities living in the wake of poverty and bloodshed; we see the old man blaming the young men for their violence, and the young men defying the older generation because they are simply trying to survive. And in the middle is Furious asking them all to think. To use their minds rather than their bullets or their words first. He is laying before them the opportunity to change everything if they would only choose to renew their thinking they could lay the foundation for a better life generation to generation.
We also see dreams and hope crushed when Ricky is murdered. Ricky has a shot to get out of the hood and play ball at USC and that potentially means the NFL. But when he's gunned down in cold blood it rips a hole in Tre's heart. It creates a chasm of pain that can only be filled with revenge and by fulfilling that revenge hope is shattered. When Furious stops him from killing Ferris it represents the hard, painful price of life in the hood. That this injustice will be allowed to happen without consequence, and Tre will have to live with this in his heart. But, in the end, when Tre gets out of Doughboy's car he is choosing to stop. He's stopping the violence. As much as he wants to carry it out, he won't. And we see that the father implanting truth into his son has become choice and that choice leads to exemplary action by Tre which is seen by Doughboy. And that action causes Doughboy to think beyond his need for revenge. From here, though it is a road riddled with hard choices and obstacles of all kinds, these two young men can begin to lay the foundation for their lives and the lives of those who live beside them and will come after them.
