Although Los Angeles has become renowned for its sunny weather, beautiful beaches, and all of the glitz and glamour affiliated with Hollywood and the entertainment industry, the poverty-stricken, less desirable areas of the City of Angels are often looked down upon and, in some cases, are even completely forgotten about. F. Gary Gray’s Friday, the 1995 comedy starring Ice Cube, Chris Tucker, Nia Long, Bernie Mac, Tommy Lister, Jr., and John Witherspoon, provides viewers with an uplifting perspective of a day in the life of those who reside in South Los Angeles – an area greatly influenced and affected by crime, poverty, and unemployment. In comparison with the more desirable stereotypes of Los Angeles, it is evident that there is a clear socio-economic divide that separates the upper class – most of which consists of Caucasians who reside in very affluent neighborhoods – from the lower class, which is mainly comprised of a multicultural demographic that can only afford to live in the less desirable neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Friday succeeds in depicting the reality and nature of this socio-economic divide, and even manages to do so in a manner that not only enlightens viewers of the severity of the consequences of the divide on inner city youth, but also engages viewers due to its easygoing and humorous nature.
Fundamentally, Friday is a primary example of the traditional “ghetto-noir” film genre – a stylistic classification of 1990s films that intends to address the circumstances that African-Americans face and struggle with in an urban and predominantly Caucasian society. Throughout the duration of the film, Friday features Craig (Ice Cube) and Smokey (Chris Tucker), and chronicles the struggles and hardships – albeit in a ...
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...you?” Here, for example, it is evident that Gray is not only literally transmitting this message from Willie to Craig, but is also inviting male viewers within the target audience to consider their own masculinity and whether or not the use of firearms is enough to validate their own sexuality. Today, and as a result of the high amount of crime and illegal activity that occurs on a daily basis, many within South Los Angeles feel as if they are “tough” if they can go out and commit an illegal act without being caught by the police or kill another human being. Contrary to that widespread and flawed belief, however, that is simply not the case – and F. Gary Gray includes this particular instance, along with a number of others, to encourage members of the inner city to better themselves and not give into the sense of corruption commonly associated with South Los Angeles.
Boyz N the Hood was a film created to convey an anti-gang message as well as to provide societal members an in-depth look at life in “the hood” so he or she can expand their culturally awareness of identifying societal issues (Stevenson, 1991). Upon the debut of “Boyz N the Hood” violence erupted at theaters across the nation, resulting in multiple shows pulling the film from scheduled showings to alleviate future violent behaviors (Stevenson, 1991). The film profoundly illustrates the realty of the events revealed within the storyline that frequently occur on a daily basis within every impoverish community; however, is overlooked by the individuals who are not directly involved and or affected (Leon-Guerrero, 2016) Children of lower socioeconomic status often are raised in ghetto neighborhoods where they often witness, crime, violence, gang activity, abuse, and drugs (Leon-Guerrero, 2016). Ghetto communities envelop tumultuous cycles of violence and substance abuse creating a pervasive occurrence within the residents of the community. This is prevalent in lower developed communities that unfortunately many children and the youth populace indirectly inherit and sadly conform to, as there are no other means to an end for them (Leon-Guerrero,
Gallman, J. Matthew. "Gangs Of New York (Film)." Journal Of American History 90.3 (2003): 1124-1126. America: History and Life with Full Text. Web. 2 May 2014.
...nly seen in everyday television. Common beliefs of black families being more aggressive, having lesser moral values, and living less socially acceptable and lawful lives can be clearly seen through the actions of the white characters, and the thoughts that Chris expresses throughout the episode. The show uses satire to exaggerate black stereotypes to the point where it means the opposite of the comedic nature of which it was presented. The treatment and visualization of the lives of the black characters in the episode, through comedy and exaggeration, clearly shows the real-life problem of black stereotyping that is still all too present in American life. Chris’ everyday life as a black student in a white school and struggle to “fit in” is a struggle that non-white students have faced and are still facing today.
Stereotyping, racial slurs, and labeling and norms are seen and used on a daily basis and can be observed in virtually any aspect of life, from race to religion. These aspects are used repeatedly throughout the popular movie “Gran Torino.” Clint Eastwood plays the raunchy character Walt Kowalski, a Korean War Veteran, whose memories from the war continue to haunt him. His values, and beliefs lead him to pass judgment upon others that he encounters. He doesn’t seem to get along with anyone in his decaying Detroit neighborhood but an unlikely bond with his Hmong neighbors lead him to redemption, coming face-to-face with the same catastrophic bias’s consuming the community gang members that have consumed him.
Gangs of New York is a war-packed film directed by Martin Scorsese that takes place in New York during the Civil War. This 2002 film is about a young Irish immigrant, named Amsterdam, who returns to the Five Points to get revenge on William Cutting, a powerful gang leader who murdered his father. One scene that really sticks out within the film occurs during the draft riots that took place in New York. Although this particular scene is historically accurate, there are some parts of the scene itself that seem to have a bigger impact overall. The parts that create this impact show how important this dark period was and how violently this event played out in the real world.
The film depicts the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, a predominately Black neighborhood. Mookie, Spike Lee’s character, is employed at the neighborhood’s Italian pizzeria, Sal’s, where he complains of both the lack of Black employees at the restaurant and absence of Black history in the pizzeria. Sal’s features a myriad of photos of Italian-American figures known as the “Wall of FAME”, such as Frank Sinatra, but refused to adorn the wall with a Black-Americans of significance. The climactic scene of the film begins with a confrontation by some of the neighborhood’s youth, specifically Radio Raheem, a large framed well over six feet tall Black male. Raheem carries his trademark boom box into Sal’s in protest of the false “Wall of Fame”, but is called a nigger leading to a physical altercation. As the altercation continues, police officers arrive, disperse the fight, and subdue Raheem by locking him in an unrelenting chokehold. Raheem is killed, setting off a riot in the neighborhood that results in the destruction of Sal’s
New Jack City, noted as ‘the crime film of the 90’s’,serves as an important episode for African-American people in America. Set in New York city, the film depicts the story of a success-driven antagonist Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes) who builds an empire powered by organized crime, drug trafficking, and Black delinquent young adults trapped in the cycle of crime. Ronald Reagan’s economic policy coupled with the popularity of crack-cocaine in the inner city creates inconsistencies and untapped markets in the poor community which Nino Brown brilliantly capitalizes on and exploits. His empire is able to successfully cut out the middle men in the drug trafficking market and centralize their operation in a single low-income housing complex inhabited
Jackson Katz is the founder of Mentors in Violence Prevention which is an education program that has been focused on military and sporting organizations in attempts to put a halt on gender violence. Other than being an educator, Katz is also an author and filmmaker. In 2013, he produced the film Tough Guise 2. In this film, Katz reviews the normalization of male jurisdiction in America. The film looks at the messages of gun violence, sexism, and bullying that are sent to men throughout their entire life. Tough Guise 2 argues the statement that male brutality is a rooted back to our cultural standards of manhood. A pivotal point of the film is that a male’s masculinity is not just handed to them, it must be earned. During the course of the film, this point is supported by examples such as gun violence, homophobic messages and mass shootings.
John Singleton’s view of social problems in South Central Los Angeles happens in a tale of three friends growing up together. Doughboy and Ricky Baker are half-brothers and have opposite personalities. Ricky is a football player who hopes to win a scholarship and spends most of his time playing football. On the other hand, Doughboy is a young man who looks upon his environment for guidance. He is involved in violence, abusing drugs, and participates in violence. In between is their friend Tre, who actually has a father to teach him what is right from wrong. Furious Styles, who is Tre’s father in the film does everything in his strength to keep his son from becoming another startling statistic. As you can see, it is always important for parents to be a part of their child’s life because it can make a big difference not only in their life but also their child’s future.
Staples successfully begins by not only admitting the possible faults in his practiced race but also by understanding the perspective of the one who fear them. Black males being opened to more violence because of the environment they're raised in are labeled to be more likely to cause harm or committing crime towards women but Staples asks why that issue changes the outlook of everyday face to face contact and questions the simple actions of a black man? Staples admits, "women are particularly vulnerable to street violence, and young black males are drastically overrepresented among the perpetrators of that violence," (Staples 384) however...
The movie Friday is a comedy drama released in 1995 starring Ice Cube (Craig) and Chris Tucker (Smokey) in the lead roles. (CITE) The film takes place in South Central Los Angeles during a 16 hour time period in the eventful lives of friends Craig and Smokey. After just being fired from his job, Craig decides to hang out with his friend Smokey, smoking marijuana and drinking on the front porch of his parents house. Things get interesting when Smokey brings Craig into a “little”, or rather not so little problem of his. Smokey owes local drug dealer Big Worm $200 on that Friday night by ten o'clock p.m. for smoking, rather than selling the marijuana that Big Worm gave to him, or else they'd both be killed. The movie details all the of the events in the 16 hour time period which led up to them eventually getting the $200 that they owe to Big Worm, and in turn saving their own lives. The film is full laughs brought on by comedic scenes throughout, especially due to the fact that African American characters are portrayed in a very stereotypical manner. It was evident that the common stereotypes of African American people in the early to mid 90's were fully supported by the film.
It is often the case that media and more specifically, film, perpetuates the stereotypes of black men. These stereotypes include not showing emotion, being physically aggressive, embrace violence, supposed criminality, associated with drug use, lack a father figure, sexually exploit women, and others. In the film, Boyz n the Hood, Tre’s father, Furious Styles, encourages Tre to demonstrate loyalty to other people in relationships, resist aggressive behavior, and foster and exhibit sexual responsibility. Thus, throughout the film, Tre challenges the society’s stereotyped norms of black masculinity and what it means to be a black man.
The first social issue portrayed through the film is racial inequality. The audience witnesses the inequality in the film when justice is not properly served to the police officer who executed Oscar Grant. As shown through the film, the ind...
The director Antoine Fuqua vision for this film was to bring that intense love-hate relationship onto the big screen and showcase it for the world to see. To ensure a convincing film setting, Fuqua shot on location in some of the most hardcore neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Fuqua also wanted to show the daily struggles of officers tasked to work in the rougher neighborhoods of cities and how easy it can be to get caught up in a street life filled with killers and drug dealers. Overall the film displayed the city of Los Angeles in a different perspective. One which m...
Do the Right Thing is a dramatic comedic film that was directed by Spike Lee. The movie was released in 1989. Lee served in three capacities for the film: writer, director and producer of the movie, Ernest Dickenson was the cinematographer and Barry Alexander Brown was the film’s editor. For this film, Lee garnered together some notable actors and actresses, including Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, Rosie Perez, Samuel L. Jackson, John Tuturro and Martin Lawrence. The setting of the movie is in Bedford-Stuyvesant; which is a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. This particular neighborhood is made up of several ethnic groups that include African Americas, Italians, Koreans, and Puerto Ricans. The movie takes place on a particularly hot day during the summer time. The extreme heat causes tensions between the different races in the neighborhood. In this paper, I will attempt to show how mise-en-scène, camera work, editing, and sound are used to convey “explicit” and “implicit” meaning in one scene in Do the Right Thing.