Billy Williamson

Austin Carpenteiri

Assignment 2

10/21/19

 

Dear Mr. Singleton,

 

When my professor assigned our class the task of picking a TV show or movie that we felt should be remade or built off of, I immediately thought of Game of Thrones. Of course I wanted to see more exhilarating medieval fight scenes, and find out the eventual fate of the 7 Kingdoms with Bran as it ruler. But then I had a thought; What good would another season of Game of Thrones do? It doesn’t teach us anything about ourselves, or people that are different than us. It doesn’t make us think about the many oppressions each of us contributes to everyday, or make us realize our lack of responsibility within our own communities.

 

But Boyz n the Hood does. Tre, Doughboy, and Ricky’s stories give valuable perspective to people of every demographic you can find in America. From the 21 year old black fathers in Compton who’re contemplating leaving their families, to the liberal college students who only mention mass shootings in arguments about gun control, or the middle aged white man who wonders why those black kids act so ghetto, everyone can learn something significant from a remake of this movie. 

 

When you first put the movie out in 1991 America was a totally different place. Hip Hop culture was mostly embraced by black and other ethnic communities. Today, everything is Hip Hop culture. Suburban moms drive around in their minivans bumping Drake and basically anyone under the age of thirty can recite Migos “Bad and Boujee” word for word. In addition, we have made long strides as a nation in terms of social tolerance and open mindedness. As a result of these two things I think the audience for this film would be a much more diverse group than in the 90’s. 

 

I think the social impact that a remake would have alone is enough to produce it. Probably the most hot topic in America today is gun control. My question is why did it take kids being killed in classrooms, people being shot during church, and malls being ripped apart by bullets for people to realize there’s a problem? My guess would be because that’s the only time shootings are affecting white families. Those are the shootings that are on the 6 o’clock news, the ones that go trending on twitter and put everyone in a hysterical uproar. The people who get killed like Ricky, the black teenage nobodies from the ugliest parts of America don’t get TV time. No one hears about the full athletic scholarship to USC, or the lifelong battle of staying off the streets and away from gangs. No one cares about what he meant to his mother, or about his relationships with guys like Tre. Before his death, Doughboy tells Tre he saw something on TV about  the violence in the world strictly being in foreign countries and that there was ignorance and naiveness to that same violence going on right in L.A. and that point is just as relevant today. Everyday there are Rickys and Doughboys, guys who either fight the streets or join the streets but still meet the same fate of a bullet from another black man. 

 

At the same time people could be learning that gun control goes beyond mass shootings and has for decades, people from these low-income “hoods” can learn that their is some fault and responsibility to take for the wrong doing that go on as well. Furious’s character does an outstanding job in portraying the idea that black men in these communities need to take ownership of their actions and need to persevere against whatever pressure they may face to make the right choices. Having Tre at 17 is something that is very familiar to the audience from these kinds of communities. But, Furious breaks the stigma of the common deadbeat dad and instills proper morals and values for Tre to live by. I think Tre’s character is a way for people who didn’t have fathers in their lives to realize how much of a positive impact having a dad can have on one’s life starting at childhood, and continuing all the way through adulthood.  I think his character will make these men want their sons to be upstanding like Tre grew to be and Furious is a representation that being an active and responsible father is something that can be accomplished, even in places like South Central. A father figure in this film is quite literally the difference between life and death, right and wrong, and good and bad. Fathers in these communities need to understand this and this film provokes real emotion that gives invaluable perspective that otherwise might not be available. In turn we can only hope that perspective encourages positive growth for those in similar circumstances. To black teenagers, Tre also shows that its okay to have emotions and be vulnerable. He doesn’t let toxic masculinity mask how he feels or let influence his decisions. I think its important for kids who really face problems like his to see him break down and cry in front of his girlfriend over something as serious as wanting to murder someone. Being able to let that emotion out is what keeps him from being a murderer, where guys like Doughboy who don’t have that outlet live with evils that will haunt them until the day they die. 

 

I think the last element the movie has to offer is the combatting of the notion that everyone from the hood is a bad or uneducated person, and even more specifically that some of those involved in gang violence aren’t necessarily bad people either. This movie is so important because it shows that  people in these horrible areas are just like any other, imperfect but perfectly human. They are in environments that most of us will never come close to experiencing and by seeing them as mothers, sons, cousins and friends it will make people conscious of their own stereotypical thoughts and possibly spark a realization that certain things need to change.

 

Your movie is one of the rare films that has the potential to create meaningful conversations that together can make our world a more compassionate, tolerant and responsible place. The script should remain untouched and my only suggestions would be that Denzel play Furious and Michael B. Jordan play Tre. Other than that I believe that you have the blueprint of the next movie for the culture.

Best,

Billy Williamson