John Singleton really isn't my thing. I mean, the movie came out in '91 but didn't get much exposure out in the country where I grew up until it was on HBO. However "Poetic Justice" DID and when I finally came around to watching "Boyz n the Hood" I had extremely low expectations.
I honestly thought it was going to be as absolutely pointless as "Poetic Justice" was.
And, yeah, I did kind of like "Higher Learning," which I also saw before this, but I still kind of feel that he was pointing the finger at white people and telling the viewers that we are all evil and the cause of all the problems in the world.
So I went in here thinking it was going to be a talented racist mess.
However, it wasn't. The fact is the film was absolutely amazing. And, honestly, it was the first film I saw about gangs, from a non-police POV, that didn't glorify them. And it remains one of the few gangland movies I've seen that doesn't glorify the lifestyle.
And I understand that they are two completely different beasts, but the film felt like it was taking the issue of gangs and giving it a "The Godfather" treatment...and it worked.
It worked brilliantly. You can both relate to the characters--although I'm probably not supposed to say that--and see that the gang culture is a horrible thing.
Unlike "Poetic Justice" it has a point. And unlike "Higher Learning," it doesn't cast as racist of a finger.
It actually deals with issues and tells a story and, honestly, to watch it is to love it.