Boyz N the Hood

Here is a fine example of how the language of the western can cross genres and speak to a modern audience. Writer/Director Singleton structures his film in two segments, using the same setting but separated by six years. He chooses to show his characters in transitional times in their development, slightly before they hit puberty and become teenagers, then slightly before they assume responsibility and become adults.

The first segment, 1984, is filled with references to westerns, both conscious and unconscious. On many levels the connection between Hollywood's presentation of the inner city and the old west is easy to make: between everyone carrying a gun, drinking as natural as breathing, and the constant macho grandstanding, these are both highly temperamental zones where people take the law into their own hands. The barbershop plays a key role in both environments, but in Singleton's hood the saloon has been replaced by the front porch.

Singleton is determined to take the connection a step further. Subtly, as we watch random acts of violence be completely ignored or merely accepted as a part of life, we are reminded of the old west. In south central LA it is a savage beating on a sidewalk, in Dodge City it's a bottle smashed over someone's head outside a saloon.

Almost every western features a sign announcing the name of the town, riddled with bullet holes. Singleton gives us a sign eliciting re-election votes for Reagan (wearing a cowboy hat) in '84, tattooed by a semi-automatic.

In most westerns the sheriff is either crooked or a lazy, incompetent drunk-here the law is represented by lazy, donut-eating beat cops who are interested only in making their job as easy as possible.

The railroad plays a large role in the opening sequence, which is a highly unusual image to be dropped into the inner city, and is perhaps the singular central image of the western. Aside from the natural joke that the "other side of the tracks" is no different than the side they were just on, the kids walk down the railroad tracks echoing the sentiments of Rob Reiner's kids in 'Stand By Me:' "Do you want to see a dead body?"

But the key moment for the train comes with sound, not image, in Singleton's one overt reference to westerns: the scene where violence first directly affects our young hero, Tre. The scene is Tre's first night at his dad's house, where he has just been dumped by his mother. While father and son sleep in separate rooms, tension begins to build. The only sound we hear: water dripping from the kitchen faucet. Suddenly, by no obvious catalyst, dad emerges from his slumber holding an absurdly huge pistol. Sound familiar? From the sleeping men, to the water dripping, to the mysterious tension, to the inevitable gunshots, this is a recreation of Leone's fabulous opening scene in 'Once Upon A Time in the West.'

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