Boyz n the Hood

Where do you even start with this movie. It's one of my favorites of all time. It's a real shame that the projector was broken and we couldn't see so much of the film. Like I said in class, I really enjoy near the beginning of the movie when they show the Reagan posters peppered with bullet holes. It's a nice little jab at Reaganomics and the effect that it had on the poorer parts of the country.

One of the great things about this movie is how it shows the way in which good parents are such an asset. Tre, the main character, has his mother who has earned a masters degree and works full time, and his father who is a Vietnam veteran and a great role model. Because of this he is responsible and is able to go to school, work a job, and get into college. Doughboy on the other hand, has only his mother, who is on welfare and unemployed. She absolutely fails to be any kind of decent role model and because this Doughboy doesn't do much but hang out on the porch drinking forties with his friends. His mother also treats him rather poorly which I feel has a rather large impact on his behavior. He is actually one of the smartest characters in the film, but his mother gives him no credit and I believe this causes him to act out. The film also mentions on numerous occasions how common it is for fathers to bail on the kids, and leave the mothers to raise them alone. Once again, Tre is the only successful character and is also the only one with a father figure. I believe it is Furious who says that "any fool with a dick can make a baby, but it takes a man to raise a kid".

I think this film is a fresh new look at the gangster lifestyle, and I think everyone should watch it. Unlike Goodfellas, it doesn't portray a life of crime in an at all positive manner. Instead it shows the hopeless of the cycle of violence that exists in the ghetto.

Goodfellas

I love Goodfellas, it's one of my favorite movies. There is a theme that occurs in this film, and in all gangster films really, and that is the idea of loyalty. It's a rather interesting thing. All gangsters insist on loyalty among their groups, especially when it comes to talking to the police. They have a strict no snitching policy, and if you break the policy they kill you. The strange thing is that I don't really feel that loyalty exists between gangsters in the first place. For example, when Ray Liotta's character is busted, he is questioned about Robert De Niro's character extensively. At first he refused to turn him in, that is until De Niro tries to have him killed. Now where is the loyalty there? Jimmy has so little faith in Henry that he flat out decides to kill him before he even knows if he is going to rat. Somewhat ironically when Henry realizes what Jimmy is planning on doing, he decides to rat him out to the cops in order to save his own skin. If these two characters actually had loyalty towards each other, or really if Jimmy just had loyalty to Henry, Jimmy wouldn't be in jail. But instead he decides it would be safer to just try and off Henry and call it a day.