John Singleton on BOYZ N THE HOOD 12 Years Later
September 15th, 2003
BY: Anthony Breznican
It was the birth of a genre.
With 1991's "Boyz N the Hood," (search) filmmaker John Singleton (search) pioneered a new type of film, fusing the traditional coming-of-age story with the treachery of inner-city gang violence.
"Juice" (search) (1992), "Menace II Society" (search) (1993), "South Central" (search) (1992) and "Fresh" (search) (1994) -- not to mention countless low-budget imitators -- all followed the path laid out by Singleton's writing and directing debut.
In addition to earning Singleton -- then 23 -- screenwriting and directing Oscar nominations, the film helped launch the acting careers of Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube and Morris Chestnut.
A new two-disc DVD set created for the 12th anniversary of "Boyz N the Hood" debuted Tuesday.
1. How did 'Boyz N the Hood' originate?
I wrote the script when I was 21, it was part of my graduate thesis at (the University of Southern California) to get my bachelor of fine arts in a screenwriting major. I was going to college and thinking about my life before I went to school and how I grew up in the neighborhood and the lives of my friends. So the film was written as a kind of catharsis.
2. Do you think this movie created a genre?
In terms of the so-called "Hood" movie, it created that kind of thing ... I realized that nobody had ever told the story about how unique Los Angeles is, how beautiful it looks on the exterior but there's this whole dangerous rite of passage that some men go through.
3. How did you feel about imitators? Flattered?
Disgusted. I made that movie as a labor of love writing about where I'm from and all these other movies come out and they were just more and more sensationalized more and more violent. A lot of them were just excuses to put out a rap soundtrack.
4. What did you think when you heard about outbreaks of violence at some of the theaters showing 'Boyz N the Hood?'
It was really blown out of proportion. The press was lying in wait for anything to happen. About four or five months before my movie opened, Rodney King has been beaten and they were playing the tape on TV all week. At the end of the week, 'New Jack City' comes out, and the movie is playing in this small little theater in Westwood (a neighborhood in Los Angeles.) The police got into riot gear, they felt there was tension through the whole city -- and there was. It set off a whole thing between these kids and the cops and there was a big riot in Westwood. So then, few months later, with 'Boyz N the Hood,' they were going to make a story out of it. Yes, some things happened and some theaters. But even if a theater showed the movie and 10 blocks away, a mile away there was a shooting, which there is every weekend, they would see a connection.
5. Do you worry about the film becoming dated?
Maybe, the clothes and the haircuts and the music, yeah. But still the story is there. And the amazing thing is that everybody in that movie is still working in movies. So when you watch it, you're watching all these stars before they were stars.
AP
It was the birth of a genre.
With 1991's "Boyz N the Hood," (search) filmmaker John Singleton (search) pioneered a new type of film, fusing the traditional coming-of-age story with the treachery of inner-city gang violence.
"Juice" (search) (1992), "Menace II Society" (search) (1993), "South Central" (search) (1992) and "Fresh" (search) (1994) -- not to mention countless low-budget imitators -- all followed the path laid out by Singleton's writing and directing debut.
In addition to earning Singleton -- then 23 -- screenwriting and directing Oscar nominations, the film helped launch the acting careers of Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube and Morris Chestnut.
A new two-disc DVD set created for the 12th anniversary of "Boyz N the Hood" debuted Tuesday.
1. How did 'Boyz N the Hood' originate?
I wrote the script when I was 21, it was part of my graduate thesis at (the University of Southern California) to get my bachelor of fine arts in a screenwriting major. I was going to college and thinking about my life before I went to school and how I grew up in the neighborhood and the lives of my friends. So the film was written as a kind of catharsis.
2. Do you think this movie created a genre?
In terms of the so-called "Hood" movie, it created that kind of thing ... I realized that nobody had ever told the story about how unique Los Angeles is, how beautiful it looks on the exterior but there's this whole dangerous rite of passage that some men go through.
3. How did you feel about imitators? Flattered?
Disgusted. I made that movie as a labor of love writing about where I'm from and all these other movies come out and they were just more and more sensationalized more and more violent. A lot of them were just excuses to put out a rap soundtrack.
4. What did you think when you heard about outbreaks of violence at some of the theaters showing 'Boyz N the Hood?'
It was really blown out of proportion. The press was lying in wait for anything to happen. About four or five months before my movie opened, Rodney King has been beaten and they were playing the tape on TV all week. At the end of the week, 'New Jack City' comes out, and the movie is playing in this small little theater in Westwood (a neighborhood in Los Angeles.) The police got into riot gear, they felt there was tension through the whole city -- and there was. It set off a whole thing between these kids and the cops and there was a big riot in Westwood. So then, few months later, with 'Boyz N the Hood,' they were going to make a story out of it. Yes, some things happened and some theaters. But even if a theater showed the movie and 10 blocks away, a mile away there was a shooting, which there is every weekend, they would see a connection.
5. Do you worry about the film becoming dated?
Maybe, the clothes and the haircuts and the music, yeah. But still the story is there. And the amazing thing is that everybody in that movie is still working in movies. So when you watch it, you're watching all these stars before they were stars.
AP
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