This wasn't like "Menace II Society" where all the killings were revenge and honor-based killings.
Both Boyz n the Hood and Menace II Society deal with shootings that deal with peer pressure, machismo, and retaliation.
Ferris liked to start *beep* in general, and started the fight with Ricky over gang stuff. Ricky wasn't into banging but he was around his friends in the neighborhood from a Crip set. I got the impression that Monster and Dookie were more active into gang-banging. Ricky also wore his high school's blue jacket with a C on it, which probably just gave Ferris one more "excuse" to try to start something. One of Ferris's friends called them Crabs too.
But it still dealt with the whole macho attitude, saving face, and as Doughboy said, guys "trying to show how hard they is". After Ricky and Ferris exchange words, Doughboy steps in and escalates the situation by flashing his gun and insulting Ferris's girl, and later admits that he is one of those people who has to show how hard he is, something that often results in people getting shot. Ferris and his friends retaliate by killing Ricky, and Doughboy, Dookie, and Monster retaliate by killing Ferris and his 2 friends. Tre rejects the peer pressure and doesn't participate in the killing.
Similar to Boyz, a lot of the violence in Menace deals with people acting hard, retaliation, not letting words go, peer pressure. O-Dog kills the Korean store owners and the crackheads because he won't let an insult or a sexual proportion go. Caine's dad kills the guy while playing cards over money and because he was insulted. Harold was killed in a carjacking, but there's also an element of machismo coming into play. He is going up against horrible odds, but doesn't want to "go out like a chump", and was almost certain to die in a shootout if it had even gotten that far. But he was killed before he could get a shot off.
There is peer pressure towards Caine to participate in the retaliation killing. O-Dog is calling him a bitch because he is showing hesitation about doing the killing. O-Dog and A-Wax laugh at Caine when Caine is worried that kids or old people will be bystanders.
Caine beats up Ileana's cousin out of ego and macho attitude. He could have just told him it wasn't his kid, that he wore a rubber. But his attitude is like "who does this guy think he is, coming up in my hood, talking tough?". So he calls the girl a bitch and beats the hell out of him. Then is killed in retaliation.
I found it a little interesting that pretty much all the violence was personal, not business. It's well known that many ghettos, such as S.C. Los Angeles were being devastated by crack. These movies came right at the end of the crack epidemic, maybe a little after, but when it was still big. But the violence in the movie doesn't deal with that. It's mainly just about egos.
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robert-macc
9 years ago
Both Boyz n the Hood and Menace II Society deal with shootings that deal with peer pressure, machismo, and retaliation.
Yes on Doughboy's part. But Ferris was evil. It's like he was just an evil guy that liked trouble. Is that not what Jake in "Fresh" was about. He hurt people because he wanted their items.
Ferris liked to start *beep* in general, and started the fight with Ricky over gang stuff. Ricky wasn't into banging but he was around his friends in the neighborhood from a Crip set.
It's never mentioned that he's in a gang. Hence the reason he comes off like Jake.
Similar to Boyz, a lot of the violence in Menace deals with people acting hard, retaliation, not letting words go, peer pressure. O-Dog kills the Korean store owners and the crackheads because he won't let an insult or a sexual proportion go. Caine's dad kills the guy while playing cards over money and because he was insulted. Harold was killed in a carjacking, but there's also an element of machismo coming into play. He is going up against horrible odds, but doesn't want to "go out like a chump", and was almost certain to die in a shootout if it had even gotten that far. But he was killed before he could get a shot off.
But here's the thing. That's revenge. Almost all the violence in "Menace II Society" was about egos and competition. Not really evil things like killing people over debts personally owned to them. Killing someone for their valuables or because they beat you at a game is more disturbing, and act of the Devil.
There is peer pressure towards Caine to participate in the retaliation killing. O-Dog is calling him a bitch because he is showing hesitation about doing the killing. O-Dog and A-Wax laugh at Caine when Caine is worried that kids or old people will be bystanders.
Caine beats up Ileana's cousin out of ego and macho attitude. He could have just told him it wasn't his kid, that he wore a rubber. But his attitude is like "who does this guy think he is, coming up in my hood, talking tough?". So he calls the girl a bitch and beats the hell out of him. Then is killed in retaliation.
I found it a little interesting that pretty much all the violence was personal, not business. It's well known that many ghettos, such as S.C. Los Angeles were being devastated by crack. These movies came right at the end of the crack epidemic, maybe a little after, but when it was still big. But the violence in the movie doesn't deal with that. It's mainly just about egos.
Ferris was evil though. It's not like they were in competition. He just liked to start *beep* with Ricky and his gang. Hence the similarity to Jake. Ferris and his gang resembled Jake and Corky's gang way more than any street gang -- no honor, just outright evil altogether. Just this is more a tamed down version of it.
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everydayboredom1980
9 years ago
Ferris was a Blood. It doesn't have to be explicitly said. It's made very obvious by his whole group wearing Red, driving a Red car, and one of them calling Ricky and his friends Crabs. People in South Central LA don't go around in groups all wearing red and calling people Crabs unless they are Bloods.
I definitely agree that Jake was evil. His playground shooting was disgusting. I was so glad when he gets it, and love the acting by Sean Nelson when Corky is beating him to death with the chain.
I love the Chess analogy in Fresh and some of the hints brought along early on. With Samuel L. Jackson saying he's neither offensive nor defensive, he studies his opponent and uses it to his advantage. So Fresh early takes notice of Jake's violent temper, Corky's paranoia and distrust, Esteban's weakness for women, and uses it.
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robert-macc
9 years ago
Ferris was a Blood. It doesn't have to be explicitly said. It's made very obvious by his whole group wearing Red, driving a Red car, and one of them calling Ricky and his friends Crabs. People in South Central LA don't go around in groups all wearing red and calling people Crabs unless they are Bloods.
I definitely agree that Jake was evil. His playground shooting was disgusting. I was so glad when he gets it, and love the acting by Sean Nelson when Corky is beating him to death with the chain.
I love the Chess analogy in Fresh and some of the hints brought along early on. With Samuel L. Jackson saying he's neither offensive nor defensive, he studies his opponent and uses it to his advantage. So Fresh early takes notice of Jake's violent temper, Corky's paranoia and distrust, Esteban's weakness for women, and uses it.
Are you saying that Ferris is not like Jake -- killing people for any reason at all?
I never saw any clue of him being in a gang. It seemed he was just a thug who killed people.
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everydayboredom1980
9 years ago
Ferris and Jake were both violent *beep* who killed for little reason. As Regina King said, he always tried to find an excuse to shoot somebody.
The movie made it was clear as it could outside of them throwing gang signs or naming their set that Ferris and his crew were bloods. Ferris and his friends drove around South Central in a red car, all wearing red, and calling Doughboy and them "crabs", a derogatory term for Crips. It's not even subtle at all.
John Singleton actually wanted to film the retaliation scene right at the entrance of Baldwin Village, "The Jungle", the Blood neighborhood featured in Training Day, but a neighborhood Blood told Singleton not to because there was always a possibility that some kid would decide to shoot Cube or people making the film out of a feeling or disrespect that it showed Bloods getting killed in their territory.
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robert-macc
9 years ago
But Jake is more disturbing then, cause at least Ferris has a reason. He perceives Doughboy and his gang to be enemies. Jake had no excuse. He just killed people because he was evil.
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robert-macc
9 years ago
So I guess the elements of evil in "Fresh" are not in "Boyz n the hood". I stand corrected.
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