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The destabilization of community has become a major part of African American cinema.

Raised within a community that is struggling or have come to terms with the cultural attributes

that plague their society and population, young people adapt to these cultural circumstances

finding very few respites from the realities of their community. Menace II Society(Allen &

Albert Hughes, 1993) explores this milieu, but one where the narratives main protagonist has

succumbed to his environment. Although not a bad person, Caine (Tyrin Turner) lives the life

that the media stereotype has ascribed him. His friend, O-Dog (Larenz Tate), makes no bones

about his placement in society, he is who he is and begrudgingly accepts. The film opens with

the two entering a Korean owned convenience store as the owners suspiciously look on. After

O-Dog argues with the store owners over their suspicions, he grants them what they expect,

armed-robbery and murder. Caine is initially shocked by the altercation, but quickly becomes

compliant, altering the rest of his life.

In the shadow of the recent 1992 LA riots, Menace paints a bleak and unrelenting

picture of society (as portrayed through the individual Caine) on the brink of collapse. The

community is in a constant state of civil/social unrest as is the lead character. Caine (and

similar goes for South Central) has become accustom to the subject position that society atlarge has placed him in. If he is to be and act like a thug, then a thug he will become, although a

thug is not who he is. Caine is by no means a hero in the story, but neither is he completely

culpable for his lifestyle. Being kind-hearted is not a key to success living here; it is more akin to

weakness and vulnerability. In the end, the one true good action Caine commits punishes

him with death. He saves a child from a drive-by shooting, an act of violence that you can say

he provoked, but on the other hand, is still commonplace within the community and the

decision of another. Their actions, consequences, and past transgressions all compound ontoone another leaving very little wiggle room for those trapped within this social apparatus.

All that is left is a plea to increase the peace through the action of saving a childs live.

But at the end of the day, this childs life will only be changed with his familys exodus from

their neighborhood. If left in South Central LA would the child find the proper means to escape

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the brand that his residence and community hold over his head? The most likely answer would

be no. The avenues that are open for a child living under certain conditions are vastly limited,

not impossible, but extremely narrow.

John Singletons 1991 film Boyz n the Hoodpresents an interesting contrast compared

to many urban based African American films. Although gang violence, drug-dealing, and

poverty are a backdrop for what lies at the heart of the film: fragmented families attempting to

maintain a sense of community. The opening of the film begins with sound-over of a gangland

shooting, ending with the cries of a child saying, They shot my brother. There is a title card

stating the statistics, One out of every twenty-one Black American males will be murdered in

their lifetime Most will die at the hands of another Black male, then the film cuts to a slow

tack into a STOP sign. Within poverty stricken Black communities violence has taken hold as a

means to maintain a sort of establishment, of power, amongst an external society that has left

the community to urban blight.

The children in the narrative grow up and into the circumstances, understanding their

position all too well. They accept a blood stained crime scene for what it is, make crayola

drawings of funerals & police omnipresence, and even comprehend the political impact on their

neighborhoods with one 10 year old making a gesture toward a re-elect Reagan poster. It is not

for a lack of parental instruction or initiative that Tr Styles (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), or even anynumber of his friends, are stuck within this environment, this is simply the life that they and

their families are trying hard to either work out of or change. Trs father Furious (Laurence

Fishburne) reinforces work ethic, education, and discipline enabling a young Tr to stand up in

front of his class, challenged by his teacher, to instruct the class; only to be pulled into a fight of

honor when classmate insults him. Approaching adulthood, the rules of the streets still apply to

Tr and company, to survive within Crenshaw one must prove and be able to protect ones

family and friends. If not, death is indiscriminately around the corner.Despite all good intentions, the social apparatus that composes South Central Los

Angeles teaches the fairy tale of good society while not preparing the communitys children for

the harsh reality that life has in store. Apathy and disassociation from the outside world has

created an isolated society within the area. Giving rise to a survival of the fittest mentality (one

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that is seemingly promoted through American culture), Tr and his family are stuck with facing

one out of two compromises: maintaining the balance of force and potentially risking the legal

consequences, or subsiding to the threat of interior community violence. Few outlets allow

young people like Tr venture out of their way of life. Higher education, athletics, followed by a

slim chance of upward mobility gives way to a sense of hopelessness. His father continually

stays within the community endlessly teaching, his best friend is murdered before leaving to

play for USC, and his mother, now moved out of the hood, is ever the more distant and

inaccessible.

Juice (Ernest Dickerson, 1992) begins as an everyday story of teenagers living their lives.

They are average young adults that happen to live in New York Citys upper eastside, Harlem.

Since the economic regressions during the Great Depression, Harlem has struggled to return to

the days of its artistic Renaissance and like many other African American/Black communities,

Harlem has yet to fully find solid footing within an apathetic and division based society.

Trapped in the everyday struggle is Q (Omar Epps), Bishop (Tupac Shakur), Raheem (Jermaine

Hopkins), and Steel (Khalil Kain), a small and tight group of friends who dream of one day

making it big, move up and move out. Qs dream is nearly within his grasp, a notable local DJ,

he is only months away from pursuing his dream full-time. His closest cohort, Bishop, is starting

the feel the pinch of inner-city life, conflicting with local gangs, police, and the day-to-daystruggle; he buys a gun and plans to up his street cred. Although reluctant, the rest of the crew,

like Bishop, are all pulled into the lifestyle that stereotypically attributed to them.

After Bishop commits murder, the group, comprised of childhood friends, begins to

unravel. Like all other aspects to life in the streets, their dynamic collapses into a game of

survival and mistrust. From an early age these four men are inherently taught that the world

and society is against them. Despite what reinforcements they have built around each other, it

cannot withstand the pressures that society has automatically constructed for them. They haveto first and foremost lookout for themselves, because similar to the way their community is

isolated from the rest of American society, they as individuals are isolated from their own inner

community.

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money Dunham can make by not going straight, or the glass ceiling that societal restrictions

have placed on him as a member of this community.