Boyz n the Hood Turns 25
Lynn Lee revisits the John Singleton classic on its 25th anniversary.
Four young boys walk along a railroad track, idly chatting but in search of something specific. They find what they’re looking for: a dead body. A group of older boys arrives and harasses them. The most pugnacious of the younger group fights back in a way that foreshadows his destiny as an adult.
Stand by Me? No, Boyz n the Hood, which opened in theaters 25 years ago today. And the parallels are no mere coincidence. Writer and drector John Singleton was intentionally referencing the earlier Rob Reiner film – perhaps as much for the differences as the similarities between the two narratives of boyhood and the cultural spaces they occupy...