This book explores John Singleton’s cinematic voice and helps explicate his propensity for the folk elements in his work (the oral tradition and lore).
In 1991, Boyz N the Hood made history as an important film text and the impetus for a critical national conversation about American urban life in African American communities, especially for young urban black males. Boyz N the Hood: Shifting Hollywood Terrain is an interdisciplinary examination of this iconic film and its impact in cinematic history and American culture. This interdisciplinary approach provides an in-depth critical perspective of Boyz N the Hood as the embodiment of the blues: how Boyz intimates a world beyond the symbolic world Singleton posits, how its fictive stance pivots to a constituent truth in the real world. Boyz speaks from the first person perspective on the state of being "invisible." Through a subjective narrative point of view, Singleton interrogates the veracity of this claim regarding invisibility and provides deep insight into this social reality. This book is as much about the filmmaker as it is about the film. It explores John Singleton’s cinematic voice and helps explicate his propensity for a type of folk element in his work (the oral tradition and lore). In addition, this text features critical perspectives from the filmmaker himself and other central figures attached to the production, including a first-hand account of production behind the scenes by Steve Nicolaides, Boyz’s producer. The text includes Singleton’s original screenplay and a range of critical articles and initial movie reviews.
“_This wise and pioneering book is the first serious and substantive treatment of John Singleton_s classic film! This film and book speak with great courage and insight into the plight and predicament of young black men. Don_t miss this book!!__Cornel WestProfessor of the Practice of Public Philosophy,Harvard University;Professor Emeritus, Princeton University”
“At long last comes a book we have all been waiting for: Joi Carr’s masterful examination of John Singleton’s classic Boyz N the Hood. Throughout, her wide-ranging scholarship is impressive, and her analysis is illuminating. She elucidates the perhaps surprising historical/creative links between Singleton’s work, Ellison’s Invisible Man, and Van Peebles’ Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song. Also included in this valuable book are the screenplay of the film plus insightful critical essays as well as a series of interviews conducted by Carr. Her interview with Singleton reveals the autobiographical themes that went into his directorial debut as well as directors he was influenced by. Her interview with Boyz producer Steve Nicolaides says much about the state of the movie industry at the time the film went into production. Then there is her interview with actress Tyra Ferrell, who played Mrs. Baker, the mother of Dough Boy and Ricky, in the film. The Ferrell interview builds to indicate to us the position of African American women in Hollywood in the 1990s and of course, today. There is also a seemingly brief moment in the interview when Ferrell recounts an incident on set when she was not fully into her character—and how Singleton handled the situation, which succinctly reveals to us his direct, perhaps blunt, creative skills as a director as well as Ferrell’s creative awareness as an actress. Ferrell also has telling comments about her experience when working on White Men Can’t Jump. Dr. Carr also brings to her work an awareness of cultural life in Los Angeles and the dangers that exist for African American males who must walk a tightrope to survive.Most significant, in so much of this book, we see a young director (not long out of film school) coming into his own and adroitly helming a major production that was cheered when shown at the Cannes Film Festival and that has affected moviegoers (black and also white) in a way that few other films in history have ever done.This book is an accomplished, enlightening piece of work, a great companion to Singleton’s film. Highly recommended!”—Donald BogleFilm Historian/AuthorToms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive Historyof Blacks in American Films, 5th Edition, and Dorothy Dandridge: A BiographyUniversity of PennsylvaniaNew York University’s Tisch School of the Arts
Joi Carr is a Professor of English and Film Studies at Pepperdine University, Seaver College, currently serving as the Director of Film Studies and Creative/Program Director of the Multicultural Theatre Project (an interdisciplinary art-based critical pedagogy). She received her PhD from Claremont Graduate University.
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