Past, Present, and Future: An Examination of the Hood and Historical Fi

Society has always been influential to fads that are displaced throughout media; the public witnesses a direct mirror of themselves and current culture portrayed on movie screens, musical lyrics, and televisions scripts. During the 1990s, African-American filmmakers depicted stereotypical black youth and culture in films such as Do the Right Thing (1989) and Menace II Society (1993), otherwise known as the â€Å"hood† films. However, as much to the popularity and success of the hood films, there was great opposition to it. Historical movies like Daughters of the Dust (1991) and Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) were created to argue against hood films to portray a different African-American community that is not racialized. I am going to compare and contrast both the hood and historical films Edward Guerrero and Paula Massood both believed that the hood film was created for the benefit of portraying reality in African-American communities. Yet, Mark Berrettini, Joel Brouwer, Roger Berger, and Marilyn Wesley argue that the hood films are counterfactual to society and historical films are necessary to show a positive African-American culture. Mirroring the anger and frustration of the African-American community of the 1960s-1970s, 1990s black filmmakers created the hood film. Like the Blaxploitation era, the film industry noted an increase in moviegoers and films to watch hood films. Both 1960s and 1990s, African-Americans were frustrated with their political and economic conditions in urban environments and addressed their anger towards making movies (Guerrero 159). It became Hollywood’s strategy to create an answer to black frustration with movies that illustrated social pressure in the ghetto (Guerrero 158). Hollywood also portrayed the ... ...he black population. Paula Massood and Edward Guerrero believed that hood films were essential to illustrate the social frustration of young African-American communities within urban communities. Although youth of color were criminalized and violent, it illustrated a hard truth for the greater society emphasizing the need for social and economic help in impoverish environments. On the other hand, Mark Berrettini, Joel Brouwer, Roger Berger, and Marilyn Wesley argue that historical films represented a community that was lost to the hood films; an African-American community that is resilient and spirited during times of slavery and racial inequality. Historical films are genuine for African-American communities because they displayed a positive outlook of their culture. Ultimately, both the hood and historical films are realistic to the African-American communities.