Boyz n the Hood

One of the few films about blacks made BY blacks, this was a huge hit when it came out in the early nineties. With a wonderful cast, this is a film about family disintegration and gang wars, very violent, yes, but with a heart. As Emanuel Levy says in his book about the independent film movement, "Cinema of Outsiders", 'Boys 'N' the Hood' demythologizes ghetto life, while advocating self-sufficiency, and features another novelty- none of the women is a prostitute, servant, or welfare mother- all demeaning roles that black women have been assigned to play in Hollywood movies." Worth a look indeed.