ABSTRACT
A central scene in John Singleton's 1991 film Boyz 'n the Hood occurs when Furious Styles and his 8-year-old son, Trey, spend an afternoon talking about life, love, and what it means to be a man:
Furious: Trey: Furious:
Trey:
Furious: Trey: Furious: Trey:
Furious: Trey: Furious:
So tell me, are you a leader or a follower, huh? ... Leader! OK, then, what's the three rules? Break it down for me. And hey!-think before you answer. I got it. Always look a person in the eye-if you do that they'll respect you better. Two was ... never be afraid to ask you for anything-stealing isn't necessary. And the last one, I think, was never respect anybody who doesn't respect you back. Yeah, yeah, you got it. ... What do you know about sex? I know a little bit. Oh yeah, what little bit is that? I know I take a girl, stick my thing in her, and 9 months later a baby comes out. You think that's it? Basically, yeah! Well, remember this, any fool can make a baby but only a real man can raise his children .... I wasn't but 17 when your mother was pregnant with you. All of my friends was droppin' out of high school, hangin' out on corners, in front of liquor
stores, geUin' drunk, gettin' high ... some of 'urn was robbin' people, some of 'urn was even killin' people. Hey, you remember my friend Marcus? Yeah, he got into robbin' people, wanted me to come along and join him, but I was like, "Nah, man, gettin' ready to have a son ... " (I knew you was goin' to be a boy). Anyway, I wanted to be somebody you could look up to.
