Genre describes similarities that different movies have in their expression of a particular aesthetic, psychological and cultural aspects. The audience has a particular expectation of a genre and hence genre guides film production in meeting these expectations and experiences. For a film to qualify to be in a particular genre, it should follow a particular style in its production and have themes associated with that genre (Bondebjerg, 2015). Therefore genre helps in the classification of films, it is from this that we get drama, western, science fiction movies among others.
A typical drama must elicit the emotion of the audience, it achieves this by having characters whose pain and hardship are relatable to the audience. Drama films should use realistic characters going about their day-to-day real-life situations. This further emphasizes the audience’s expectation of authenticity from drama films (Roberts E, 2017). The main theme of a drama genre should be centered on the conflicts that exist in society, and the characters' interactions that depict social interactions. In other words, dramas are a reflection of society. The film Boyz N the Hood truly classifies under the drama genre.
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In my film review, I’ve settled upon Boyz N the Hood , a 1991 hood classic. It is a story about the life of three teenage boys; Tre and half-brothers Doughboy and Ricky who come from the same neighborhood. Each has a different character and chooses different ways of coping with their hood situation. Doughboy is a gang-banger, his half-brother Ricky aspires to be a professional football player while their mutual friend Tre has his grades up and is generally a good boy. The climax of the film is when Tre and Ricky are caught up with a gang, they split up to escape but unfortunately, Ricky gets shot and killed. Doughboy avenges his death and regrets it later, ending the film with remorse for a remorseless killer.
The film sheds light on the American neighborhood living conditions, how the hood interactions shape the lives of three teenagers with different ambitions in life. The stereotype of African-Americans from poor neighborhoods associated with drugs and gang violence is seen throughout the film. This stereotype is however challenged with the positive character portrayal such as of fathers being present in their son’s life as seen in Tre’s relationship with his dad. Social issues like peer pressure among boys and its negative effect also come to play in Boyz in the Hood. Doughboy joins a gang mainly due to peer pressure, he grew up around gang-bangers and craved that life. On the flip side, characters like Tre and Ricky do not however cave into peer pressure as does their friend and brother Doughboy did. They seem to have their life in order, each chasing their destiny.
The shooting of Ricky moves the audience emotionally. Everything seemed to have been going right for him but unfortunately, this is cut short when he is shot. The killing is a tragedy, dreams are cut short by hood violence. Despite not being gang members themselves, the boys still get involved in gang violence. This depicts the conflict boys in the hood face, they are classified as gang members by association and are victims of gang reprisals. The audience can also feel Doughboy’s pain after his brother’s death. A happy ending is however achieved by the possible change of heart of Doughboy who seems to regret his decisions.
A story is a sequence of events, it shows how events unfold. While on the other hand, a plot is the accumulation of events that lead to a story. How the occurrence of something is a consequence of earlier happening, shows the audience why certain things happen in a film. Case in point, Tre moves to Los Angeles to live with his father and is a well-mannered boy with good grades. This is the story. The plot is that Tre turns out good due to the influence of his father. His friends who do not have a father figure struggle to keep their lives in order. The plot hence helps carry the themes desired to be portrayed in the film. In this case the theme of a need for a father's figure in a boy's life. Doughboy and Ricky grew up without fathers and one ended up being a gang member and the other being a baby daddy respectively.
According to the genre convention of films, dramas are generally serious movies. Their storyline employs realistic characters with themes that portray real-life situations (Dirks, 2021). Dramas are a simple representation of reality and hence do not require complex scriptwriting as witnessed in other genres such as Science fiction. Their production is also simple with ordinary settings that are not complex to set up, hence producing a drama film is relatively cheaper in terms of film sets. This qualifies many films with a serious plot to be classified as drama, thus explains why it is the largest film genre.
With several instances drawn from the film Boyz N the Hood , it is justified to conclude that it fits the drama genre. The film is based on a serious dilemma in a society which is the effect of poor neighborhoods in the lives of American Teens, especially of African-American descent. The intense character development that stretches the teenagers’ childhood and their interactions influence how their lives turned out. Thus, it is a classic drama movie.
References
Bondebjerg I, (2015). Film: Genres and Genre Theory. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences: Second Edition
Dirk T, (2021). Main film genres . Greatest Films - The Best Movies in Cinematic History. Retrieved from https://www.filmsite.org/genres.html
Roberts E, (2017). Codes and conventions of the drama genre . Share and Discover Knowledge on LinkedIn SlideShare. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/esmeroberts/codes-and-conventions-of-the-drama-genre
