Boys n the Hood was a more realistic portrayal of gang life
i used to be in a gang. it was nothing like West Side Story.
shareNot every movie is going for realism.
And unless you are sixty years old, West Side Story's not going to reflect your gang experience anyway, regardless of the style of the movie.
"You must sing him your prettiest songs, then perhaps he will want to marry you."
are you saying West Side Story is an accurate depiction of gang life 50 years ago? i doubt it! none of the OGs i know can dance like that
shareAs I said,
Not every movie is going for realism.
But whatever resonance the movie has, in whatever style it's in, is not going to reflect the specific circumstances of more recent reality.
"You must sing him your prettiest songs, then perhaps he will want to marry you." share
I never saw Boys n the Hood, but I'll say this about West Side Story, however:
Although West Side Story is fiction, it is closer to reality in some respects:
I realize that street gangs don't go dancing through the streets in real life, but there were gangs in Manhattan's West Side, at that time, before it got gentrified. It's also true that people from different racial, ethnic, socioeconomic backgrounds and/or different colors do cross the barriers, date, fall in love and even marry, in real life. People can and do fall in love at first sight on occasion, in real life, but in the event of such a thing like that happening, it takes a good long time to develop into something really substantial that involves real love and trust between the two parties, if one gets the drift.
It's also true that when West Side Story first came out, both as a Broadway stage musical and a film, that there was a huge influx of Puerto Ricans into New York City and into the Continental United States, generally, which provided the catalyst for intergroup conflict at the time.
West Side Story wasn't intended to be a depiction of Gang Life.
It's a love story, with the gang in a supporting role. the gang just happens to be who the protagonists hang around with.
the STORY is about Tony and Maria; and their interaction with Anita, Bernardo, Riff, and their friends.
um no. its about gang life. yall needa watch boys n the hood
shareum... NO
You, dear child, need to read ROMEO AND JULIET to understand what West Side Story was about.
the METAPHOR (you can look it up) for the family's rivalry of the Montagues and the Capulets was the gangs, Jets and Sharks.
The STORY is about two people in love. The side line is the "gang."
dammmm! this is getting way off. im just sayin that boys in the hood is a more realistic depiction of gang life than west side story. thats a fact!
sharethat might be true. but WSS was never meant as a vehicle of arts for gangs. So there's no comparison between the two.
It's like saying, Spielberg's "Lincoln" was a better depiction of the Civil War than "Gone With the Wind."
Yes.
I suggest the OP watch another 1961 film titled THE YOUNG SAVAGES, which would have much more in common with BOYZ than WSS. Please get familiar with movie history, folks! Anyway, I remember arguments about BOYZ that it was more about families than gangs.
May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?
You've made some good points, bradford-1. One also must bear in mind that West Side Story, unlike Boyz in the Hood, is a musical.
shareBradford-1: "I suggest the OP watch another 1961 film titled THE YOUNG SAVAGES, which would have much more in common with BOYZ than WSS."
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I actually like Young Savages and would consider it miles away from WSS. I saw YS when I was little and thought it was good, saw WSS at different intervals before I managed to sit thru it straight thru and thought it was lacking on several fronts, not just because of singing and dancing.
To each their own, richard.fuller1, but West Side Story, to me, is a really wonderful film, with lots of beauty to it, and I rarely miss a screening of this film in our area, or in a neighboring state. The only time I did miss a screening in our area was in mid-March of 2001, when an afternoon screening of the film West Side Story conflicted directly with my (late) dad's memorial, so I did not attend that day's WSS screening. I've made up for that since, however, if one gets the drift.
I'll also add that West Side Story, unlike most other classics, seems to age the most gracefully. The MGM quote
"Unlike other classics, West Side Story grows younger."rings so true!
Moreover, WSS is the one film that I never tire of seeing over and over and over again. share